Answer: Desolate means a state of loneliness and unhappiness.
Step-by-step explanation:
Desolate means a state of loneliness and unhappiness. From the story, we realised that the death of the woman caused great unhappiness to the children and also because they did not know their father before the death of their mother.
Desolate can be used in a sentence in the below example:
Ben felt desolate after the death of his dog. This means that Ben was unhappy and felt lonely after his dog died.