Customer Reviews
Beauty Soars - By: , 31 May 2003 
This story is setin Kansasin 1978. Lesley O'Malley, the young protagonist is at the story's openingin 12th grade. She does not seem a believable teen, but much more like someone upward of age 25!
Lesley has plenty of issues on her plate to accelerate her growth. Her mother, Mara, a Hungarian WWII Holocaust survivor slips into a hazy state between delusions & reality; her 9-year-old sister Megan whom I found spoiled, loathsome & obnoxious is an added cross to bear. I found Megan thoroughly unpleasant & just could not like her. A piein the face for Megan! The girls' father, O'Malley is a gentle man who tries to keep the peace at all costs.
Mara, always unstable relives the atrocities she endured during the war. Captured by Nazis & imprisonedin a breeding farm, Mara loses the two sons she bore whilein captivity. Mara never accepts the loss of her children; she spends the remainder of her life searching for her first born.
Things reach a critical point when Mara sees a neighbor's child & insists that he is Klaus, the son who was taken from her during the war. He humors her because she brings him candy & gifts. Lesley desperately tries to monitor Mara & balancing Mara & Megan (I thought Megan was thoroughly loathsome) is a daunting juggling act.
Mara was never able to accept the reality of her losses & is ultimately consumed by her fantasies. Her family sadly picks up the pieces & carries on after her death & Lesley decides to visit Wales, the place Mara & O'Malley spoke of so fondly. Shortly after her high school graduation, Lesley books a flight to Wales and,in an amazing show of faith, is takenin by a young Welsh family. She learns that the Sunflower Forest is yet a distorted form of beauty. Although the Sunflower Forest is nothing like Mara described, Lesley learns to see beautyin the grimmest of circumstances. It isin Wales that Lesley learns to recognize the truth about sunflowers; as beautiful as they are, they are weeds. She comes to accept Mara, warts & all. By making her definition of beauty more expansive & inclusive, Lesley empowers herself with wisdom. It sounded from the telling that Lesley learned that beauty can be wishes or feelings & is not limited to who & what is tangible. She finds beautyin the Welsh mountains. This can be seen as symbolic because the mountains are grounded, stable & solid which is a stark contrast to Mara's fragile state.
Armed with this new insight, Lesley is able to make peace with Mara & share what she has learned.
Beauty Triumphs - By: , 06 Mar 2003 This story is setin Kansasin 1978. The protagonist, Lesley O'Malley is a 12th grader who is unusually mature. She is not a believable teenager & sounds more like she is upward of 25!
Lesley has plenty of challenges to mature her. Her mother Mara, a Hungarian WWII survivor slips into a hazy nowhere land between lucidity & delusions. Her sister Megan, then 9 whom I found spoiled & obnoxious is an added major challenge. I found Megan very unpleasant & annoying & just could not like her. The girls' father, O'Malley is a gentle man who works hard to keep the peace.
Mara, always unstable & unpredictable relives the atrocities she survived during the war. Captured by Nazis & imprisonedin a breeding camp, Mara loses the two sons she bears while held captive. Her first son Klaus is taken from her immediately after his birth, never to be seen again. Her second son dies shortly after birth. Mara spends the remainder of her life searching for Klaus, her first-born.
Matters reach a critical head when Mara sees a neighbor's child & insists that he is Klaus. The boy plays along with her because he enjoys the attention & gifts he receives from Mara. Lesley tries to monitor Mara & keeping Mara & Megan (I thought Megan was loathsome)in check is a difficult balancing act. ..
