Questions and topics for discussion my name is lucy barton. Her mother, to whom she hasnt spoken for many years, comes to see her. Her bestselling novels, including olive kitteridge and the burgess boys, have. My name is lucy barton, by elizabeth strout, is written as a fictional memoir of a famous author. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout waterstones. Lucy lies in a new york city hospital suffering from an undiagnosed illness when her mother unexpectedly arrives from rural illinois, where lucy grew up. It is both a book of withholdings and a book of great openness and wisdom.
An uplifting book for our times observer english edition. Elizabeth strout s new book, my name is lucy barton, is. A sequel to olive kitteridge, titled olive, again, was published in 2019. My name is lucy barton is at the bridge until 23 june.
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. Through lucy barton, strout has made a remarkable virtue of the novelists trick often missed of telling enough but not too much. My name is lucy barton is a title that announces itself with call me ishmael forthrightness. In 2018, it was adapted for the theater, playing in london as a onewoman show starring laura linney. Jan 10, 2016 the narrator of strouts powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is raised in poverty outside the small town of. My name is lucy barton 2016 was met with international acclaim and topped the new york times bestseller list. Strout s fifth novel, it was shortlisted for the international dublin literary award and the man booker prize. Lucy barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. It is impossible to explain fully the beautiful, haunting emotional power of elizabeth strouts new novel, my name is lucy barton. Jan 05, 2016 as in olive kittredge 2008, strout peels back layers of denial and selfprotective brusqueness to reveal the love that lucys mother feels but cannot express. It is also the work of a more mature writer, scaling new heights.
Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton the new york times. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton is an exploration of memory i am lucy barton, the new novel from pulitzer prize winner elizabeth strout, tells the story of an author looking back on the nine weeks she spent in the hospital after complications arose following an appendectomy. Simplicity and restraint make lucy barton shine elizabeth strout s new novel, about an estranged mother and daughter reconnecting during the daughters illness, is. Buy my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout online at alibris. Some might even say that its length of just over 200 pages makes it a novella not a novel. My name is lucy barton audiobook by elizabeth strout. Elizabeth strout has been doing just that in one elegant, penetrating. In her spare and mesmerizing novel my name is lucy barton, elizabeth strout elegantly probes the chasm between what is said and what is felt as a daughter and her undemonstrative mother shyly reconnect. Strout avoids sentimentality by imbuing lucy s narrative with a pervasive sense of uncertainty. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton is as powerful and disturbing as the best of strouts work, including the pulitzer prizewinning olive kitteridge. It considers the perception of poverty by those who live both inside and outside of it. This book feels almost like the reader is being told a onceuponatime recounting of lucys life and relationships, in a personal, intimate conversation with her.
The story is told in a series of flashbacks, beginning with lucy s time in the hospital when she was younger. During this period her mother visits her and stays with her although she refuses to meet the son in law. As lucy recovers from a long illness in the hospital, her mother comes to visit. The narrator of strout s powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is raised in poverty outside the small town of.
In fewer than 200 intense, dense pages, she considers class prejudice, the shame that poverty brings, the aids epidemic, and the healing powersand the limitsof art. Lucy s husband asked her mother to visit her in the hospital, and paid for her trip. She won a pulitzer prize for her third novel olive kitteridge which was subsequently made into an awardwinning drama by hbo. The book details the complicated relationship between the titular lucy barton and her mother. A character in my name is lucy barton says i like writers who try to tell you something truthful, and elizabeth strout has done just that. Praise for my name is lucy barton a quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words.
My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout alibris. My name is lucy barton is smart and cagey in every way. May 12, 2017 anything is possible might look like a sequel, since it takes place after the action of elizabeth strouts bestselling 2016 novel, my name is lucy barton, and portrays many of the. Gentle gossip about people from lucy s childhood in. When youre reading my name is lucy barton, you will speculate, too. Do you think that was a gesture of love on his part. Summary of my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout. My name is lucy barton tells the story of the title character and her relationship with her family, particularly her mother and first husband. Lucy barton grows up poor and isolated in rural illinois. Her works include the pulitzer prizewinning novel olive kitteridge as well as the burgess boys, my name is lucy barton and anything is possible. Shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of allthe one between mother and daughter. The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of ellies disappearance and the present and a second.
My name is lucy barton book princeton public library. The boston globe it is lucys gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mothers shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful. My name is lucy barton is a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters. Do not be misled by the slimness of this volume, the quietness of its prose, the seeming simplicity of its story line. Rereading elizabeth strouts breathtakingly exquisite novel my name is lucy. Exploring family trauma in my name is lucy barton the. Oct 11, 2016 my name is lucy bartonlike all of strouts fictionis more complex than it first appears, and all the more emotionally persuasive for it. Jan 29, 2016 with her fifth novel strout has created a dynamic, engaging storyteller in the eponymous lucy, a successful writer and mother of twobut, to her own mother, still just a defiant child.
