The book details the complicated relationship between the titular lucy barton and her mother. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, first edition. A guide for book clubs study guides for book clubs cope, kathryn on. My latest book, olive, again, will be available oct 15. It starts with the clean, solid structure and narrative distance of a fairy tale yet becomes more intimate and improvisational, coming close at times to the rawness of autofiction by writers such as karl ove knausgaard and rachel cusk. Beth and at the very end she says stop it something she could not say while he was alive, apparently. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout goodreads.
Elizabeth strout has been doing just that in one elegant, penetrating. This is a short, almost poetic, workbarely more than 200 pagesbut strout covers a lot of ground, from the perspective of a woman whos reflecting back on the time she spent in a nyc hospital in the 1980s. Jan 10, 2016 my name is lucy barton is a short book, not even 200 pages. In my name is lucy barton, one of americas finest writers shows how a simple hospital visit illuminates the most tender relationship of allthe one between mother and daughter. My name is lucy barton audiobook by elizabeth strout. To answer questions about my name is lucy barton, please sign up.
Putting down my name is lucy barton, i couldnt help thinking id just read a youngadult novel written for middleaged readers, a book designed around a very simple and entirely innocuous. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. But my name is lucy barton is the story of a daughter who loved her mother, and that is a very different story. My name is lucy barton is a 2016 new york times bestselling novel and the fifth novel by the american writer elizabeth strout.
My name is lucy barton weaves a delicate balance the. My name is lucy barton is smart and cagey in every way. Much of the story takes place in a hospital in new york city, where lucy barton goes to have her appendix removed. A novel by elizabeth strout and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at abebooks. The boston globe it is lucys gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mothers shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful. From pulitzer prizewinning author elizabeth strout.
For customized packages, savings, and ticket exchanges, become an mtc subscriber or patron today. And yet its a powerful addition to strouts body of work. My name is lucy barton nyt critics pick broadway, drama, play, solo performance closing date. In 2009, her book, olive kitteridge, won the pulitzer prize and was turned into a miniseries for hbo starring oscar winner frances mcdormand. My name is lucy barton is author elizabeth strouts latest bestseller. Do you think lucy blames her mother for the more painful parts of her childhood. Jan, 2016 in my name is lucy barton, there are no plot twists to distract or verbal acrobatics to charm.
Her bestselling novels, including olive kitteridge and the burgess boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Oh, and theres gossip about people from lucy s childhood in amgash, illinois. Jan 15, 2016 my name is lucy barton is a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds. My name is lucy barton by strout, elizabeth at abebooks. An extraordinary writer shows us how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender bond of allthe one. My name is lucy barton centers around lucy, her mother and lucy s abusive childhood which included being locked in a truck with a snake.
Lucy barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. The eponymous narrator looks back to the mid1980s, when she goes into the hospital for an appendix removal and succumbs to a mysterious fever that keeps her there for nine weeks. A new book by pulitzer prize winner elizabeth strout is cause for celebration. San francisco chronicle a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds. My name is lucy barton by strout, elizabeth and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at abebooks. This is the story of lucy who has to stay in the hospital for nine weeks. Lucy recalls that her earliest memories of her parents are accompanied by a feeling of loneliness. Her mother comes to visit and through conversations with her and a recollection of her past she starts to reflect. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, signed abebooks abebooks. My name is lucy barton was published in 2016 and quickly landed at the top of the times bestseller list, bumping down the girl on the train, a thriller about a scorned, alcoholic. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, paperback.
Buy my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout online at alibris. It was first published in the united states on january 12, 2016 through random house. Lucy barton grows up poor and isolated in rural illinois. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Now, in my name is lucy barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all the one between mother and daughter. My name is lucy barton, by elizabeth strout, is written as a fictional memoir of a famous author. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, beginning with lucy s time in the hospital when she was younger. You may have noticed that all five of my books of 2016 so far have been by women as is the sixth. My name is lucy barton was exactly what i was in the mood for. Jan 10, 2016 the narrator of strouts powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is raised in poverty outside the small town of.
Elizabeth strout, kimberly farr, random house audio. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading my name is lucy barton. During this period her mother visits her and stays with her although she refuses to meet the son in law.
My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout triviaon. It evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very downtoearth and unpretentious one. Lucy lies in a new york city hospital suffering from an undiagnosed illness when her mother unexpectedly arrives from rural illinois, where. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout take the challenge and share it with friends and family for a time of fun. It considers the perception of poverty by those who live both inside and outside of it. Do you think that was a gesture of love on his part. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, first edition, signed abebooks. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout abebooks. I like writers who try to tell you something truthful, comments the eponymous narrator of my name is lucy barton. My name is lucy barton is a short, sparse novel and every word, every incident related is carefully chosen.
