Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Boy in the Field
Margot Livesy
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Boy in the Field
Margot Livesy
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Boy in the Field, by Margot Livesy, is the story of a family and of finding one’s self. On their way home, Matthew, Zoe, and Duncan, are siblings who find a boy lying in a field. They stop a car and the driver calls for an ambulance. At dinner that night they wonder why the boy had blood on his legs.
Detective Hugh Price comes to their house with PC Hannah Jones. Matthew tells him why they had walked home. They learn the boy’s name is Karel Lustig and he works at the Cottage Hospital. Matthew’s dad tells him to watch out for his sister Zoe, and he worries about the man who had hurt the boy in the field. Zoe recalls a time in the graveyard when a man had flashed before her then run away. Author Livesy switches from one child to the other, interweaving their stories.
Matthew looks for a clue, a thread of where the boy had been. He finds the boy’s St. Christopher medal in the field and takes it to the detective. He also gives him a bus ticket and empty beer bottles. He asks Duncan to make a sign with pictures for their exhibit on New Years Eve 2000. Duncan recalls the license plate number of a blue car that almost stopped when he went for help. He draws a picture of the car for the detective and describes the driver.
Duncan is given a dog by a boy who is going to London to be an actor. The dog’s name is Lily. Zoe returns from a date with her beau Anthony. Matthew runs into the boy in the field's brother Tomas Lustig while working at the co-op. They meet at the Green Man pub. The brother is a milkman and is always looking for the man who hurt his brother. He hopes Matthew will help. Zoe goes to the butcher shop to apply for a job, but her parents want her to study. Her parents have been together for twenty years. Zoe finds photos of another woman in her father’s things. He had gone to Wales alone one time. She gives the photos to her father and he takes them to his forge where he makes iron gates.
Duncan’s art teacher gives him a book with illustrations of paintings of bottles. Duncan is impressed by them, and tries to draw his new dog Lily. Watching television, he shouts out the answers to quiz questions. His parents are impressed. He tells his mom he’d like to find his birth mother, just to talk to her, or to have a photo of her. He was adopted when an infant.
Zoe meets an American man in town, and they have tea. He likes Oxford where they live because of the famous people who lived there. He takes her to the museum and introduces her to a mummy. On her way to the bus station she sees her father’s girlfriend. Matthew plans to go door to door pretending to collect for Oxfam in order to find the man. But how would he know it was him? Would he see the blue car with the license plate he knows? Tomas goes with him putting donations into bags. They are like two boys “emptying a lake with a wine glass.”
Duncan must find out his birth mother’s first name. Zoe tells Matthew their father is having an affair. He’s not surprised, as this explains his absences and his cooking new recipes. Matthew asks the detective how Duncan can find his birth mother. Hugh Price suggests the telephone directory or the Turkish embassy or a private detective. They know she was from Turkey.
After Zoe again meets the American, Rufus, she goes to his flat and they make love. She is sixteen and feels confident in doing this. He tries to dissuade her but gives in at last. Duncan paints his portrait of Lily, his dog, lying on the rug. His mum gives him a paper with his birth mother’s name on it. He puts it in his book, “The Little Mermaid”. Gordon comes to visit his old dog, Lily and Duncan gives him the painting. He is thrilled. He returns to London and leaves the dog with Duncan. He has a part in a play there.
When Zoe next sees Rufus he tells her he has a girlfriend who is studying in Paris. But he has fallen in love with Zoe. She misses him already. When Duncan goes to his father’s forge, a woman is standing near him. She tells him she is going to have his baby. He tells her he can’t leave his family, but she wants to keep the baby. Duncan now understands how he came to be born, to be adopted, and why he doesn’t know who his mother is. Maybe he shouldn’t try to find her. When he gets home his mother tells him the phone number of his “first” mother and he dials it. Esmeray answers and they talk, telling each other their names and their favorite colors. She’s on her way to Canada but on her return she will call him. Duncan is thrilled. His second mother is beside him and he tells her she’s great.
