Guest post written by Magician author Tracy Lynne Oliver
Tracy Lynne Oliver is a writer based in Los Angeles. She has been published online at a variety of places such as Medium, Fanzine, and Occulum. She co-authored the graphic novel, The Sacrifice of Darkness, with Roxane Gay. Her story, “This Weekend” was included in Best Microfiction 2019.
About Magician: A dark magic debut novel featuring the Boy who becomes the Magician and the villainous Mother whose sadism might end it all—for fans of Our Share of Night and The Changeling. Releases May 19th 2026.
When my mom first inquired as to what my novel was about, in the telling I mentioned a ‘bad mother’ so, of course, the first thing she asked—in a not so pleasant tone—if it was about her. A natural reaction I suppose. Despite her voiced insecurity, she was a fine mom in that 1970s, free range sort of way. She loved my brothers and I, keeping us fed, clothed, and well cared for. She had a love of music and books, a wry, irreverent sense of humor and a delightful creative inclination. Outside of a few well-deserved swats from a wooden spoon, no sort of weird cruelty was imparted.
So, why such an evil mom in my novel, Magician?
Good question.
As mentioned, being raised in the 70s was very hands-off. My brothers and I were left to roam free, stereotypically returning for dinner when the streetlights came on. As long as we weren’t in our parents’ hair, there was little to no concern about where we were and what we were doing. This parenting style led to us accessing many things way too early in life.
It wasn’t porn on the not-yet-invented internet, but it was books, television, and movies.
Like my mother, I was an avid reader. From a very young age I found a love of books. Our small-town country house that we’d spend our summers in had an unfinished basement where my mom’s stash of hundreds of paperbacks was stored. On too hot, “I’m booored” days when we were banished from the house, I would often head down into its cool, musty embrace and pull any novel that had salacious or interesting cover art and dig in. Let’s just say that a nine-year-old should not be reading Harold Robbins’ “The Lonely Lady” (among others).
Again, the question: Why such an evil mom in my novel, Magician?
In putting together this list, I discovered the answer.
Presented in a foggy order of when I ingested them, here are seven bad mom books I read at impressionable ages that subconsciously contributed DNA to my Magician’s bad Mother.
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
“Sybil” released in 1973 was a book I found on one of my mom’s shelves of paperbacks one pre-pubescent summer day. Its cover depicting a sort of ‘mirror shattered’ image of a woman’s face drew me right to it.
The book is an accounting of the psychiatric treatments between Dr. Cornelia Wilbur and a patient referred to under the pseudonym, Sybil. It details horrific matriarchal abuse Sybil endured as a child which caused her to develop a multiple personality disorder. She supposedly had sixteen different personalities ranging from a young French girl, a baby and even two male identities. Its contents mesmerized me. I had never heard of such a thing. To think that a child could be abused so profoundly that her psyche divides to protect itself blew my mind. But by reading the book, and the descriptions of what she endured, it made perfect sense.
Carrie by Stephen King
I would like to think (or hope) that most everyone has seen the 1976 movie, “Carrie” based on the debut novel by Stephen King. (Or perhaps it’s just my SK fanaticism that leads me to assume this.) Even though I was only eight years old when the movie was released, I know I must have watched it as–having no knowledge of menstruation–I’ll never forget being thoroughly confused by the shower scene. With the blood, flying tampons and pads along with the teenage girl chants of “Plug it up! Plug it up!” it all felt very puzzling and a bit scary.
The movie’s impact on my juvenile self, eventually led me to pick up the novel hoping to get some insight into why Margaret White, Carrie White’s mother, was so cruel to her. Her abuse going as far as wanting to (spoiler alert!) murder her. The novel drops plenty of traumatic tidbits about Margaret’s childhood that sow the seeds of how she grew into the religious fanatic that would come to regularly lock Carrie in the “prayer closet” to atone for whatever manufactured “sin” she assumed her daughter had made. The disturbing depiction of a mother laying her own issues on the mind and body of her daughter obviously made an impact on my young psyche.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
I have a memory of being taught this book in elementary school. (Any other Gen Xers remember this being taught in school?) A story about an intellectually challenged man who gets experimented on and then becomes super intelligent–just to lose it all again–really messed with my little-kid head.
Charlie Gordon, the man in question, has a mother, Ruth, who refused to accept that she had a son with a disability. She is constantly subjecting him to ‘treatments’ to make him smarter and lashes out at him when he falls short of her intellectual expectations. Her shame at having an imperfect child resulted in continual harsh treatment of her son. When Ruth births Charlie’s younger sister, she names her Norma simply because it resembles the word “normal.”
When Charlie’s intelligence grows and he confronts his mother about how she treated him, instead of vindication, he surprisingly finds something else, and that something was understanding.
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
If anyone of my later-than-middle age generation read this book as a kid, you’ll know that it is quite the doozy! If there were trigger award trophies for books, this one would win them all. However, trigger warnings didn’t exist when I was growing up, so I greedily read this book in all its graphic glory.
This book covers all the bases for bad mothering (and grandmothering!); Abandonment, emotional withdrawal, physical abuse, starvation, isolation, shaming and even poison donuts! A mother hiding her four children in an attic for three years just so she can claim a substantial inheritance is just the tip of the horrendous iceberg.
Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford
“NO WIRE HANGERS!” Who else can’t forget that iconic line from the 1981 movie adaptation of Mommie Dearest? Faye Dunaway’s melodramatic performance as Joan Crawford received a lot of controversy. The histrionics and abusive behavior portrayed in the movie were over the top. Once again, seeking the truth and looking for the why, I sought out the book to see for myself. Was Joan Crawford as horrible to her daughter as the movie depicted? Would I get to see more ugly that the screen was forced to hold back?
The book revealed the truth was lying somewhere in the middle. It detailed much of the same abuse, but, of course, it was more amplified in the movie. The memoir had a more nuanced, layered portrait of the complicated mother and actress, Joan Crawford. It gave a lot of insight into old Hollywood and how one’s public image was everything and how the studios had tight control of their stars.
Seems like some things never change.
A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
This book was released in 1995 and was on the New York Times bestseller list for several years. At this time in my life, I was a shiny new mother so of course I had to read an autobiographical book detailing the horrific abuse of a mother upon her own son. Makes perfect sense!
Pelzer’s account of how his alcoholic mother physically, mentally, and emotionally abused him from ages four to twelve does not pull any punches. He details every form of abuse from the standard beating to starvation, to being burned and stabbed. Eventually this monster with the undeserving title of mother does something on another level of cruel, she begins calling him “It” and with that, strips away his very identity and sense of worth.
I was fascinated by how someone who has the prime role of loving and caregiving could treat their own child as less than human.
Push by Sapphire
I read this book after I had watched the movie, “Precious,” so sometime in or after 2009. The twisted-yearn part of me that craved explanation of why and how mothers can be so cruel to their own flesh and blood had me, once again, reach for pages to turn. A place to find the answers.
Push is the debut novel of author, “Sapphire.” It details the life of a teenager living in New York who is pregnant by her father for the second (!!!) time. The abuse detailed in this novel is overwhelming and disgusting. From childhood, Claireece Precious Jones has only known a life of torture; physical, mental, emotional, and sexual. In her life there are no “safe spaces” but, she eventually finds her way through the help of teachers, education and gaining literacy. In these ways she finally finds her voice.
