My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible
Genre: Fiction
This week's review is a double feature. Anything is Possible is a continuation of My Name is Lucy Barton. Happy Reading!
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
This is the story of Lucy Barton who is originally from a small town called Amgash, IL and now lives in New York City with her husband and two young children. Lucy's childhood is marked by neglect and poverty, which, for her, means that she is keenly observant of and sensitive to the world around her. When we first meet Lucy, she is very ill and spends 9 weeks in the hospital recovering, when her mother visits her for the first time in many years, and this visit brings up memories of her childhood and how she remembers those memories as an adult. Written in first person, this is the story of Lucy's childhood, marriage, motherhood, short-lived illness and writing and recording her own story.
Reread my description above and you'll think that nothing much happens in this story but read this book and you'll understand Strout's talent for storytelling through character development. I can't do this book justice in my description because the charm and beauty of this story is in the details and those I can't offer up in a summary. I can't guarantee that you will love Lucy, but I am pretty sure that you will finish the book really knowing her. What I love about Lucy is that she is a "glass half-full" sort of a person and her story reflects that. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
This is the continuing story of Lucy Barton's home town, Amgash, IL. It’s important to note here that if you didn’t read Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton, you should because knowing that book will enrich your experience with this one even more. Here we meet characters who were mentioned in a sentence or two in My Name is Lucy Barton and who now get a whole story and life: the pretty Nicely sisters, the janitor at Lucy's school, Lucy's own sister, Vicky, and brother, Peter, and other people in the town. It’s a story about a family and secrets untold and how that affects everyone differently.
OK, folks, it's official, I am a true Elizabeth Strout groupie. Olive Kitteridge is probably my favorite book of all time (yes, I have a copy of it on my book shelf-see my Tiny Beautiful Things review), with Amy and Isabelle falling a close second, and Strout does not fail with Anything is Possible. I hope that the way this book came about is that Strout fell in love with Lucy and wanted to keep telling her story because this is what it feels like. By learning about the town and the people who lived and interacted with Lucy we get to know more about her.
The way in which Strout writes her stories makes me think of the quintessential family dinners with family lore being shared around the table. It's all in the details she includes and the storyline of everyday people who end up being remarkable. Strouts’s books make me feel like I'm cocooned in all the good things in life: love, family and friendship. More please!!!