“Who was she? The opposite of a mother. The opposite of a spouse.”
Lorrie Moore’s long story, Terrific Mother, published by Faber and Faber in the Faber Stories series, follows Adrienne, a woman in her mid-30s who has recently accidentally killed a friend’s baby.
The woman, who is, at first, very comfortable and gentle while handling babies, finds herself becoming increasingly unsure as she gets older. Being around babies begins to “give her stage fright”, and the compliments about her making a “terrific mother” when the time comes do little to alleviate her discomfort. The moments of panic spiral into a fatal accident when, at a party, a bench cracks when Adrienne tries to sit on it while holding a baby, and the infant slips out of her grip, thus smashing its head.
The horrific accident, which occurs in a matter of seconds, discolours everyone’s lives, Adrienne’s especially, who retreats into her apartment for months, refusing all human contact except for her boyfriend Martin’s, who has the wisdom to not leave her entirely alone. Moore’s preface is no more than a few paragraphs long, bringing the reader up to speed at breakneck pace on Adrienne’s present condition.
A matter of survival
The first moments of horror are quickly replaced by the urgency...
