Sunday Salon, The Outcast

I'm somewhat confused today... thought it was Sunday, it's only Saturday.
Don't tell my kids, they'll put me on a list for a Nursing Home.

 This past week I've been reading   The Outcast, by Sadie Jones, beautifully written, heart wrenching story of a young man struggling with life.   I think the most ridiculous thing/feeling someone could have said to this young man was that "he was loved too much as a young child" is there such a thing.  Can you love your child too much. I'm so glad we've come out of that stiff parenting style.  I can't identify with Lewis, I don't think I've ever felt unloved, and what a horrible feeling that must be.

From Publishers Weekly....Set in post WWII suburban London, this superb debut novel charts the downward spiral and tortured redemption of a young man shattered by loss. The war is over, and Lewis Aldridge is getting used to having his father, Gilbert, back in the house. Things hum along splendidly until Lewis's mother drowns, casting the 10-year-old into deep isolation. Lewis is ignored by grief-stricken Gilbert, who remarries a year after the death, and Lewis's sadness festers during his adolescence until he boils over and torches a church. After serving two years in prison, Lewis returns home seeking redemption and forgiveness, only to find himself ostracized. The town's most prominent family, the Carmichaels, poses particular danger: terrifying, abusive patriarch Dicky (who is also Gilbert's boss) wants to humiliate him; beautiful 21-year-old Tamsin possesses an insidious coquettishness; and patient, innocent Kit—not quite 16 years old—confounds him with her youthful affection. Mutual distrust between Lewis and the locals grows, but Kit may be able to save Lewis. Jones's prose is fluid, and Lewis's suffering comes across as achingly real.