Soon to be a broadway play starring laura linney produced by manhattan theatre club and london theatre company jun 04, 2018 pulitzer prizewinner elizabeth strout on the thrill of seeing my name is lucy barton adapted for the stage. My name is lucy barton, longlisted for the man booker prize. Jul 27, 2016 through lucy barton, strout has made a remarkable virtue of the novelists trick often missed of telling enough but not too much. Seeing a november sky close down over the east river, i am suddenly filled with the knowledge of darkness my name is lucy barton. My name is lucy barton elizabeth strout, 2016 random house 208 pp. The burgess boys, named one of the best books of the year by the washington post and npr. A quiet novel turned into a forceful performance by lucy scholes.
Elizabeth strouts followup to lucy barton is a master. Elizabeth strout s contemporary novel, my name is lucy barton 2016, is presented as a memoir by a fictional author. And much of it comes from the details of the story she slowly unfolds. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout booksamillion. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. Lucy barton later became the main character in strout s 2017 novel, anything is possible. When the novel opens, lucy is an aspiring writer who is a wife and mother. T here is a moment in my name is lucy barton when the protagonist. My guest is elizabeth strout, author of the new novel my name is lucy barton. It evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very downtoearth and unpretentious one newsday. It was first published in the united states on january 12, 2016 through random house. My name is lucy barton is a 2016 new york times bestselling novel and the fifth novel by the american writer elizabeth strout.
My name is lucy barton like all of strout s fictionis more complex than it first appears, and all the more emotionally persuasive for it. A companion volume to last years my name is lucy barton, anything is possible looks at the people lucy grew up with. The narrator of strout s powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is raised. This is a magnificent book, one that explores much hurt and darkness without ever relinquishing its compassion or. This haunting and tenderly written novel is narrated by our protagonist lucy from the vantage point of the future,but with the benefit of hindsight and the unreliability of memory. Summary of my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout includes analysis. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, 9780241248782, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Laura linney as lucy barton in my name is lucy barton, directed by. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout goodreads. Certainly much of its power arises from the mesmerizing voice of lucy barton, teller of this tale. Elizabeth strout s novel my name is lucy barton is the story of a writer reckoning with the legacy of a scarred family life and slowly coming to terms with the costs and the rewards of her. And elizabeth strouts haunting new novel is, in fact, a kind of book withina book, framed as a memoir or possibly an autobiographical novel.
From the pulitzer prizewinning author of olive kitteridge and my name is lucy barton. An exquisite story of mothers and daughters from the pulitzer prizewinning author of olive kitteridge lucy is recovering from an operation in a new york hospital when she wakes to find her estranged mother sitting by her. My name is lucy barton weaves a delicate balance the. Strout has just published a new novel called my name is lucy barton. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout powells books. Jan 07, 2016 i like writers who try to tell you something truthful, comments the eponymous narrator of my name is lucy barton. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read my name is lucy barton. A new book by pulitzer prize winner elizabeth strout is cause for celebration. This is a magnificent book, one that explores much hurt and. In the new novel by elizabeth strout, author of the. Review of my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout. This is the story of lucy who has to stay in the hospital for nine weeks. Elizabeth strout s my name is lucy barton is as powerful and disturbing as the best of strout. Lucy barton is recovering slowly from what should have b.
Lucy recalls that her earliest memories of her parents are accompanied by a feeling of loneliness. In fact, it bears much resemblance to that novel and to strout s debut amy. Look for elizabeth strout s highly anticipated new work of fiction, olive, again, which is available for preorder now. Exploring family trauma in my name is lucy barton the new. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout book club. My name is lucy barton was a different kind of book for me, and writing it surprised me. A a drably illustrated childrens story about a brave pilgrim girl who keeps her chin up and her white cap starched. San francisco chronicle a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but. But my name is lucy barton is the story of a daughter who loved her mother, and that is a very different story. My name is lucy barton confirms strout as a powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships, weaving family tapestries with compassion, wisdom and insight. I like writers who try to tell you something truthful, comments the eponymous narrator of my name is lucy barton. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy.
Alamy in the new novel by elizabeth strout, author of the pulitzerprizewinning olive kitteridge, a woman lies in a hospital bed. Feb 04, 2016 my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, much raved about by all readers did not turn out to be an enjoyable read for me. The story begins with lucy, now a published fiction writer, remembering a time, 20 or more years ago, when she was felled by an undiagnosable disease, a sort of visitation of sickness, and ended up in a new york city hospital for a prolonged stay. My name is lucy barton, by elizabeth strout sfgate. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, paperback. Apr 25, 2017 elizabeth strout s new novelinstories is a welcome salve for troubled times. Elizabeth strout gives us the story of one womans life daughter, child, adult, wife, mother, patient, author in my name is lucy barton. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton the new york. Also, sarah hepola will tell us how online dating taught her to tell men. Her bestselling novels, including olive kitteridge and the burgess boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Elizabeth strout s my name is lucy barton is as powerful and disturbing as the best of strout s work, including the pulitzer prizewinning olive kitteridge.
Do you think lucy blames her mother for the more painful parts of her childhood. While i hope for all my books to provide the reader with a kind of intimate experience this one seems particularly available for that, i think. Lucys husband asked her mother to visit her in the hospital, and paid for her trip. San francisco chronicle a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds.
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