Reviews

My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

rbreade's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

 A quiet novel that shimmers with the pleasures of language and story. Strout has created a unique voice in Lucy Barton and here explores in part how that voice came to be: anyone who grew up in a family where conversation was stingily parceled out, and then only for the most trivial matters, will recognize a kindred spirit when Barton says, "The Puritanism of my ancestors has not made use of conversation as a source of pleasure, the way I have seen other cultures do." And just because the novel is quiet does not mean it is without shock and surprise, as when one is reading along, following Lucy's voice, and is suddenly blown sky-high by a line such as this one about her childhood in Illinois: "I don't know, in numbers, how many times I was locked in the truck." 

vaudevillianveteran's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

elspethmj's review

emotional reflective relaxing

3.75

hillary_charlotte's review

5.0

This book pierced my heart. It is a short, character driven novel with very little plot that will not be to everyone’s liking. But my heart aches in that beautiful way after finishing this story.

emfarley's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

jlsjourneys's review

4.0

What a profound, poignant little book. Sad, but full of love. Many lines touched me, but this one took my breath away.

“I suspect I said nothing because I was doing what I have done most of my life, which is to cover for the mistakes of others when they don't know they have embarrassed themselves. I do this, I think, because it could be me a great deal of the time.”

jobustitch's review

4.0

Is Amgash Amboy? No, but the setting of this book completely grabbed my attention. The author described the areas as if she had been there and I was hooked. I find when I go back to IL, we tell stories in the manner that Lucy's mother does. Same phrases and same ties to who knows who. The idea that everyone else's business is also your business and vice versa is so baked into the fabric of that small place. I can't wait to read her follow up book.

sarah_grace04's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective

4.0

mk4_naka's review

4.0

I think this is the first book that I want to read again...there's more to seek in what's not said, and perhaps its length makes than an easier thing to consider.

annika_fabbi's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5