The Sunflower Forest

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 and reality; her 9-year-old sister Megan whom I found spoiled, loathsome and obnoxious is an added cross to bear. I found Megan thoroughly unpleasant and just could not like her. A pie in 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 and imprisoned in a breeding farm, Mara loses the two sons she bore while in 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 and insists that he is Klaus, the son who was taken from her during the war. He humors her because she brings him candy and gifts. Lesley desperately tries to monitor Mara and balancing Mara and Megan (I thought Megan was thoroughly loathsome) is a daunting juggling act.

Mara was never able to accept the reality of her losses and is ultimately consumed by her fantasies. Her family sadly picks up the pieces and carries on after her death and Lesley decides to visit Wales, the place Mara and 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 taken in 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 beauty in the grimmest of circumstances. It is in Wales that Lesley learns to recognize the truth about sunflowers; as beautiful as they are, they are weeds. She comes to accept Mara, warts and all. By making her definition of beauty more expansive and inclusive, Lesley empowers herself with wisdom. It sounded from the telling that Lesley learned that beauty can be wishes or feelings and is not limited to who and what is tangible. She finds beauty in the Welsh mountains. This can be seen as symbolic because the mountains are grounded, stable and solid which is a stark contrast to Mara's fragile state.

Armed with this new insight, Lesley is able to make peace with Mara and share what she has learned.


Beauty Triumphs   March 6, 2003
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This story is set in Kansas in 1978. The protagonist, Lesley O'Malley is a 12th grader who is unusually mature. She is not a believable teenager and 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 and delusions. Her sister Megan, then 9 whom I found spoiled and obnoxious is an added major challenge. I found Megan very unpleasant and annoying and just could not like her. The girls' father, O'Malley is a gentle man who works hard to keep the peace.

Mara, always unstable and unpredictable relives the atrocities she survived during the war. Captured by Nazis and imprisoned in 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 and insists that he is Klaus. The boy plays along with her because he enjoys the attention and gifts he receives from Mara. Lesley tries to monitor Mara and keeping Mara and Megan (I thought Megan was loathsome) in check is a difficult balancing act. ..