The Cry of the Meadowlark

About the Book

THE CRY OF THE MEADOWLARK

From the meadows of childhood we move directly into the poisoned garden of the world, and it is only by chance or magic that we can survive with any dignity.    

                                    Quote from book by Jan McEwan, The Innocent.

The Cry of the Meadowlark begins in San Francisco during the  Depression Era, where seven year old  Louise is the product of a broken home.  Her father whom she adores has remarried and in her loneliness, Louise thinks of herself as an orphan.

Her  escape from reality is the movie theater, and almost everyone she knows reminds her of a movie star.

Louise's mother sends her and her brother to a boarding school in the country, which Louise considers a punishment for past misbehaviors.

Although the transformation is difficult, the farm is beautiful and the children slowly adjust.  There are ten boarders in all with additional children during the summer vacation.  Along with daily chores and school studies, their days are filled with activities.  Occasionally they manage to get into trouble for various infractions and Louse is often reprimanded unjustly.

It is in a movie theater, while at the boarding school, that Louise is molested.  Because of past punishments for tattling, she is afraid to tell anyone.  Instead she reverts to fantasy by creating an imaginary friend.  

This is not only a story of molestation, divorce and  abandonment, but how a seven year old copes with adult situations.

It goes back in time to 1936 and enters on a boarding school for children from broken

homes called Meadowlark Farm.

=====

About the Author

Marie Brazil is a native Californian and has lived in Los Altos for thirty-five years. For twenty-eight years she worked at Stanford University with her last position as Administrator for the Modern Thought and Literature Program. She is currently working on her second book, Beyond Eden.