Awards
Winner of the 2003 Oregon Book Award for Fiction
Synopses & Reviews
Suspenseful, edgy, and exact,
His Mother's Son explores the dark country between what we know and how we are nonetheless compelled to behave. Beautifully written, compulsively readable."--Janet Fitch, author of
White OleanderTo those who meet Jana Thomas, hers seems a perfect life, with a beautiful home, a successful career as an ER doctor, a loving husband, and a lively six-year-old son named Evan. But inside, Jana is crumbling. Evan's seemingly normal all-boy tendencies are escalating her motherly worry into something close to hysteria, threatening her job, her marriage, and even her relationship with her son.
The real source of Jana's disintegration is a past she has kept buried for sixteen years. When that past begins to bleed into the present, Jana is forced to plunge into the emotional whirlpool she left behind—with results that are shattering, profound, and wrenchingly moving.
"Emmons . . . has an eye for the grating intimacy of small-town life and a fine ear for suggestive metaphors. . . . Unusual and memorable."--The Economist
"Lovely writing . . . Emmons' emphasis is on her characters, and she draws them well."--Seattle Times
Cai Emmons has written for the stage, film, and television. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she teaches at the University of Oregon. She is the mother of a son.
Review
"[A] notable debut, a rich read with a generous, redemptive ending." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Gorgeous writing throughout makes for an unusually affecting and memorable debut." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Emmons takes us to the very heart of an American tragedy, the kind of story we usually only know at the arms-reach remove of TV news, and illuminates it with such vivid insight, such emotional intensity, such imaginative sympathy that we can't stop turning the pages." Peter Ho Davies, author The Ugliest House in the World
Synopsis
Combining the page-turning momentum of a psychological thriller with the finely observed, nuanced portrayal of a domestic drama, playwright and filmmaker Cai Emmons has written an extraordinarily assured first novel that belongs on the shelf beside Sue Miller and Jane Hamilton.
Jana Thomas has built a successful life with a loving husband, a darling six-year-old son, Evan, and a rewarding position as an emergency-room doctor. She has always been a nervous, hypervigilant parent, but Evans seemingly normal all-boy tendencies are escalating her worry into something close to hysteria, threatening her job, her marriage, and her motherhood. The real source of Jana's disintegration is a past she has kept buried for sixteen years.
She once had another name, and a younger brother, Varney, to whom Jana was more than a big sister--mother, best friend, interpreter of the world all rolled into one. When Varney violently blew everything apart, Jana ran and never looked back. Until now, when she spots a speck of Varneys rage in Evan, and the past begins to bleed into the present, gradually overwhelming it. Finally, Jana is forced to plunge into the emotional whirlpool she left behind. The results are shattering, profound, and wrenchingly moving.
Synopsis
To those who meet Jana Thomas, hers seems a perfect life, with a beautiful home, a successful career as an ER doctor, a loving husband, and a darling six-year-old son named Evan. But inside, Jana is crumbling. Evan's seemingly normal all-boy tendencies are escalating her motherly worry into something close to hysteria, threatening her job, her marriage, and even her relationship with her son.
The real source of Jana's disintegration is a past she has kept buried for sixteen years. When that past begins to bleed into the present, Jana is forced to plunge into the emotional whirlpool she left behind-with results that are shattering, profound, and wrenchingly moving.
Reminiscent of Sue Miller and Jane Hamilton, Cai Emmons's extraordinary first novel strikes a fine balance between keen psychological observation and page-turning momentum.
About the Author
Cai Emmons, a summa cum laude graduate of Yale, began her career as a playwright. Her plays were read and produced at the American Place Theater, Playwrights' Horizons and Theatre Genesis. Subsequently, she attended NYU where she received an MFA in film. Her 55 minute 1981 film A Man Around the House won the Student Academy Award. She worked in the New York film industry in a variety of capacities and in Los Angeles as a writer of screenplays and teleplays. She left the film business in 1996, at the age of 45, to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. She currently is on the faculty at the University of Oregon. This is her first novel.