Zoe’s ex-boyfriend is hit by a hit and run driver in a blue car. Could this be the same man who hurt the boy? At a fund raiser for the town, everyone comes in costume. Zoe had sent Rufus an announcement but doesn’t expect him to come. Does he come to the party? What becomes of this family? How has the boy in the field affected them and do they find out who hurt him? Find this tender story of family and feelings on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Detective Hugh Price comes to their house with PC Hannah Jones. Matthew tells him why they had walked home. They learn the boy’s name is Karel Lustig and he works at the Cottage Hospital. Matthew’s dad tells him to watch out for his sister Zoe, and he worries about the man who had hurt the boy in the field. Zoe recalls a time in the graveyard when a man had flashed before her then run away. Author Livesy switches from one child to the other, interweaving their stories.
Matthew looks for a clue, a thread of where the boy had been. He finds the boy’s St. Christopher medal in the field and takes it to the detective. He also gives him a bus ticket and empty beer bottles. He asks Duncan to make a sign with pictures for their exhibit on New Years Eve 2000. Duncan recalls the license plate number of a blue car that almost stopped when he went for help. He draws a picture of the car for the detective and describes the driver.
Duncan is given a dog by a boy who is going to London to be an actor. The dog’s name is Lily. Zoe returns from a date with her beau Anthony. Matthew runs into the boy in the field's brother Tomas Lustig while working at the co-op. They meet at the Green Man pub. The brother is a milkman and is always looking for the man who hurt his brother. He hopes Matthew will help. Zoe goes to the butcher shop to apply for a job, but her parents want her to study. Her parents have been together for twenty years. Zoe finds photos of another woman in her father’s things. He had gone to Wales alone one time. She gives the photos to her father and he takes them to his forge where he makes iron gates.
Duncan’s art teacher gives him a book with illustrations of paintings of bottles. Duncan is impressed by them, and tries to draw his new dog Lily. Watching television, he shouts out the answers to quiz questions. His parents are impressed. He tells his mom he’d like to find his birth mother, just to talk to her, or to have a photo of her. He was adopted when an infant.
Zoe meets an American man in town, and they have tea. He likes Oxford where they live because of the famous people who lived there. He takes her to the museum and introduces her to a mummy. On her way to the bus station she sees her father’s girlfriend. Matthew plans to go door to door pretending to collect for Oxfam in order to find the man. But how would he know it was him? Would he see the blue car with the license plate he knows? Tomas goes with him putting donations into bags. They are like two boys “emptying a lake with a wine glass.”
Duncan must find out his birth mother’s first name. Zoe tells Matthew their father is having an affair. He’s not surprised, as this explains his absences and his cooking new recipes. Matthew asks the detective how Duncan can find his birth mother. Hugh Price suggests the telephone directory or the Turkish embassy or a private detective. They know she was from Turkey.
After Zoe again meets the American, Rufus, she goes to his flat and they make love. She is sixteen and feels confident in doing this. He tries to dissuade her but gives in at last. Duncan paints his portrait of Lily, his dog, lying on the rug. His mum gives him a paper with his birth mother’s name on it. He puts it in his book, “The Little Mermaid”. Gordon comes to visit his old dog, Lily and Duncan gives him the painting. He is thrilled. He returns to London and leaves the dog with Duncan. He has a part in a play there.
When Zoe next sees Rufus he tells her he has a girlfriend who is studying in Paris. But he has fallen in love with Zoe. She misses him already. When Duncan goes to his father’s forge, a woman is standing near him. She tells him she is going to have his baby. He tells her he can’t leave his family, but she wants to keep the baby. Duncan now understands how he came to be born, to be adopted, and why he doesn’t know who his mother is. Maybe he shouldn’t try to find her. When he gets home his mother tells him the phone number of his “first” mother and he dials it. Esmeray answers and they talk, telling each other their names and their favorite colors. She’s on her way to Canada but on her return she will call him. Duncan is thrilled. His second mother is beside him and he tells her she’s great.
Zoe’s ex-boyfriend is hit by a hit and run driver in a blue car. Could this be the same man who hurt the boy? At a fund raiser for the town, everyone comes in costume. Zoe had sent Rufus an announcement but doesn’t expect him to come. Does he come to the party? What becomes of this family? How has the boy in the field affected them and do they find out who hurt him? Find this tender story of family and feelings on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.