How to Frighten Parents of Teenagers

Anne Lamott's new novel, "Imperfect Birds" (Riverhead, 2010), is a frightening one for readers who are, or will be, parents of teenagers. In this third installment (following the earlier novels "Rosie" and "Crooked Little Heart") of the story of young Rosie and her family, Rosie is 17 years old and experimenting with all that a teenager's life has to offer, including alcohol, drugs, and sex. Her mother Elizabeth and stepfather James are baffled, afraid, and sometimes angry. Rosie can be so sweet and loving, yet so rude and rebellious. She lies to her parents all the time, and they are caught between wanting to believe her often convincing stories and knowing better. What the novel illustrates scarily well is the unbearable experience of watching one's child go off the rails, and the helplessness that parents feel in the face of all this. The only allies Elizabeth and James have in battling with the situation are love, faith, supportive friends, access to relevant services, and the fact that Rosie is basically a "good kid" underneath it all. The novel - like most of Lamott's writing - is set in Marin County, California, where she lives and, as it happens, I live as well. Many of the scenes - geographical and social - are very familiar to me. Lamott's writing, although a bit workwomanlike, is effective, and kept me absorbed. And in case readers dread reading about such a painful topic, let me add that there are many positive and even happy scenes among the difficult ones, as well as quite a bit of humor, and that the novel ends with a note of hope.