Feb 04, 2016 my name is lucy barton is smart and cagey in every way. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout alibris. My name is lucy barton, by elizabeth strout sfgate. Jan 12, 2016 praise for my name is lucy barton a quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of lucy herself. Ellen emry heltzel is a writer and book critic who lives in portland. Theres a veil of ambiguity over the whole novel that made me constantly question what i was reading. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at abebooks. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout abebooks abebooks. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton the new york. With lucy barton, strout reminds us of the power of our storiesand our ability to transcend our troubled narratives.
It did, at least, make it on to the longlist but there it stuck, much to my mystification. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout book club. My name is lucy barton is a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds it evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very downtoearth and unpretentious one. Exploring family trauma in my name is lucy barton the. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout jeffreys books. From the pulitzer prizewinning author of olive kitteridge by strout, elizabeth at abebooks. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton for which i had high hopes as a baileys contender, sadly dashed. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, signed abebooks. Back by popular demand, the show returned to the london stage in 2019, and will be making its broadway debut in january 2020. Feb 02, 2016 my name is lucy barton confirms strout as a powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships, weaving family tapestries with compassion, wisdom and insight. Jan 05, 2016 from pulitzer prize winning strout the burgess boys, 20, etc. A novel 9780812979527 by elizabeth strout and a great selection of similar new, used and.
My name is lucy barton tells the story of a woman, named lucy, as she recovers from an illness and tries to make sense ofpeace with her complicated relationship with her mother. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton the new york times. Strout avoids sentimentality by imbuing lucy s narrative with a pervasive sense of uncertainty. In my name is lucy barton, there are no plot twists to distract or verbal acrobatics to charm. This was in new york city, and at night a view of the chrysler building, with its geometric brilliance of lights, was directly visible from my bed. My name is lucy barton evokes shades of feeling so accurately and unsentimentally that moralizing labels, too often applied to everything from childhood to marriage, begin to seem both clunky and wrong. In elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton, a simple hospital visit is a portal to the most tender relationship between mother and daughter. This is a magnificent book, one that explores much hurt and darkness without ever relinquishing its compassion or. E lizabeth strout grew up in maine and new hampshire, whose landscapes she often uses in her novels, including the pulitzer prizewinning olive kitteridge.
Her mother, to whom she hasnt spoken for many years, comes to see her. Nevertheless, after finishing elizabeth strouts new collection of linked stories, anything is possible, i had to reread her previous book, my name is lucy barton and then i went. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. Womens fiction buy now this book is on reading list for january 2017. In her spare and mesmerizing novel my name is lucy barton, elizabeth strout elegantly probes the chasm between what is said and what is felt as a daughter and her undemonstrative mother shyly reconnect. A novel by elizabeth strout and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
My name is lucy barton ticket prices on the secondary market can vary widely depending on the location, day of the week, season, and other factors. Lucy was raised in extreme poverty by parents who were not able to nurture and show her love in the manner that most children need. Hilary mantel on my name is lucy barton elizabeth strouts prose is like words doing. Reading my name is lucy barton, i was frequently put in mind of hemingways famous injunction to write the truest sentence that you know. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout overdrive. My name is lucy barton tells the story of the title character and her relationship with her family, particularly her mother and first husband. It is also the work of a more mature writer, scaling new heights. The wall street journal impressionistic and haunting.
My name is lucy barton weaves a delicate balance a hospital visit to an adult daughter by a long estranged mother unwinds a sensitive story of a torn familys imperfect love. Jan 04, 2016 but my name is lucy barton is the story of a daughter who loved her mother, and that is a very different story. There was a time, and it was many years ago now, when i had to stay in a hospital for almost nine weeks. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, much raved about by all readers did not turn out to be an enjoyable read for me. The narrator of strouts powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is raised in poverty outside the small town of. Now, in my name is lucy barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of allthe one between mother and daughter. There is a moment in my name is lucy barton when the protagonist, struggling to find her voice on a creative writing course, is advised.
A novel 9780812979527 by strout, elizabeth and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. What role does the gossip lucy and her mother share play in the book. The boston globe it is lucy s gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mothers shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful. My name is lucy bartonlike all of strouts fictionis more complex than it first appears, and all the more emotionally persuasive for it. My name is lucy barton is produced with the london theatre company in association with penguin random house audio support for my name is lucy barton is provided by the harold and mimi steinberg charitable trust. Pulitzer prizewinning author of olive kitteridge, my name is lucy barton, and other novels. Lucy s husband asked her mother to visit her in the hospital, and paid for her trip. Questions and topics for discussion my name is lucy barton. Praise for my name is lucy barton a quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words. Soon to be a broadway play starring laura linney produced by manhattan theatre club and london theatre company.