English & Literature

Who is Frederick Buechner's Mother from Telling Secrets and what is their importance? Telling_Secrets English & Literature Frederick Buechner's Mother | Telling Secrets

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She is the mother of the author. He writes about her damaging narcissism.Frederick Buechner's mother, whose given name is not provided, reacts to her husband's suicide with humiliation and bitterness—he has abandoned her and their two sons. Mrs. Buechner is not a religious woman and therefore holds no formal ceremony or memorial service for her husband. The boys learn through her behavior and subtle signals to neither speak of their father nor ask questions about him. Almost immediately after her husband's tragic end, she moves with her mother and her two sons to Bermuda—to start over and to forget the unpleasant past. She is successful in one sense. The father her young sons knew so briefly eventually becomes a blurry memory, and ultimately a person who almost never existed.