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When the Bough Breaks
A divorced mother of three becomes pregnant and has a major decision to make. Adult novel.
- GenresFiction
182 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
3 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Lois Duncan
68 books2,002 followersLois Duncan (born Lois Duncan Steinmetz) was an American writer and novelist, known primarily for her books for children and young adults, in particular (and some times controversially considering her young readership) crime thrillers. Duncan's parents were the noted magazine photographers Lois Steinmetz and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Duncan started writing and submitting manuscripts to magazines at the age of ten, and when she was thirteen succeeded in selling her first story.
Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him.
Duncan was best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title. Other made-for-TV movies include Stranger with My Face, Killing Mr. Griffin, Don't Look Behind You, Summer of Fear and Gallows Hill.
In 1989 the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case.
Duncan's second book about her daughter's murder, ONE TO THE WOLVES: ON THE TRAIL OF A KILLER, picks up where the first book leaves off and contains all the new information Kait's family has uncovered from private investigation.
The 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs was released as a theatrical movie in 2009, starring Emma Roberts. That book has now been republished by Scholastic along with two sequels, News for Dogs (2009) and Movie for Dogs (2010).
Duncan's Gothic suspense novel, DOWN A DARK HALL, is being filmed for the Big Screen and will probably be released in 2016.
Follow Lois on Twitter: http://twitter.com/duncanauthor
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i...
http://www.kaitarquette.arquettes.com
Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him.
Duncan was best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title. Other made-for-TV movies include Stranger with My Face, Killing Mr. Griffin, Don't Look Behind You, Summer of Fear and Gallows Hill.
In 1989 the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case.
Duncan's second book about her daughter's murder, ONE TO THE WOLVES: ON THE TRAIL OF A KILLER, picks up where the first book leaves off and contains all the new information Kait's family has uncovered from private investigation.
The 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs was released as a theatrical movie in 2009, starring Emma Roberts. That book has now been republished by Scholastic along with two sequels, News for Dogs (2009) and Movie for Dogs (2010).
Duncan's Gothic suspense novel, DOWN A DARK HALL, is being filmed for the Big Screen and will probably be released in 2016.
Follow Lois on Twitter: http://twitter.com/duncanauthor
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i...
http://www.kaitarquette.arquettes.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 25, 2016
Picked up this 1973 read at The Traveler's Restaurant and Bookstore in Ct. (buy 1 meal, get 3 free books!) The Kitchy cover made me giggle, but the story did not. A divorced woman of three finds herself pregnant, newly employed and without any social or societal support. Very timely during this political election when women's rights are once again literally at stake. A snapshot of the 1970;s that in a blink of an eye, we could revert to. Always good to look back at where we have come in just one generation.
April 8, 2013
I consumed with a fiery passion everything Lois Duncan wrote during my middle school years, so I was very surprised today to stumble upon this book (which I had never heard of ) today in a thrift shop.
I see that it is an adult book (I didn't realize she ever wrote adult books), but think it will still be an interesting read.
After Reading it: This book did not go in the direction that I thought it was going to go at all. As it was published in 1973, and that it was the story of a divorced middle-aged mother of 3 who finds herself pregnant by her much younger casual lover; I thought it might end up being about feminist power, or that it might be an anti-feminist cry to protect traditional values.
In reality (and thankfully) it was neither. It was about the complexity of relationships and decisions and how they affect the ones we love, our family and our future.
The part that affected me the most was how differently society viewed babies born out of wedlock. I mean, I was well aware of what it was like for unwed mothers back 30,40,50 years ago. But I think most of the things I've dealt with on that topic, were young girls, who were forced into marriage or forced by parents to give away their babies. For some reason It never occurred to me that your options were not that different just because you were already a mother, and capable of making your own decisions.
This book also explored the protagonist's relationship with her children, especially her 15 year old daughter, and the reasons why her marriage had failed.
I see that it is an adult book (I didn't realize she ever wrote adult books), but think it will still be an interesting read.
