( from the archives)
Elizabeth Strout is probably my favorite writer and
Oh, William
is a continuation of the story she began in MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON. I
love her unadorned, plain-speaking writing style, I like her characters
and find them completely credible, I love her affection for even the
worst of them. Lucy Barton is introduced as a patient in a hospital
after an operation went bad. She spends a month there ruminating on her
life and especially on her horrific childhood. Her mother visits
her-something unexpected because of the way she treated Lucy as a child.
But William calls her in because it is hard for him to visit with a job
and two children to care for.
Oh William picks the
story up later. Lucy is now a successful novelist with two grown
daughters and has just lost her second husband, who she adored. William
was her first husband and she is thrown together with him when he finds
out he has a stepsister he never knew existed and needs help coping with
it. Lucy takes the journey with him despite herself.
I am now
reading the third story about this family (although written before Oh,
William) and it is terrific too.Is anything nicer than being in the
hands of a writer you love?
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