My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Lucy Barton is in a New York City hospital to have her appendix
removed. There are complications and she
is faced with a lonely recovery; her husband hates hospitals and her young
daughters are busy with school. One day
when she opens her eyes Lucy’s mother is sitting in the chair at the end of the
bed. Lucy hasn’t seen her mother in
years, knows her mother has never traveled far from their hometown of Amgash,
Illinois, yet there she is. What follows
is the weeklong conversation between an estranged mother and daughter and how
that week has a great impact on Lucy’s life as a mother, wife and writer.
I listened to this book, but I may have liked it better if I
read it. I find it grating when adult
children constantly call their parents mommy and daddy and on audio I cringed
whenever it happened, which was often.
Also, the book is short, I like concise stories but this was the rare
occasion when I thought it may have been too short. I felt like I there was a lot I didn’t
know. I love books that leave you with
questions, but I felt like there were too many questions and I didn’t know the
characters as well as I would have liked.
Don’t go by me, this is an extremely well-reviewed book and
people who aren’t me will probably like it!