After Reading it: This book did not go in the direction that I thought it was going to go at all. As it was published in 1973, and that it was the story of a divorced middle-aged mother of 3 who finds herself pregnant by her much younger casual lover; I thought it might end up being about feminist power, or that it might be an anti-feminist cry to protect traditional values.
In reality (and thankfully) it was neither. It was about the complexity of relationships and decisions and how they affect the ones we love, our family and our future.
The part that affected me the most was how differently society viewed babies born out of wedlock. I mean, I was well aware of what it was like for unwed mothers back 30,40,50 years ago. But I think most of the things I've dealt with on that topic, were young girls, who were forced into marriage or forced by parents to give away their babies. For some reason It never occurred to me that your options were not that different just because you were already a mother, and capable of making your own decisions.
This book also explored the protagonist's relationship with her children, especially her 15 year old daughter, and the reasons why her marriage had failed.
November 27, 2023
“We reach for each other. We all reach for each other, and yet we are all alone.”
The affair happened in the twelfth year of Kathryn and Robert Michener’s marriage. And as the affair becomes known to Kathryn, she immediately begins divorce proceedings, despite Robert’s pleadings that the other woman meant nothing to him, he wants to give their marriage another try. But Kathryn will have none of it, her pride is shattered, she and the children are leaving Robert, leaving Florida, leaving behind everything and everyone they know.
“Where will you go?” Robert asks in desperation.
“Probably California,” Kathryn replies, a destination chosen based on nothing other than the fact that California is the furthest desirable place to live from Florida that she can imagine. The house is listed for sale, the car is packed with suitcases and three children, Diane, Susan, and the youngest boy, Chris.
Kathryn and the children set out on the open road, The Golden State their vague destination.
But it’s when they reach New Mexico that this plan is changed. Kathryn put it this way,
“It was because of the mountains that I stopped here in the first place in this strange desert country, I who grew up in a little Florida town on the Atlantic coast. I reached these mountains. I stopped the car and got out and felt the dry desert air against my face and felt the sun, thin and hot, and saw the starkness of the rocky peaks jutting against the sky. There was a cleanness in this stark, rugged country, harsh in its ugliness. I did not then want the softness and beauty of coastal Florida. It would’ve broken my heart.”
And that was it, Albuquerque became the new home of the Michener Family.
And if the initial appeal of this rugged country was in its dramatic contrasts to coastal Florida, Kathryn came to appreciate the unique beauty of the Albuquerque area, bit by bit:
“In the years since, I have come to find a beauty, however, slowly, bit by bit, as I became more able to bear its discovery. In the summer there is green on the mountains, and in the winter, there is snow. Further north, in the region of Santa Fe, where there are aspen, the slopes turn golden in autumn, shimmering in the breeze. In the valley along the Rio Grande grow yellow cottonwoods. In the springtime the desert itself erupts in wildflowers.”
And it is at this point of relative harmony that we first get a glimpse into the family life that Kathryn and her children have settled into. Kathryn was able to land a secure job writing copy for the Kirman Agency, (the interview was unorthodox, but entertaining to read), she is slowly building her career, and as the story progresses, it is enhanced by the comings and goings of the children, the bustling sounds that make a house a home.
Lois Duncan did a very good job of instilling the feeling of a true home in the telling of this story. This was mostly achieved by the telling of daily activities that may logically be thought of as “routine,” but in their sum, made this story so much warmer and relatable. But it was when I was privy to Kathryn’s “inner mom reflections,” that this sense of family atmosphere was most authentically achieved. Here was one of my favorite examples, one where Kathryn is lying in bed, listening to the voices of her children on a summer morning:
“I listen to their voices, not hearing the words, just the melody. Each sings his own song: one chirping, one growling, one rising from the softness to a screech of outrage so intense that I DO hear the words- ‘You put that back right NOW, Chris Michener! You know you’re not supposed to go poking around in my bureau!’”
