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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“‘It is our tragedy in Ireland that for one reason or another we are repeatedly obliged to flee from what we hold dear…. Exile is part of us.”
The Story of Lucy Gault is a beautifully sad novel about the tragic and lonely life of an Irish girl. William Trevor is well equipped to write such a novel; his prose his stoic, clear, and unsentimental. As I dive into some Irish writers whom I had never heard of prior to researching this year, I am learning that the spirit of Joyce lives on strongly in Ireland's more contemporary literary talent. Trevor's writing talents are so evident in every sentence; the naturalness of his storytelling is magnetic. There are no pretenses between writer and reader; one is simply carried on the river of Trevor's narrative. There are very few tricks or impressive flourishes in Trevor's prose. He writes to tell a story lucidly and seems to know exactly how to bring his story to life. He can introduce a character by their name, write a sentence or two about their posture and outfit, and somehow that character emerges in the world of the reader's mind. To say Trevor taps into a spirit of simplicity is not meant to undermine the literariness of this work. The story is dramatic and has some twists and turns, but never anything that would lead one to doubt the realism of Lucy's life. There is also a historical undercurrent in the novel. Like in Turgenev (whom I felt reverberated most strongly in Trevor's writing, moreso than Joyce or anyone else), the everyday lives of Trevor's characters are always rumbling atop the context of the times. World War I and II are especially notable, but Trevor begins the story with some historical context as well.
To briefly summarize the story, Lucy, an 8-year-old girl, is being forced by her parents to move homes from Ireland to somewhere else in Europe. As most petulant children would respond, she runs away from home. However, she gets trapped in a forest and is lost, believed to be dead, and abandoned. She is later found but her parents have long since left and nobody can get in touch with them (until decades later her father returns, and the events proceed until the late life of Lucy). In lesser hands, the novel's story could be written by anyone from a YA writer to a talent as supreme as Trevor himself. But as Trevor writes it, there is always a delicate tension between Lucy's desires and the disappointing outcomes in her life. As her wait for her parents, in her lonesome and purposeless life out in the country, transforms into a passionate obsession with a man (Ralph) who leaves her for war and eventually marries someone else, her pain only deepens, and with age her life becomes considerably more lonely and sad.
I felt that the story is ultimately a cynical one. There is no silver lining -- not that there is only pain and loneliness either -- just that life is not so contrived that something like a silver lining must necessarily exist. But Lucy's life is catapulted from a young age into one of misfortune due to a childish mistake, and it never really improves. She simply exists, waiting and waiting and waiting. At the core of the novel’s conflict seems to be the theme of "running away" (underscored by how war and national tragedy has pervaded Ireland's history, displacing its people or involving them in international conflict) -- Lucy from integrating within society and pursuing her own passions and desires (ironically, she is portrayed as her happiest when she travels abroad to her mother's grave), the Gault couples unwillingness to face Ireland again, Ralph's running away from his feelings for Lucy to be a married man to someone who his heart rejects, etc. But even characters like Henry and Bridget (Lucy's caretakers after her parents leave) are not especially happy or better off. They're also simply just existing. If I took away anything from Lucy Gault, I think it is that life is going to happen and keep happening. We can't hyperbolize its virtues and live in some sort of delusion, but we also risk delusion if we obsess over regret and what cannot be (as in the case of Horahan, the man who antagonized the Gault family in the very beginning of the story, setting off the rest of the novel's events). There is much more to pick at here, too. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Trevor has in store, maybe in some short stories next.
