Marghanita Laski (1915-1988) published ‘Little Boy Lost’ in 1949.

It concerns Hilary Wainwright, an English poet and intellectual, whose wife, Lisa, has been murdered by the Gestapo in Paris. Just before her capture, she managed to smuggle away their baby son.

Now, after the War has ended, Hilary revisits France to find his son. He visits a bomb-damaged provincial town to interview a likely candidate, Jean, who resides at an impoverished orphanage administered by nuns.

Hilary, still grieving, is emotionally stunted and vulnerable. Even allowing for his bereavement, he is not a particularly nice man. Finding the boy becomes a metaphor for finding himself.

Laski keeps us guessing whether or not he will adopt Jean until the very last sentence of the novel. He – Hilary – is sent temptation in the form of a buxom Parisienne. We wonder whether or not he can rise above his baser instincts, putting the boy’s needs before his own.

I found Laski’s style rather pedestrian and dull, as if reflecting life in the bleak surroundings of a bombed-out French town. And I found Wainwright so unlikeable that I couldn’t care too much whether he would come good in the end.

On the other hand, there are occasional observations of great acuity. Hilary carries a photograph of Lisa, confidently reading into her expression ‘the lineaments of gratified desire’. But an old lady, on seeing the photograph, says she can see maternal love in Lisa’s face. This causes Hilary to question his own recollection and wonder about the true nature of their relationship.

TD

September 2023