To this end, I appreciated getting to know each of Katheryn’s children: There’s Diane, the eldest daughter who has a penchant for keeping her room tidy and neat, but also challenges her mother at every turn, a habit that gets more and more difficult by the time of the opening pages of the story, when she’s sixteen. The youngest daughter, Susan, a young teen, kept a much messier bedroom than her older sister, preferring to read books rather than tidy the clothes hung in haphazard places about her side of the room she shares with Diane. Susan has a bright, sunny, optimistic personality. Finally, there is Chris, the youngest boy, probably eight or nine years old at the time, he is an adventurous, bright boy with a winning sense of humor that often offers comic relief to the more serious parts of the story.
Early on in the story, we learn that Kathryn has been dating Dan McCown, an artist at the same agency Kathryn works for. At the outset of the story, we learn that Dan is quite a few years younger than Kathryn and that they’ve been dating about a year or so. Kathryn’s kids seem to tolerate Dan but are definitely not overly fond of him. The older sisters feel he’s too close to their own age to be dating their mother, Chris the youngest is a bit miffed that Dan doesn’t seem to want to pay him much attention. Despite the few bumps along the way, the family seems to adjust to mom’s new boyfriend in a smooth, if unenthusiastic way.
But all of this changes when Kathryn finds out she’s pregnant, the father is her boyfriend Dan.
As soon as I learned of this, I flipped to the front of the book to find out that it was published in 1973. I kept this in mind as I read of the challenges that were to follow, including the stigma that was still firmly in place when it came to out-of-wedlock motherhood at the time. I was also reminded that the dangers of a pregnant woman drinking alcohol were not yet widely known fifty years ago. This is where the friction between Katheryn and her eldest daughter Diane really flares up, while at the same time, Dan’s passion for his older girlfriend seems to cool off…
In summary, I hadn’t read a Lois Duncan novel before, and after a little research I learned that her body of work was largely populated with teen fiction and children’s picture books. I was impressed that this author had such a wide range of writing talent.
I really enjoyed reading this story, it more than earned four stars!
The affair happened in the twelfth year of Kathryn and Robert Michener’s marriage. And as the affair becomes known to Kathryn, she immediately begins divorce proceedings, despite Robert’s pleadings that the other woman meant nothing to him, he wants to give their marriage another try. But Kathryn will have none of it, her pride is shattered, she and the children are leaving Robert, leaving Florida, leaving behind everything and everyone they know.
“Where will you go?” Robert asks in desperation.
“Probably California,” Kathryn replies, a destination chosen based on nothing other than the fact that California is the furthest desirable place to live from Florida that she can imagine. The house is listed for sale, the car is packed with suitcases and three children, Diane, Susan, and the youngest boy, Chris.
Kathryn and the children set out on the open road, The Golden State their vague destination.
But it’s when they reach New Mexico that this plan is changed. Kathryn put it this way,
“It was because of the mountains that I stopped here in the first place in this strange desert country, I who grew up in a little Florida town on the Atlantic coast. I reached these mountains. I stopped the car and got out and felt the dry desert air against my face and felt the sun, thin and hot, and saw the starkness of the rocky peaks jutting against the sky. There was a cleanness in this stark, rugged country, harsh in its ugliness. I did not then want the softness and beauty of coastal Florida. It would’ve broken my heart.”
And that was it, Albuquerque became the new home of the Michener Family.
And if the initial appeal of this rugged country was in its dramatic contrasts to coastal Florida, Kathryn came to appreciate the unique beauty of the Albuquerque area, bit by bit:
“In the years since, I have come to find a beauty, however, slowly, bit by bit, as I became more able to bear its discovery. In the summer there is green on the mountains, and in the winter, there is snow. Further north, in the region of Santa Fe, where there are aspen, the slopes turn golden in autumn, shimmering in the breeze. In the valley along the Rio Grande grow yellow cottonwoods. In the springtime the desert itself erupts in wildflowers.”
