Summer Reading: My Name is Lucy Barton

The next selection on my summer reading list was My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. My former book club read Strout's The Burgess Boys and I thought it was fascinating. This novel is very nonlinear beginning with Lucy Barton's extended stay in the hospital for an unexplained illness with flashbacks to her difficult childhood and glimpses of her future as a successful novelist. For five days during her hospital stay her estranged mother comes to visit and, through trivial conversations about the people back home, the two of them reconnect. There are vague references to the debilitating poverty suffered by the family and hints about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and, while nothing is really resolved between Clara and her mother, Clara begins to come to terms with her past and it is assumed that she uses her experiences in her writing. While I was reading this short novel I kept wishing that more would happen (it is definitely more character driven than plot driven) but upon reflection I view it is a poignant masterpiece. Lucy is an incredibly sympathetic character and I found her descriptions of her childhood to be very affecting, especially when she describes staying at school to do her homework because it was warm. That really made me think about the students who linger in my classroom after school. Strout's writing is very understated but it really packs an emotional punch.  It took me a little while to wrap my head around this novel but once I did it really resonated with me.  I highly recommend it!

Have you read My Name is Lucy Barton?  What did you think?