Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - My Name Is Lucy Barton

Easy, quick read at less than 200 pages. I read this in one sitting, and only finished because I have book 2 and have heard it’s better than Lucy Barton, plus as I said it’s a quick read.

Stream of consciousness writing style with chapters jumping from different points of time which could be confusing at times. I’m not a big fan of this writing style because it usually lacks depth and the characters felt one dimensional.

I felt detached to the characters because there’s a lot of telling instead of showing. Maybe it’s because of how short the novel is and it tries to span so much time in so few pages.

The book is an interesting exploration of a childhood lived in extreme poverty, neglect, tense mother-daughter relationships, and loneliness. I did appreciate some quotes that made me think but overall it’s not bad or great, just average and forgettable. I’m hoping other reviewers are right and book 2 (as well as another of Strout’s novels, Olive Kitteridge) is better.

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thesaltiestlibrarian's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sslinkard's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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mike_the_goblin's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a great book, easy to recommend but difficult to read. The plot is fairly easy to follow along with but it is told in an unorthodox way. This is a great example of a writer expertly revealing character through dialogue.

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