Name: Stas's review of My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Item: My Name Is Lucy Barton
Rating: 5
Author: Stas

Elizabeth Strout

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2016 AND THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016. A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. An exquisite story of mothers and daughters from the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge Lucy is recovering from an operation in a New York hospital when she wakes to find her estranged mother sitting by her bed. They have not seen one another in years. As they talk Lucy finds herself recalling her troubled rural childhood and how it was she eventually arrived in the big city, got married and had children. But this unexpected visit leaves her doubting the life she's made: wondering what is lost and what has yet to be found. Look for Elizabeth Strout's highly anticipated new work of fiction, Anything Is Possible, which is available for pre-order now.

My Name Is Lucy Barton

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 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. Praise for My Name Is Lucy Barton "There is not a scintilla of sentimentality in this exquisite novel. Instead, in its careful words and vibrating silences, My Name Is Lucy Barton offers us a rare wealth of emotion, from darkest suffering to--'I was so happy. Oh, I was happy'--simple joy."--Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review "Spectacular . . . Smart and cagey in every way. It is both a book of withholdings and a book of great openness and wisdom. . . . [Strout] is in supreme and magnificent command of this novel at all times."--Lily King, The Washington Post "A short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds . . . It evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very down-to-earth and unpretentious one."--Marion Winik, Newsday "Potent with distilled emotion. Without a hint of self-pity, Strout captures the ache of loneliness we all feel sometimes."--Time "An aching, illuminating look at mother-daughter devotion."--People "A quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words."--The Boston Globe "Sensitive, deceptively simple . . . It is Lucy's gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mother's shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful. . . . [It's] more complex than it first appears, and all the more emotionally persuasive for it."--San Francisco Chronicle "Strout maps the complex terrain of human relationships by focusing on that which is often unspoken and only implied. . . . A powerful addition to Strout's body of work."--The Seattle Times "Impressionistic and haunting . . . [Strout] reminds us of the power of our stories--and our ability to transcend our troubled narratives."--Miami Herald "Writing of this quality comes from a commitment to listening, from a perfect attunement to the human condition, from an attention to reality so exact that it goes beyond a skill and becomes a virtue."--Hilary Mantel "Magnificent."--Ann Patchett

A Novel

My Name is Lucy Barton

Dora Tominic

I have said it before: it interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere, and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it's the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.

Sanne

i love a complicated mother daughter relationship, and this has multiple, and a useless husband that we love, and the effects of poverty on family relationships and your view of the world OH i was blown away

Stas

Allison Garber

I loved this so much. The characters, the way it was written in short snippets. Loved it.

Sonia Grgas

Loved this and will continue with the rest is the books in the series. Recommended for those who like introspective narratives.

I always read Strout's books quickly. I have been thinking about being alone (how much I like it, how much I dread it) even though I don't think the book is about that. And I'm putting a lot of pressure on dead people to talk to me. Why did we make this life so boring? I wish I can borrow my body to someone else.

Disclaimer: this is not a review

I always read Strout's books quickly. I have been thinking about being alone (how much I like it, how much I dread it) even though I don't think the book is about that. And I'm putting a lot of pressure on dead people to talk to me. Why did we make this life so boring? I wish I can borrow my body to someone else.

A painful and profound read, more please.

Molly Bridge

Melissa Palmer

Book #16 Read in 2016
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

This book was just an ok read for me. I almost gave up on it but it was a short read so I stuck with it. Lucy is reflecting back on her life, namely when she was in the hospital while ill. Through short chapters and reflections, Lucy details her complicated relationship with her mother, how her financial status has improved as well as the love she has for her children. I wish that there was more of a linear plot to it. I borrowed this book from the public library.

Julia

Izza

Easy read, entertaining storyline that had a relatable main character :)

0cchi

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the tender relationship between mother and daughter in this extraordinary novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys. Soon to be a Broadway play starring Laura Linney produced by Manhattan Theatre Club and London Theatre Company • LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • The New York Times Book Review • NPR • BookPage • LibraryReads • Minneapolis Star Tribune • St. Louis Post-Dispatch 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. Praise for My Name Is Lucy Barton “A quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words.”—The Boston Globe “It is Lucy’s gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mother’s shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds . . . It evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very down-to-earth and unpretentious one.”—Newsday “Spectacular . . . Smart and cagey in every way. It is both a book of withholdings and a book of great openness and wisdom. . . . [Strout] is in supreme and magnificent command of this novel at all times.”—Lily King, The Washington Post “An aching, illuminating look at mother-daughter devotion.”—People

Fraser Simons

Really liked the prose work and structure here. Insightful and dynamic relationship between mother and daughter, very much coloured by poverty and family dynamics. Short, sweet, doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Astute observations peppered throughout. Will continue with the next, at some point.

