What Was Lost

Summary

Reminiscent of Hello Beautiful and The Lying Life of Adults, this powerful narrative delves into social changes from 1970 to 2000 and captures a woman’s journey in a pre-#MeToo era via the tale of a mother who returns to her hometown to face the perpetrator of her childhood abuse.

When a girl feels complicit in her own abuse, how does that thwart the adult woman? 

Welling to the surface are memories of a past Marti Farrell tried to bury. The catalyst is her teenage daughter, Tess, whose awakening sexuality is causing Marti an acute unease. 

Marti makes an impulsive decision to return to the small Vermont town she ran away from thirty years earlier, an unwitting and unwilling Tess towed along for the journey, further escalating tension between them. 

Seeking both forgiveness for lies told, and revenge for secrets held, Marti has a plan. But it all goes awry as she learns the full impact her deception has had on other people’s lives. There’s no more burying the past: Marti has to confront it to release its clutches.

What Was Lost shifts from the 1960’s to 2000 exploring the myriad ways people felt “othered”, and a young girl’s limited options in times before language such as “me, too” helped give voice to these all-too-common occurrences.