to them. It needed writers of distinction to add an extra dimension to the genre. Robert
Westall’s The Scarecrows (1981) painfully traces 13-year-old Simon’s traumatic
emotional ride as he rejects his stepfather and conjures up spirits from the past whose
powers threaten to overwhelm him. Westall borders on the emotionally savage in his
version of how a teenager reacts to the replacement of his father by another man. Such
emotional force combined with powerful imagery turns subject matter which, in fiction at
any rate, was becoming depressingly routine into a book of enormous power and
importance.
Anne Fine has tackled family break-ups head on in both Madame Doubtfire (1989) and
Goggle-Eyes (1992). Her wit, insight and subtlety set her books apart from the rest and
do much to redress the balance and show just how well this hoary chestnut of a theme
can be handled. In Madam Doubtfire she carries off the preposterous notion that the
estranged father, desperate to spend more time with his children, can come back
disguised as a housekeeper who takes charge of the children while the mother is
working. The implausibility of the deception is deftly handled with the children
acknowledging and distancing themselves from the intrigue in almost equal, and
perfectly convincing, measure. In Goggle-Eyes, Kitty Killin tells Helly Johnson everything
she needs to know about mothers having new and unwanted boyfriends who, as both
girls know, may all too easily become unwanted stepfathers. Huddled in the school lost-
property cupboard, the two girls share their grief at the loss of the parents they first
loved. Helly’s story remains untold as the forceful Kitty unravels her own story about the
horrors of Goggle-Eyes and her eventual conversion to him and to his mother’s
relationship with him.
Paula Danziger’s books are read by many who are not yet into adolescence but much
of what she writes about concerns how teenagers come to terms with parental failure
and especially with the breaking up of marriage. Like Anne Fine, Paula Danziger’s ability
to write humorously about traumatic feelings and events enables her to inform her
readers about important emotional developments without ever preaching to them. In
both Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? (New York 1979; London 1986) and The
Divorce Express (New York 1982; London 1986) the titles alone indicate Danziger’s
lightness of touch on what can all too easily become a portentous and didactic subject
area.
Cynthia Voight takes a completely different approach in Homecoming (New York 1981;
London 1983). There is little humour but much warmth in this long and profoundly
moving story about four children who are abandoned in a car park by their mother who
can no longer cope with the problems of being a single parent without adequate
support. Dicey, the oldest, leads the others on a journey to find their grandmother. Their
trek takes them many miles to Maryland and their experiences on the way are a
convincing mixture of meetings with people, some good and some bad. Most
importantly, the journey is an opportunity for the characters of the children and their
interaction with one another to be developed. From the starting point of the break up of
the traditional family Cynthia Voight has written a story that is full of hope about sibling
support and their ability to redefine a family in the absence of parents.
Homecoming is the first in a series of interconnected novels through which Cynthia
Voight allows each of the four Tillerman children further room for development. The
388 TYPES AND GENRES