Indeed, Lucy’s lack of self-awareness remains the abiding drive of these novels, coupled with her desire to understand more: about her own choices (few), about the failure of others to choose well and about the never-ceasing clash of desire and obligation. In this volume, when she recalls her surprise at a therapist speedily diagnosing PTSD, part of the moment’s power is that it comes as no surprise at all to the reader. The life of Lucy Barton remains the crucial central pivot – this woman “who came from nothing” and who, despite real success as a writer, believes herself to be “invisible”, remaining for ever the victim of her upbringing, her brutal poverty, her uncommunicative father and her unsmiling, unloving mother.
And now, with this new book, we know so much more about where and exactly how those circles will collide. So it isn’t a linear narrative so much as a Venn diagram that is being drawn around Lucy and the result is that every action she takes, every decision she mulls is already surrounded by intersecting circles. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable.With Oh William! and its predecessor, Anything Is Possible, however, Strout is constantly weaving new strands alongside the main narrative, skidding backwards and forwards in time, but also – and satisfyingly – sideways to siblings, to neighbours, to offspring. 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.
Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. 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. Her bestselling novels, including Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. A new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout is cause for celebration.
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