For love
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With May's death, Ob and Summer are grief stricken. Will they ever find life the same again?
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Missing May is about love and holding up in the face of adversity. What makes it appealing is that while there is a pervasive sense of sorrow, none of the characters is bitter even though they haven't had the best of experiences in their lives. Six-year-old Summer would never have had a childhood. Treated more like abominable homework everyone took turns to do, the orphan was growing up in a joyless atmosphere till her aunt May and her husband Ob adopted her. May and Ob take Summer to live in their trailer home.
The characters may at first appear incredible. But as the story proceeds they become more real — just different from most with their beliefs and colourful whirligigs, full of soul. This is well brought out, though a trifle overdone. And then one day May dies in the garden, bringing life to a standstill for her and Ob.
Then they have a visitor — Cletus, who is in the habit of collecting odd things. With him the family returns to life again. How they come to terms with the loss of May and learn that in spite of death the essence of the person they loved and lost still lingers on, forms the crux of the tale.
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant, Scholastic, Rs 60.
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