With the new book in the Lucy Barton series by Elizabeth Strout (Lucy by the Sea) now in store and perfect for Xmas booklists I wanted to do a shout-out generally for Elizabeth Strout and her Lucy Barton series: "My Name is Lucy Barton", "Anything Is Possible", "Oh William" and "Lucy By the Sea". Each book is independent of the other and if you are like me and didn't get to her until Oh William there are no issues of needing to know the backstory.
The insightful story in Oh William sees Strout - through the prism of her fictional family - canvas the vagaries of human nature and how we love. This is a powerful and moving story of the influence of marriage, divorce, motherhood, and the not-to-be-underestimated influence of our family of origin. I predict this book will make you think differently (and possibly more sensitively) about how our behaviour influences those we love the most.
In Oh William the central couple are long divorced but still care about and understand each other - or do they? The power of this book is showing how we can learn new insights, even when we think we are worldly wise and in the later decades of our lives.
I am going to recommend this book to everyone who comes into the shop and asks what they can read that will challenge them, but is also simply and powerfully written.
Happy reading!
Jenny
