In the novel, That Was Then, This is Now, what is a character analysis of Bryon's mother, Mrs. Douglas?

The first thing that I want to point out about Mrs. Douglas is that she is Bryon's biological mother, but she is the mother of two boys in the story.  She is the adoptive mother of Mark.  She adopted Mark after his parents killed each other.  The fact that she is willing to adopt Mark, or anybody, says a lot about her as a person.  She has a caring heart, and she is willing to take on a huge responsibility in order to ensure a better life for another person.  

What I find odd about Mrs. Douglas is that despite her seemingly deep love and care for Bryon and Mark, she seems to have a fairly hands off style of parenting.  She doesn't micromanage Mark and Bryon, which isn't necessarily bad, but she doesn't get overly involved or concerned about what the two boys do at all hours of the night.  She more or less figures that if the boys get into trouble, they had better be able to rescue themselves.  That's just odd considering she is so willing to adopt Mark and various animals.  

The last character trait that I want to mention is her hopeful optimism.  Even after Bryon's and Mark's relationship is destroyed, she remains hopeful that Mark will someday turn himself around and become the good boy that he once was.