Reading taste is so personal, isn’t it? Books that
blow me away barely register on the “okay” scale for others. For example,
Elizabeth Strout, who authored this month’s book selection is one of my
favorite authors. I shared another book by her, Olive Kitteridge, that I LOVED with a fellow book lover. Their
response was sort of, “eh, not so much.” It did win the Pulizer Prize for
literature. I’m just saying.
For some books it’s just the characters, some the
language, some the storytelling. For me, Strout does it all. Her observations
of people and life just leave me astonished. The things we all notice but don’t
register…. She notices, she observes, she crafts, then renders beautifully on
the page.
This novel is created as the main character, Lucy
Barton, a writer, shares memories of her life with us. It begins with a recounting
of her long and unsuspected stay in the hospital for a mysterious infection
following routine surgery. A surprise visit from her mother sparks a series of
memories that take us back and forth through time from her difficult childhood
forward.
I love strong female characters. The one thing
that makes this character unique and endearing is her guileless inability to
recognize her own strength and resourscefulness. We visit some dark places with
her but it is never done gratuitously. The novel reminds us of the complex and
often not fully understood connection between all of us and our families of
origin. Sometimes loving. Sometimes not.
Recommend.
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