Elizabeth Moore

This book was both beautiful and sometimes hard to read. It's an honest and above all else loving celebration of the relationship between mothers and daughters, and it's also an amazing and unique cut into the sources from which a writer draws her story and non-negotiable writers' rules through which she learns to guide her work. My heart intermittently was broken and then became full again, which I suppose is the message about the universally flawed reality of family and love about which Strout writes. The peripheral characters that are brought to life in this story are tremendous, and Lucy's mom is an absolutely indelible character. I loved her, and wanted to shake her, and wanted to hug her, in so many turns. I wanted to live in this book for a while longer than it lasted, and will certainly come back to it more than once. Worth the hardcover buy.

Jenna

My Name is Lucy Barton is about Lucy Barton (obvi). Lucy reminisces on her time in the hospital when her mother came to visit. Lucy has a complicated and somewhat estranged relationship with her whole family, but still loves her mother and seeks her approval and care.

This is a short and quiet novel that gets in to some heavy family dynamics. Lucy grew up extremely poor and alludes to different types of abuse from her father and mother. Lucy hasn’t seen anyone in her family since she left for college, got married, and had two kids. Her family didn’t come to her wedding and have never met her children.

This novel packs an emotional punch into a short book. It’s spare but well written. I found myself rooting for Lucy and feeling sad for her upbringing but understanding her love for her mother.

If you like quiet but emotional fiction, I’d recommend this to you! It’s a bit more subtle but has a similar feel (although different writing style and characters) to All Grown Up, which I also really enjoyed. Maybe I’ll have to read Olive Kitteridge soon.

Melody Izard

This book is not one that will make you laugh out loud and declare that all is right with the world. It is one that disturbs and provokes and pesters you with the complications of life and relationships. You will have questions, you might have a few answers, you will dislike the majority of the characters - but you should love them too. You should want only good things for them from here on out, but chances are that will just be an empty hope on your part. Our lives are not linear and smooth. And neither is Lucy Barton's.

Jen Estrella

But I think I know so well the pain we children clutch to our chests, how it lasts our whole lifetime, with longings so large you can't even weep. We hold tight, we do, with each seizure of the beating heart: This is mine, this is mine, this is mine.
 
Actual rating: 4.5/5 - I really enjoyed this book. I don't know if that makes me a sadist, but there's just something addictive about it. It's the story telling, I think; though I have to agree, it is as depressing as they say it is. 

This reminded me so much of The Glass Castle, except this one centers on the relationship between mothers and daughters. It's also not a memoir, though it feels very much like one. The first parts were melancholic, but the last 50 pages were downright depressing. You have been warned. 

I mean, just look at this quote - 

  I feel that people may not understand that my mother could never say the words I love you. I feel that people may not understand: It was all right.

asdfkljadflkadjf. 

I still loved it though. Someone please read this and share insights with me :( I have questions. :(

Emir Andrés Ibañez

Lucy está internada después de que una extracción de apéndice se complicara un poco... y se encuentra con su madre, a los pies de la cama. No la veía hace muchísimos años. A partir de ahí vendrán las anécdotas, flashes de su infancia, adolescencia y adultez que irán dibujando la imagen entera de esa familia, cómo funcionaban, cómo han crecido (o no), el lazo que los une a cada uno. Está muy cargado, sentimentalmente hablando. Y puede llegar a ser un poco deprimente. Me gustó mucho, pero siento que la imagen que me quisieron mostrar no estaba completa, siento que algo me faltó. Pero en un todo, es una excelente novela corta escrita de manera maravillosa que te lees en un día y que te hace reflexionar un montón.

Hope Brockway

So this book is a bit weird. It's about poverty and abuse and divorce and a rocky relationship with your mother. Like I said weird. 

So this book is basically one huge flashback with lots of smaller flashbacks within. (Y'all, Idek) So there are all these asides and smaller chapters that just tell short stories about her childhood. And that throws off the flow. ("I'm sorry, but you've thrown off the Emperor's grove.") 

It's a relatively short book but it's truly an emotional journey. It talks a lot about AIDS (why Idek) and rocky marriages (like why does literally every marriage in this book have to end badly??). And a ton about her mother. Lucy has a strange relationship with her family. She basically escaped the poverty that had been in her family for generations and her family low-key resents her for it. But she still loves them. And, from what I'm picking up from those weird flashbacks, they were abusive as well. (view spoiler)[ Like Lucy gets locked in her dad's truck for hours?? And then there's this story of her dad catching her brother dressing in his mother's pearls and making him walk around town in it. I hated that scene. (hide spoiler)] 

So there's all these weird dynamics. But, I guess the main takeaway from this book is that part of us will always love our family no matter how they treated us or how far away we live. Family is about dropping everything to spend days with you in the hospital.

Sanne &
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

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My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout