What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
Lillan
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Children's chapter book 1970s or earlier, preteen parents post-divorce, father estranged. [s]
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Do you remember the book being set in Sweden? If so, it may be Lillan by Gunilla B. Norris. The orange peel thing was definitely there, as was the father being as arrogant jerk (I don't remember the Lord and Master thing, but it wouldn't surprise me -- he was just that type). It was a favorite book of mine as a child. My copy was a Scholastic paperback from the late '60s or early '70s with beautiful illustrations. Goodreads doesn't have the cover, but it showed Lillan standing at a window with a sad look on her face, holding a snapshot of herself and her father. 
Mod
For some reason, my internet is running very slowly tonight (think 1990's dial-up) so I'm not ready to confirm, but I think it may be Lillan. The title and cover look familiar. I don't remember it being set in Sweden, but I won't rule it out.It's definitely not Mom, the Wolf Man, and Me. That was a favorite of mine, and there was never any father in the picture; just the mom and daughter, until the Wolfman comes along.
The setting would have been easy to overlook. It was only when rereading it as an older teenager that I realized it was set in Sweden. Other things that may tweak your memory (SPOILERS) the mother took in a boarder; Lillan was the only child in her school who didn’t go home to lunch (because her mother worked); Lillan shoplifted a glass elephant ornament as a gift for her mother and then returned it.
Another suggestion: It's Not the End of the World by Judy Blume? I don't remember some of the specifics you described, but it does have a teenage girl who is sad about her parents' divorce.
OK, I reread Lillan last night (I'm loving the Internet Archive!), and unfortunately now I'm sure I'm conflating.The orange peel definitely came from Lillan, and the downbeatness, but there's no mention of the "lord and master" bit, so that must come from another book. I'll check It's Not the End of the World since I read everything by Judy Blume in the day, but it's going to be awfully hard to find a book only by that phrase.
Mod
Norma Klein could be another possible author, if it's not Judy Blume. She wrote a lot of books about teenage girls in the 70s and a few of them had divorced parents.
It's not It's Not the End of the World (although that dad was a total glassbowl as well, at least he never refers to himself as "Lord and master"). I never read Chloris and the Creeps.I'm not sure how I'll ever find the other book, since all the details I remember except the one phrase can be attributed to Lillan.
I moved this to "Solved" because it mostly is solved, all except the "Lord and Master" bit. I think I was conflating two books. I'm still looking for the other but I'll write a new thread, per the Moderator's suggestion.Thank you all!
It's not It's Not the End of the World (although that dad was a total glassbowl as well, at least he never refers to himself as "Lord and master")...
Is this the book where the daughter is reading Dr Spock, and there is a quote about "A father who never sees his children either doesn't love them, or loves them very little" and it makes her think of her dad? I remember that being really heart-wrenching, but I'm not sure if it is the same book.
No, Lillan is set just after WWII (they are still rationing) and she does not read Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (she's only about ten years old). I've moved the unsolved part of thread to https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The fact that Lillan was set right after WWII was something that I missed as a 9 or 10 year old reading it. Same with the fact that it was set in a Scandinavian country. I knew it was set somewhere other than the US, but didn’t realize exactly where until I reread it as an older teenager and saw the references to Stockholm and to Tivoli. That’s when I realized that the ‘war’ mentioned in passing would have been WWII. And I wondered if Lillan’s yucky deadbeat dad might have been a Nazi or a Nazi sympathizer. It says inthr book that he had moved to South America...
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
It's Not the End of the World (other topics)Mom, the Wolf Man, and Me (other topics)
Chloris and the Creeps (other topics)
Lillan (other topics)
Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Judy Blume (other topics)Norma Klein (other topics)
The story was fairly downbeat, because the MC idolized her father and missed him terribly. There was either no visitation or the father abandoned his family.
The MC's memories made you sort of realize, despite the MC's POV, what a glass bowl the father was. For example, she remembered him coming home and shouting something to the effect of "I'm home! Come and greet your Lord and Master"; while the girl runs up to kiss him hello, her mother has a sour look on her face.
Another great thing the dad could do was peel either mandarin oranges or tangerines so that the peel came off in a single piece; I've been trying to do that since I read the book, so that's why it sticks in my memory, I think.
That's all I remember: "Lord and Master" (it was definitely that particular phrase) and peeling the mandarin (or tangerine) in a single piece.