SuitabookMadame Doubtfire
Anne Fine
- Reading
- If divorce or custody changes are personally relevant, read alongside the child rather than assuming the jokes will soften everything. Pause after tense moments and invite their view of each character’s choices.
- Themes
- Divorce and children’s divided loyalties: Three children are described as affected by their parents’ custody arguments, with jealousy, heartbreak, recriminations and divided loyalties forming the emotional situation. The book appears to examine the effects of divorce and contrasts adult grievances with children’s concerns, while retaining a comic, sometimes satirical tone.
- Disguise, role reversal and parental access: The father disguises himself as a housekeeper to see his children more often and to help solve an after-school-care problem. The disguise is presented as a vehicle for exploring painful family issues and generating farce, but it also creates confusion and worry.
- Worth knowing
- Be ready for custody disputes, children’s confusion and worry, sibling rivalry, tears, divided loyalties, and a parent’s deception. A reference to nude modelling is also mentioned.