The Lost Daughter

The Lost Daughter questions the assumption that motherhood is every woman’s ultimate purpose. Through the experiences of several women who do or do not have children, the novel addresses the taboo of maternal ambivalence and unravels the myth of the so-called natural mother. It explores the multifaceted nature of female identity, which is often crushed by the responsibility of motherhood. Although “[a] woman’s body does a thousand different things” (36), it is relegated to this one absolute purpose.

The women in the novel can be divided into two primary categories: those who believe that motherhood is a woman’s most important role and those who seek fulfillment outside motherhood. Leda and Nina belong to this latter category. Initially, Leda wants children. However, it is difficult to separate her desire from societal expectations in which women are meant to have children, and not wanting one is unthinkable. The romantic image of motherhood is shattered almost immediately upon having her babies. A “crushing weight of responsibility” replaces the optimism of youth (42), and “every other game was over for” Leda, a 25-year-old woman at the time (37). Leda found she could be nothing but a mother, like her embittered female ancestors before her.