problem fathers

Man: How could she be a Christian when her sister was? I was intrigued to observe the divergent paths these siblings took to carve out their niches. Esther the religio-spiritualist, Eveline the political activist, Christopher the scientist. Not entirely defining characteristics of course... Anyway, they were a treasure trove for a compulsive diarist like me. All three were magnificently intelligent and complicated and vulnerable and puzzling. I mean, they all struggled not to fit in and to stay on top, to deal with family and to overcome its limitations in their case. 

Mentor: A typically unorthodox bunch.

Man: Absolutely typical. I don't suppose there's really any orthodox lower middle class trajectory, if that's how you'd classify this family. In this case, no father - he'd flown the coop, finally, after a good few years of trying to tame Zelda into fitting into his life of dreaming of money-making schemes and never holding down a job and trying to force her to be a housewife and a devoted mother while he did bugger all. Of course I only heard Zelda's side of this, but he really seems to have been a very poor sort, and none of the kids thought much of him, clearly. Zelda had essentially brought these kids up herself while fending off and covering for this adult kid. He was Austrian I believe, but possibly with gypsy blood. It took her a while, once she realized they were better off without him, to get him out of her hair. He even tried to kidnap the kids at one stage, causing much trauma. When he was finally out of the picture, Zelda hooked up with an old friend, who she apparently didn't realize was an alcoholic. They married and she fell pregnant with Lola. She described her bond to this her final child as fanatically intense, but unfortunately the girl grew up out with all the social gaucherie and addictive nature of her old man, who was also a compulsive gambler who began selling Zelda's furniture on the sly to feed his habit. Exit husband number two. Both of them complex and sympathetic victims of difficult families themselves when seen in the round, no doubt. I never really met these gentleman, though I did have them pointed out to me on one or two occasions. I think it's reasonable to say that even the kids saw me as a vast improvement, at first. All complicated by genetics of course. Anyway, I felt so warmly welcomed in those early days that... I felt a strange of achievement somehow. I never thought it wouldn't last, which was strange, because I never really expected my sexual liaison with Zelda to last. Anyway, obviously the kids' lives were massively affected by their mum's failed relationships, but whether for the better or the worse who can say?

Mentor: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But may I remind you that we're supposed to be talking about sex?

Man: Sorry. Theoretical sex. So I started banging this Zelda chick.