20 Oct 2007

some changes...

In reaction to certain posts etc...the following changes have come about:

1. I am indeed a caterer, but instead of deserts I specialise in organic foods.

2. I do not know any siblings...this is going to happen in the book. I will find out that I have some.

3. Max´s mother is no longer perfect. She is returning to the original idea of having a drink problem herself.

Ruby is now rich...very rich. Not that Max is aware, as Lily is determined to create her own life and be independant.

In what scenario would Ruby end up telling me that I have siblings? Why have they been secret? What happens next?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Why would Ruby tell her... There are two probable reasons I could see.

The first is that Ruby has decided, for whatever reason, that Lily is now mature enough to be told the truth about her mother's life, including her clients (with whom, it seems, she hadn't been using protection!)

The second would be that Lily is ill and needs a close relative to donate some bit of their anatomy. Ruby isn't eligible because [insert reason she's not a fit donor], but she knows who might be!

Would one of those fit your image of her?

Anonymous said...

My knowledge on this is pretty basic, but there is a ton of adoption information on the web that might be useful for you, if you want to look there. As far as I know, in the 1950's adoption was generally regarded as something to be kept secret, and very few mothers had contact information for their children following the adoption. The adopted child would probably not have information about his birth family, and may not know he was adopted. The general view was that the child would be fine in the adoptive family without ever knowing the circumstances of their birth, and that the birth mother should move on with her life, and things would be better if she pretended it had never happened. There was no such thing as post-adoption counseling, and many birth mothers didn't know how to cope with the depression that can come with placing a child.

The truth might come out as the mother drinks too much and talks about her regrets about her younger life, or says that she got a birthday present - the brother had sought her out and made contact, and she wanted to share that with the rest of the family. Maybe someone at the party starts talking about adoption, and Mom goes into her experiences, shocking your MC. Maybe she feels she is running out of time and would like to see her son once more before she dies.