And it is at this point of relative harmony that we first get a glimpse into the family life that Kathryn and her children have settled into. Kathryn was able to land a secure job writing copy for the Kirman Agency, (the interview was unorthodox, but entertaining to read), she is slowly building her career, and as the story progresses, it is enhanced by the comings and goings of the children, the bustling sounds that make a house a home.
Lois Duncan did a very good job of instilling the feeling of a true home in the telling of this story. This was mostly achieved by the telling of daily activities that may logically be thought of as “routine,” but in their sum, made this story so much warmer and relatable. But it was when I was privy to Kathryn’s “inner mom reflections,” that this sense of family atmosphere was most authentically achieved. Here was one of my favorite examples, one where Kathryn is lying in bed, listening to the voices of her children on a summer morning:
“I listen to their voices, not hearing the words, just the melody. Each sings his own song: one chirping, one growling, one rising from the softness to a screech of outrage so intense that I DO hear the words- ‘You put that back right NOW, Chris Michener! You know you’re not supposed to go poking around in my bureau!’”
To this end, I appreciated getting to know each of Katheryn’s children: There’s Diane, the eldest daughter who has a penchant for keeping her room tidy and neat, but also challenges her mother at every turn, a habit that gets more and more difficult by the time of the opening pages of the story, when she’s sixteen. The youngest daughter, Susan, a young teen, kept a much messier bedroom than her older sister, preferring to read books rather than tidy the clothes hung in haphazard places about her side of the room she shares with Diane. Susan has a bright, sunny, optimistic personality. Finally, there is Chris, the youngest boy, probably eight or nine years old at the time, he is an adventurous, bright boy with a winning sense of humor that often offers comic relief to the more serious parts of the story.
Early on in the story, we learn that Kathryn has been dating Dan McCown, an artist at the same agency Kathryn works for. At the outset of the story, we learn that Dan is quite a few years younger than Kathryn and that they’ve been dating about a year or so. Kathryn’s kids seem to tolerate Dan but are definitely not overly fond of him. The older sisters feel he’s too close to their own age to be dating their mother, Chris the youngest is a bit miffed that Dan doesn’t seem to want to pay him much attention. Despite the few bumps along the way, the family seems to adjust to mom’s new boyfriend in a smooth, if unenthusiastic way.
But all of this changes when Kathryn finds out she’s pregnant, the father is her boyfriend Dan.
As soon as I learned of this, I flipped to the front of the book to find out that it was published in 1973. I kept this in mind as I read of the challenges that were to follow, including the stigma that was still firmly in place when it came to out-of-wedlock motherhood at the time. I was also reminded that the dangers of a pregnant woman drinking alcohol were not yet widely known fifty years ago. This is where the friction between Katheryn and her eldest daughter Diane really flares up, while at the same time, Dan’s passion for his older girlfriend seems to cool off…
In summary, I hadn’t read a Lois Duncan novel before, and after a little research I learned that her body of work was largely populated with teen fiction and children’s picture books. I was impressed that this author had such a wide range of writing talent.
I really enjoyed reading this story, it more than earned four stars!
June 7, 2024
If you thought Lois Duncan only wrote suspense stories for teens, this is for you. One of the few adult books she wrote, this was published in 1973 (the same year as Roe vs Wade, the historic court case that made abortion legal throughout the United States until it's overturning in 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization). Kate who has been divorced for four years finds herself pregnant after dating a younger man. What decisions will she make in regard to the child? Abortion, marry the father, give it up for adoption? And what about her three children from her first marriage, what's best for them, how will they react?
November 5, 2021
"I have given too little, and too much, and I have given the wrong things at the wrong times..." The curse of motherhood. *sigh*
March 7, 2023
This was a cute, quick read. I enjoyed the storyline, but the back and forth of memories threw me off just a little. Sometimes felt like it was so quick that the story was just eh.
May 6, 2013
Read again in 1989. Forest Grove Library.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews