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Lost and Found  by Bodkin 13 Review(s)
EdlynReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 1/16/2008
I love the way you got into Pippin's mum's head here. A lovely read.

HalethReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 3/23/2006
This beautifully captures the essence of what it's like to be a mother. The child may tower over her and may have travelled to places she's never heard of, but a mother will want to nuture and protect him. And her heart will break when she realises that she just can't anymore.

Author Reply: Isn't it just! The natural instinct to stand between your child and anything that threatens him doesn't go away just because everyone else in the world looks on him as a hero. And it's only natural that there would be a touch of resentment because some chit of a girl can offer him comfort when you can't - after all the work you've put into him, too!

cathleenReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 9/12/2005
Bodkin, this was so beautiful and touching. I have often thought about what the hobbits must have gone through on their journey and what would have happened afterward. I have been thinking of writing something along these lines. I think the way you presented this through the eyes of Pip's mother was perfect. Thank you for a great story!
PS: I'm new to this list and am just discovering all the wonderful writers here. Cathleen

Author Reply: Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I liked looking at the aftermath from the point of view of someone who is usually only seen through Pippin's eyes - it seems as if those left behind would have a different perspective. And I suppose it's my age - I can't help but feel the pain of the parents whose children disappeared and came back different and hurt.

There are lots of fantastic stories here - you're in for a good time as you trawl the list. Good reading!

pipspebbleReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 8/24/2004
This was heartbreakingly beautiful. As a mother of two lads of my own, I get a real sense of Eglantine and the pain she feels for what her baby has suffered. Fabulous job! I'm so glad Marigold pointed the way to this wonderful story!

Author Reply: I almost fainted when I discovered Marigold had approved! It is so hard to realise that your children have grown up and can make their own choices. And in Pippin's case, such painful choices. I am glad you enjoyed the tale.

pipinheartReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 8/24/2004
Lovely, such a great story! The emotion hits home, I had tears in my eyes.... A mother who sees the cost of her sons sacrifice..... Great, job..... Keep up the good work........

Author Reply: Thank you so much. I feel for all the parents actually - Elrond's pain just tears me up. And the Gaffer - just a different viewpoint.

MariposaReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 8/21/2004
This is really lovely! It is well-written, thoughtful, flowing, and touching. Thank you for these lovely thoughts and a poignant point of view.

Author Reply: Thank you for reading. I feel it must have been terribly hard for Eglantine - and Esmeralda to deal with the changes in their sons after they returned from the Quest. They both changed so much - not necessarily for the worse, but it must have hurt to have been excluded from such life-changing experiences.

SaoirseReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 8/20/2004
This is v. v. lovely. It shows clearly a mother's despair for 'losing' her son (or at least what she had remembered him to be) and mourning for that, and then it shows the acceptance she gains (if not fully understands) when Pippin himself resolves to explain that things (like innocence and happiness) sometimes need be sacraficed (which shows even more clearly how much he has changed from the irrepresible tween he once was) since she is so blinded by a mother's love and cannot see it herself. Then, in the end, she finds that though he is different, he is still Pippin in a changed form, and is proud of what he was able to accomplish, how wonderful! Thank you for writing it.

Author Reply: Thank you very much! It is always difficult for mothers to watch their children grow up - and it must have been particularly hard for Eglantine. Pippin was still a child, (well, a tween), when he went away and a rather indulged child at that. All his best friends were older than him and so were his sisters plus he was the Thain's only son - it is hardly any wonder that he was a bit babied.

Then, over the course of one year, he risked great danger, saw friends injured and killed, stood against the Dark Lord, watched Denethor's final descent into madness, saved Faramir and marched to battle where he was critically injured. He changed.

But his mother stayed at home and didn't see any of it. So the Pippin she saw was still the tween - and she had to adjust to the moody adult with his aching bones and his nightmares. It probably didn't help that he didn't want her - or any of his family - to know the worst of what happened.

I think the story of people left behind is very interesting - it can be as hard to adjust as it is for those who took active part.

HaiReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 4/21/2004
That was so touching. Written from a mothers perspective and all really made it wonderful. That she wanted to protect him and wished he could have stayed the same. It was wonderful, thank you!

Author Reply: Thank you. It is so interesting to turn things around and look from another angle. And a mother's viewpoint is always so personal - blow the fate of the world, how dare you hurt my child!

LindeleaReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 4/19/2004
Very well done, indeed! Your grasp of Eglantine's voice is sure, your descriptions are clear, deft, even haunting in their insight into the characters.

He had seen more than any gaffer nodding away in the corner of the inn (nice word picture)
come through the fire, burnt bright and fine (the refiner's fire)
come home in search of a healing he would never find (sad, but so often true)
Following his cousins devotedly even as he led them by the nose. (a picture to laugh at)
all I could see in my head was his face, leaner, the ready smile absent, weathered, old before he was adult (very clear insight)
As if I would do anything else! (I can just hear her saying this!)

but he had found a purpose that would keep him following the right path throughout his life; helping the helpless, protecting the weak, ensuring that evil could never prevail if anything he could do would prevent it
(This is just how I picture Pippin, and try to write him in my stories.)

Thanks, glad to make your acquaintance! (Found you after you reviewed a chapter of mine)

Write on!

Author Reply: Thank you. I'm glad you picked out some of my favourite phrases.

Bluegrass ElfReviewed Chapter: Prologue on 4/18/2004
A wonderful story!

Author Reply: I'm blushing.

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