Friday, January 1, 2016

LUCY BARTON by Elizabeth Strout




A


A new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout is cause for celebration. Her bestselling novels, including Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Now, in My Name Is Lucy Barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all—the one between mother and daughter.

Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy's childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy's life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable. 


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Elizabeth Strout knows how to reach into your heart ever so softly regardless the emotions, gentle or raw.
In this novel she excels. 
Mother and daughter exchanges will often touch upon subjects grown daughters put to rest, or so we feel. 
While Lucy recovers in a hospital, a surprising visit by her mother takes place. Lucy's mother brings to the surface Amgash, a town her daughter put out of her mind the day she left home. Lucy's life now revolves around New York, two daughters and her husband.
Slowly, memories surface...Elizabeth Strout handles this difficult situation beautifully.
I loved this novel, at times feeling I was reading a biography, so true did this novel feel.

For readers familiar with Elizabeth Strout, you already love this author.
For readers not familiar with the author, this novel is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this advance copy.

5/5