Did You Ever Have a Family question

Sadly, there are mothers have done far worse to their children. I believe Lydia could have done that, yes. It just goes to show that she is a flawed human being. I don't doubt that she loved Luke but even love can't stop some people from making terrible mistakes. She obviously has many regrets.

I'm so glad someone else felt this. I loved this book, but the scene where Lydia recounts sending her son to jail just fell flat for me. As a parent, I just can't imagine it. Otherwise, I thought the book was amazing.

I work with families who are involved in the child welfare system and YES there are many mothers who choose a man over their child. Some do it for financial reasons, others do it so that they can feel loved, even by a man who physically and emotionally abuses them, and others do it because they just do not know better. I recently saw Dwayne Johnson on Oprah's Master Class and he recounts how his grandmother chose her abusive boyfriend over her 13 year old son and kicked her son out of the house so the boyfriend could stay. Lydia, in that aspect was very real. Where I wondered was how she knew rationally that Winston was a scam artist, but sent the money anyway. I get that she needed human interaction and he provided it via the phone, I get that she felt like she needed to be punished and deserved to be scammed, even though she wasn't really scammed because she knew it wasn't real, but I don't get why she did it. Then again, that is why we read, so we can see what motivates others who are different from us.