The narrative begins with Lucy Barton reflecting on her life from the hospital bed where she spent 8 weeks after getting an infection from surgery. This was in New York City, and at night a view of the Chrysler Building, with its geometric brilliance of lights, was directly visible from my bed. by Random House. Her Favorite Character Studies: Get to know these five indelible characters, each recommended by the Pulitzer winner, whose latest is My Name Is... Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. As she recovers from surgery complications, a shocked Lucy receives a five day visit from her estranged mother who can only express her feelings by telling stories of old acquaintances and their imperfect lives; and while listening, Lucy Barton revisits her. This is all very confusing. If it is the actual novel that I just finished, I'm completely missing the point. Is the mother daughter relationship believable? My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash #1), Elizabeth Strout. In this novel she takes a woman looking back on the nine weeks she spent in the hospital (I can relate) when her two daughters were young. Through Lucy Barton, Strout has made a remarkable virtue of the novelist's trick - often missed - of telling enough but not too much. Is the reader supposed to know what in particular has kept lucy away? Just me, my tea and the beautiful powerful words of this magnificent story. Her family is impoverished and lives in an isolated area, making it almost impossible for Lucy and her older siblings to make friends. She says she had never heard of such a thing happening before. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. An apparently simple tale of a woman's life from early hardship to later success, yet nothing about it is actually simple. Lucy was raised in extreme poverty by parents who were not able to nurture and show her love in … I admire the style of it and I acknowledge that the story was deliberately designed and assembled as it was, even though that was the piece that kept me from connecting with it the way others have. When I finished this book, I didn’t think I landed in wowsville. -- San Francisco Chronicle "A short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but … We’d love your help. When I first started reading this I had the feeling that it was going to be a remarkable story. “Compelling… The title character of My Name Is Lucy Barton, Rona Munro’s crystalline stage adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s 2016 novel… may be the most translucent figure now on a New York stage.”– The New York Times “Munro's play stands quite well on its own, distilling the crucial elements of Strout's work into a steadily moving, compelling narrative of its own.” My mother had a terrible time telling me she loved me. My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash #1), Elizabeth Strout. The book opens with Lucy recuperating in the hospital after an operation. Lucy has a troubled childhood. I'm wondering. But … In My Name is Lucy Barton, there are no plot twists to distract or verbal acrobatics to charm: the story must rest instead on its bare emotional truth. Read it. “My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout PDF Download” is a perfect novel for those who love to read the mind-blowing, engaging, thrilling and superb fiction novel of all times. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of her life: her impoverished childhood in Amgash, Illinois, her escape to New York and her desire to become a writer, her faltering marriage, her love for her two daughters. The result is … But “My Name Is Lucy Barton” is the story of a daughter who loved her mother, and that is a very different story. During this time, her mother whom she is estranged with, visits and stays for 5 meaningful days. While it may be true that not every reader likes having the space between tiles, for me, squinting and mulling were part of the pleasure. How is it that we can truly know the inner workings of another human being? Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published There’s no doubt that Elizabeth Strout is a great author, she really doesn’t waste a word. It considers the perception of poverty by those who live both inside and outside of it. I so enjoyed this book and getting to know Lucy. Every page I reread seemed rich and wow-y. 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. ), a short, stark novel about the ways we break and maintain the bonds of family. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.”, “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.”, NAIBA Book of the Year for Fiction (2016), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee for Longlist (2016), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2017), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction (2016), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2018). I had the luxury of reading My name Is Lucy Barton in one sitting -- and if you can that's how I highly recommend this very short jewel of a novel be read. The time is the early 1980s. Much of the story takes place in a hospital in New York City, where Lucy Barton goes to have her appendix removed. And yet it’s a powerful addition to Strout’s body of work. The novel is also full of keen observations about how childhood travels forward into adulthood. She's someone I'd want to know and a character I'll remember. It's all in the conversations, the dialog, the exchange of thoughts and ideas.....and even in those moments when words, themselves, are not even necessary. She learns to harness the vital power of simple kindness transmitted from people around her through simple acts and gestures. I was in tears at one point as Lucy desperately tries in vain to reach out to her mother f. What a beautifully told “un-fairy tale”. My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout, is written as a fictional memoir of a famous author. Thanks to the encouragement she receives from the noted author Sarah Payne, Lucy … And she also muses about writing, what it means to her, and how she was inspired by a number of people, including another author. I admire the style of it and I acknowledge that the story was deliberately designed and assembled as it was, even though that was the piece that kept me from connecting with it the way others have. She makes allusions but I'm not quite sure what conclusion reader should draw, See all 41 questions about My Name Is Lucy Barton…, Goodreads Picks for Tournament of Books 2017, My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout - 3 stars, My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout, Good Minds Suggest: Elizabeth Strout's Favorite Character Studies. Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. What follows is a sample of what we. Her mother comes to stay with her in the hospital for a few days, which leads Lucy to dwell on her childhood of utter poverty in rural Illinois and her fraught relationship with her parents and siblings. As the story of Lucy unfolds the characters and events from the sequel are brought up. My Name Is Lucy Barton follows the title character, who, unsteady after an operation, awakens to find her mother sitting at the foot of her bed. 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