The Moonlight Man

by Paula Fox

"How can one month change everything?"Catherine Ames's father is a traveler -- he always has been. And except for fleeting visits which always left Catherine yearning for more, her father has always been a mystery to her. So when Mr. Ames suggests a month-long stay at a summer cabin in Nova Scotia for just the two of them, Catherine is thrilled. "Finally," she will know her father as the other girls at school know theirs -- his habits, his laugh, and most of all, his wonderful stories.

But their summer of discovery is soon overshadowed by Mr. Ames's unpredictability. He drinks a lot -- more than Catherine imagines other fathers drink. Up close, her fancy-free father seems different -- darker, like the Nova Scotian night sky. As the sun sets on their month together, Catherine struggles against the terrible things she is learning about her father. How can the man she grew up wishing was near seem so far away now? And how can she bring him back to her?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Realistic Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Paula Fox was an American author of novels for adults and children and two memoirs. Her novel The Slave Dancer (1973) received the Newbery Medal in 1974; and in 1978, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. More recently, A Portrait of Ivan won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2008.

A teenage marriage produced a daughter, Linda, in 1944. Given the tumultuous relationship with her own biological parents, she gave the child up for adoption. Linda Carroll, the daughter Fox gave up for adoption, is the mother of musician Courtney Love.

Fox then attended Columbia University, married the literary critic and translator Martin Greenberg, raised two sons, taught, and began to write.

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was from the "recommended reads" on the juvenile fiction shelf at my library. In it, fifteen-year-old Catherine spends a summer with her absentee (and fairly deadbeat father) after her mother remarries and takes a honeymoon. Catherine quickly learns that her father is nothing like the idealized notion she had created in her mind. She is disappointed and sometimes disgusted with him yet, she is still desperate to have a relationship with him. This emotional conflict makes for an interesting, though not always upbeat story.

[Jaden]

Realistic Fiction

The Moonlight Man is a portrayal of a 15-year-old girl’s relationship with her alcoholic father. Catherine’s parents have been divorced ever since she was very little. She has never spent more than a few days at a time with her father who she idolized. Her mother is on a honeymoon in England with her new husband. Catherine is looking forward to spending the summer with her father when she is on vacation from her Montreal boarding school. She is left to wait for three long weeks at school with no word from him to explain his absence. Finally, he calls, and she meets him in Nova Scotia, beginning an extraordinary summer. She realizes his weakness, especially his drinking. Catherine comes to terms with her father and learns to accept both of her parents and the different decisions they have made in their life. The Moonlight man is Catherine’s father who is a romantic whose life is ruled by his emotions.

[Tiffany Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen year old Catherine finally gets the chance to spend time with her father that left her many years ago. She wanted to get to know her father for the man he really is, as almost any teenager would want. Once they finally meet, she soon realizes that he is a horrible alcoholic. She struggles with an internal battle to love her dysfunctional father, because she will not be at peace with herself if she doesn’t. Besides his flaws, she finds that her father is also very imaginative and gives her a brand new perspective on the beauty of traveling and life in general.

I really liked this story because it is not only a good coming of age story, but it is also a good representation of what it’s like to deal with parent’s that are polar opposite. Paula Fox brings to life each of her characters, and uses strong symbolism and an interesting plot to keep the reader hooked.

[Maria Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story tells the tale of an American girl spending the summer with her father in Digby County, Nova Scotia. During her stay (as one might expect if they know the county) her illusions of straight cops, wholesome farmers and adults who know what they are doing. She struggles with her father’s alcoholism while trying to align the picture in her head to the reality before her. I enjoyed this one.

[Rob McGrory · Rating 5 out of 5]

The harsh reality that parents are simply human like the rest of us. That is one lesson here. The fact that a parent can be a seemingly hopeless alcoholic and yet still have the capacity to love is another lesson. Look, childhood isn't always pretty but if nothing else we can get a great story out of a less than perfect one.

[Nana Dona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Catherine spends he summer with the father she barely knows. It wasn't his drinking Harry goes on binges that horrify and repulse Catherine; it wasn't his facile ability to lie: it wasn't the way "he thrived on chaos," But she learns that he takes nothing in life for granted...

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Take on It: This was not a book for me. Surprisingly- I generally am a big fan of realistic fiction that focuses on personal growth and emotional development. However, this book had an ethereal, wispy quality to it that just didn’t fit the subject material for me. I have not read any of Fox’s other novels to my knowledge and this may just be a stylistic choice that I do not care for. If you tend to like fantasy or books on the cusp of these two genres and want to read a realistic fiction piece, it may be right up your alley. But the feeling of the words just did not work in my brain. I will give her props for a well-organized story and for making rather incredulous events make sense via sound explanations. It just was not a tone or style I favored.

Overall Grade: C+, A solid plotline with overdramatic descriptions and mismatched tone that just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, it may be yours depending on your reading preferences.

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[Books Kids Like · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end of the school term, Catherine Ames waits three weeks for her father to pick her up. She makes excuses for him while trying to cover her impatience and despair. Finally he sends for her, and she joins him in Nova Scotia where he has rented a small house. Harry Ames seems defeated by life. His budding career as a novelist ended after his second novel. Now he drinks, flirts with other women, and writes travel guides. Catherine's mother tells her, "He thinks being hopeless about life is deep, romantic. But he's not hopeless. It's just a pose." Catherine describes her father a moonlight man. His attitudes and ambitions are ethereal and hard to grasp. During their time together, Harry shares with Catherine his love for poetry, nature, and travel. He also shows his dark side when he gets drunk. Catherine tries to understand her father, but the answer seems to elude her.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[KateMP]

I would recommend this book to people who like dramatic books with a lot of emotion behind them because this book can get pretty dramatic, but it has so much emotion from the characters. Catherine was waiting for her dad at school once her school year ended. She waited for a while for him to come, but instead he called one night and Catherine was on a train on her way to Nova Scotia. The bad thing is that Catherine's parents divorced when she was very young, so she practically knows nothing about this man that she calls her father. Her father seems to soon be drinking and making Catherine drive him home because he is too intoxicated. Even though he drinks too much he still has a love for writing about travel. One great strength about this book is that it gives you a great idea about how Catherine feels about all the events that are happening.

[Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Moonlight Man by Paula Fox is about this girl named Catherine Ames and her father. In the story, the main character, Catherine was in search of learning more about her father, Harry Ames. Therefore, Catherine made her way to Nova Scotia to get in touch with her father. Both of Catherine's parents were divorced, which would probably make Catherine's life full of eagerness and questioning. This girl learned so much about her father, and especially since he is a drunk with booze on hand. Harry Ames wanted to fullfill and be a part of his daughter's life with poetry, nature, and traveling. Paula Fox is an interesting author, and somehow I believe that the title, The Moonlight Man symbolizes Catherine's father in this book.