I felt that the story is ultimately a cynical one. There is no silver lining -- not that there is only pain and loneliness either -- just that life is not so contrived that something like a silver lining must necessarily exist. But Lucy's life is catapulted from a young age into one of misfortune due to a childish mistake, and it never really improves. She simply exists, waiting and waiting and waiting. At the core of the novel’s conflict seems to be the theme of "running away" (underscored by how war and national tragedy has pervaded Ireland's history, displacing its people or involving them in international conflict) -- Lucy from integrating within society and pursuing her own passions and desires (ironically, she is portrayed as her happiest when she travels abroad to her mother's grave), the Gault couples unwillingness to face Ireland again, Ralph's running away from his feelings for Lucy to be a married man to someone who his heart rejects, etc. But even characters like Henry and Bridget (Lucy's caretakers after her parents leave) are not especially happy or better off. They're also simply just existing. If I took away anything from Lucy Gault, I think it is that life is going to happen and keep happening. We can't hyperbolize its virtues and live in some sort of delusion, but we also risk delusion if we obsess over regret and what cannot be (as in the case of Horahan, the man who antagonized the Gault family in the very beginning of the story, setting off the rest of the novel's events). There is much more to pick at here, too. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Trevor has in store, maybe in some short stories next.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Story of Lucy Gault by Willam Trevor is a heart-wrenching story of love withheld because of guilt and misunderstandings. Ann Patchett recommended this book as one of her all-time favorite books in a Parnassus Books Tic Tok. I’m a fan of Patchett and her recommendations, so I added it to my TBR list. So glad I did.
Review of the novel The Story of Lucy Gault
The story begins in 1921 within Ireland’s political unrest. The Gaults are a well-to-do family when three teenage boys try to set fire to their home, Lahardane. Captain Gault fires his gun into the night to scare them off but inadvertently injures one of the boys. When efforts to apologize to the boy’s family go unanswered, Captain Gault and his English wife make plans to flee Ireland, assuming there will be more violence to come. Their 8 year old daughter Lucy doesn’t want to leave, and in an effort to prove her point, runs away. Through a series of misunderstandings, the Gaults come to believe their daughter is dead. Instead, Lucy has just been injured and when she returns home, she finds her parents have left the island.
For the rest of this review, including Book Club prompts: https://www.literatureandleisure.com/2023/01/book-review-the-story-of-lucy-gault/
Review of the novel The Story of Lucy Gault
The story begins in 1921 within Ireland’s political unrest. The Gaults are a well-to-do family when three teenage boys try to set fire to their home, Lahardane. Captain Gault fires his gun into the night to scare them off but inadvertently injures one of the boys. When efforts to apologize to the boy’s family go unanswered, Captain Gault and his English wife make plans to flee Ireland, assuming there will be more violence to come. Their 8 year old daughter Lucy doesn’t want to leave, and in an effort to prove her point, runs away. Through a series of misunderstandings, the Gaults come to believe their daughter is dead. Instead, Lucy has just been injured and when she returns home, she finds her parents have left the island.
For the rest of this review, including Book Club prompts: https://www.literatureandleisure.com/2023/01/book-review-the-story-of-lucy-gault/
The Gaults are a Protestant family living in Ireland between the two World Wars. As anti English sentiment grows all around them, a nervous and foolish reaction from the father results in the family feeling unsafe, and planning a move to England. Young Lucy is in love with the place she grew up, preferring the woods and glens to other people, and plans to run away from home to force the parents to reconsider their move. Not everything goes to plan, and this childlike notion leads to a life plagued by loss and loneliness.
The novel is beautifully written, haunted in the background by the upheavals in Ireland and greater Europe. Characters are strongly drawn, though not always likeable. As time progresses however, I cared less and less for the introduction of some other characters, and was unsure of their role in a story about family, and growing up without them. 4 stars for the first 150 or so pages, brought down to 3 by the rest.
The novel is beautifully written, haunted in the background by the upheavals in Ireland and greater Europe. Characters are strongly drawn, though not always likeable. As time progresses however, I cared less and less for the introduction of some other characters, and was unsure of their role in a story about family, and growing up without them. 4 stars for the first 150 or so pages, brought down to 3 by the rest.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Bonkers and depressing as hell!
emotional
reflective
sad
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No