Kristina Olsson’s mother lost her infant son, Peter, when he was snatched from her arms as she boarded a train in the hot summer of 1950. She was young and frightened, trying to escape a brutal marriage, but despite the violence and cruelty she’d endured, she was not prepared for this final blow, this breathtaking punishment. Yvonne would not see her son again for nearly 40 years.
Kristina was the first child of her mother’s subsequent, much gentler marriage and, like her siblings, grew up unaware of the reasons behind her mother’s sorrow, though Peter’s absence resounded through the family, marking each one. Yvonne dreamt of her son by day and by night, while Peter grew up a thousand miles and a lifetime away, dreaming of his missing mother.
Boy, Lost tells how their lives proceeded from that shattering moment, the grief and shame that stalked them, what they lost and what they salvaged. But it is also the story of a family, the cascade of grief and guilt through generations, and the endurance of memory and faith.
Winner, 2014 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards – Non-Fiction
Winner, 2014 Kibble Literary Awards – Nita Kibble Literary Award
Joint Winner, 2014 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards – Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction
Shortlisted, 2014 The Stella Prize
Shortlisted, 2014 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – Non-Fiction
Shortlisted, 2013 Human Rights Awards – Literature Non-Fiction Award
Winner, 2013 Queensland Literary Awards – Non-Fiction Book Award