Author Mark Haddon Explores a Childhood Without Love

Author Mark Haddon, best known for "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," describes his childhood as loveless. He had a distant father and a disapproving mother. He says the idea of being a "favorite" child is wrong. "To say I was the favourite would imply I was liked," Haddon notes. As a bookish child, he retreated into his own rich imagination. He now asks what it means to lose parents who never showed you love. Looking at old photos of 1960s and 70s England brings him mixed feelings. He feels a wave of longing, but not true nostalgia. He would never want to return to that time of profound unhappiness. He wonders why these memories still pull at him. Perhaps, he suggests, a child's intense focus makes small details unforgettable. A lawn can become a prehistoric jungle. A bedspread can turn into mountain ranges for a toy plane. Or maybe, he considers, the constant presence of objects provided comfort. This was a needed consolation in a world where the adults were unpredictable, distant, and unloving.