Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Elizabeth Strout animates the ordinary. On the surface there’s not much happening in this book, but the author is mining the depths and mysteries of relationship.
Lucy Barton is from Amgash, Illinois. She doesn’t talk about her childhood much, because it’s quite painful. Like breadcrumbs, there are clues left along the way in My Name is Lucy Barton (Amgash # 1) and Anything is Possible (Amgash # 2), but not everything is spelled out, even now in the third Amgash companion volume. That is typical of this author–the prose is minimalist and never overwritten. She lets the reader fill in the gaps. If you are a Strout fan, you will recognize a few characters from other books. Her characters, like Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, are unforgettable.
William is Lucy’s ex-husband and though they have remained friends after the divorce, he remains a hard man to read. Surprisingly, or maybe not, William invites Lucy to accompany him on a trip to help him look up someone from his past. On the way, they end up exploring how they got to where they are now and wonder about what they’ve left behind. How well can we ever really know another person?
This book is thoughtful and reflective and ponders questions of how much of our past influences who we are today and to what extent those things contribute to the ways in which we connect with others now. It’s the nature vs. nurture debate.
This little interview is mostly about her Olive Kitteridge books, but also contains some interesting information about Elizabeth Strout–her background, home, and writing process.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
Hi Joanne;
Thanks for this book. I so enjoyed it. I resonate with what you have already shared about the book and will add one more thought. I think the author’s suggestion that certain ‘choices’ we make in our lives are not really choices. We are ‘hostage’ to our own lack of self awareness and there has to be forgiveness in knowing this. I find Lucy a lovely character who teaches us this understanding in her own journey.
Thanks for your comments, Cathy. Good insights about the character of Lucy! I think there is more depth in Strout’s books than at first glance/read.