My name is Lucy Barton : a novel (original 2016; edição 2016)

The book started to grow on me as the story was jumping around in the narrator's life, and her understated focus on AIDS, homophobia, and abuse was quite compelling. ( )

In a word: tender

I enjoyed this introspective book about the introverted Lucy Barton. Lucy survived a childhood of poverty, abuse, neglect, and abject loneliness. "Lonely was the first flavor I had tasted in my life, and it was always there, hidden inside the crevices of my mouth, reminding me." Her family in rural Illinois included a father with PTSD and a mother who stood resolutely by her man. Lucy found escape in reading, in her later years becoming a writer.

The story centers on Lucy's lengthy stay in the hospital with a post-operative infection. Lucy's mother stayed with her for a critical five days during this ordeal, and in the book, Lucy reflects on her mother's stay and the memories it brought up. There are memories too intimate for Lucy to show us, maybe too traumatic for her to re-experience. We get glimpses. There are times now, and my life has changed so completely, that I think back on the early years and I find myself thinking: It was not that bad. Perhaps it was not. But there are times, too—unexpected—when walking down a sunny sidewalk, or watching the top of a tree bend in the wind, or seeing a November sky close down over the East River, I am suddenly filled with the knowledge of darkness so deep that a sound might escape from my mouth, and I will step into the nearest clothing store and talk with a stranger about the shape of sweaters newly arrived." Lucy meets writer Sarah Payne, who becomes a role model and mentor. And she comes to realize that: "even in her books, she was not telling exactly the truth, she was always staying away from something..." As does Lucy. The book is charged with tension between what is revealed and what is withheld, and in the end, Lucy keeps some of her secrets.

I chose this paperback from the shelf at Goodwill because I loved Olive Kitteridge. The print book is set in Sabon, an old style typeface, which added to my enjoyment.

Around the year in 52 books challenge notes:
#2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable ( )

Sorry but I just didn't get it. I enjoyed Ms. Strout's prose and wanted to keep reading but kept waiting for something of substance to happen. At the insertion of the stories relating to Sarah Payne I nearly put the book down - why are we going there. Readable but frustrating, I'm glad it was short. ( )

After reading some reviews, I apparently missed a key part about her relationship with her father. I just thought he wasn't a great guy. It is a quiet book is the best way I can describe it. The writing style is very unique. ( )

From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Olive Kitteridge. In this slim volume, a young mother is recovering from a surgery gone bad in a New York hospital sometime in the 1980's in the shadow of the Chrystler Building. She is missing her husband and children, who cannot visit her. One day, her estranged mother shows up and spends five days with her in the hospital, and from there the story begins. The simple, almost child-like narrative is jarring at first, until one realizes that her mother's visit has caused the protagonist, Lucy Barton, to revert to the insecure, abused and abandoned child she once was, still hoping for some show of affection from her mother. The story slips by like snapshots from the past and casts shadows on Lucy's childhood, marriage, writing career and her relationships, including those with her daughters. It is a poignant read of "poverty and abuse," but also of love, which is so fragile, yet resilient as well. ( )