My Name Is Lucy Barton

"I had a hard time following at the beginning. I had to go back and reread a few to completely engage my brain. I really enjoyed it after that. I liked how the author made me really think about the main character and engage with each of her life events. It was a very good book. "

"Beautifully written. A story about one woman’s life, yet so many moments that all women feel like is their story. Loved it and now obsessed with Elizabeth Strout. "

"This is a book about a woman’s life, and yet, with something about all of our lives. Written simply and beautifully, she covers childhood, family of origin, poverty, generational trauma, marriage, divorce, parenting, grieving, and finding your place in the world with grace and sensitivity. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading others by Elizabeth Stout. "

"I have loved all of Elizabeth Strout’s books. "

"Thanks so much to Libro.fm, Random House and Penguin Random House Audio for letting me listen and review this book. This was a very short and quick read, but very poignant, deep and thoughtful. <br/>I found myself deep in thought and identifying more than I expected to with this story.<br/>I related to the character being in the hospital after a serious health concern arises that she has to have taken care of with surgery with her appendix and being alone in the hospital then waking up to find her mother there, who she has a strained relationship with and hasn't been in touch with for a while it seems.<br/>This short book is the story of this character's stay in the hospital while she recovers from her appendix having been removed and complication of minor infection and how her mother shows up for her even though they have a strained and complicated relationship. Of course what mother/daughter isn't complicated to some extent.<br/>The character, Lucy Barton, reflects a lot on her childhood and growing up, her parents, how she was raised and how she is with her own two children. She talks a lot with her mother while in the hospital since her husband hates hospitals, is working and taking care of the kids - he's the one who calls and asks her mother to sit with her in the hospital while she's recovering.<br/>Her husband comes and visits and brings the kids, they talk and visit and leave, but there are these other deep, poignant feelings that are brought out in conversations and by spending all this time with her mother while in her hospital bed. She tries to confront and talk with her mother about things from the past, but can't always find a way to talk with her mother about them and also talks about feeling lonely from her life especially from growing up and not feeling as much love as she wanted from her mother and trying to figure out how to be a writer, writing, publishing, being a mom, being herself and everything else and I can relate so much to this on a lot of levels.<br/>I was very surprised by how much is packed into this short story and how deep, thoughtful and poignant it all is.<br/>I can't really explain it all, but it's worth checking out and it doesn't take long to listen to and it will definitely leave an impression on you that you likely won't forget, I know I haven't."

"I keep seeing later books in the series that pique my interest, so I started with MNILB. However, reading this one felt like sitting in a warm bath - except with your head underwater, holding your breath, and then somehow you can't get comfortable. <br/><br/>I think if I'm in a different headspace I'll return to it - lots of little '-isms' to highlight and return to, but entirely too vague in it's language -I think, in order to write subsequent books?-so, perhaps another novel about Lucy will fill in some of the details. <br/><br/>I did however feel like sitting with this book took a long time, possibly because the character-driven plot was so subtle. <br/><br/>Overall, not bad, but not for me at this time."

"This year I was going to try to read books from the Tournament of Books, however this is the third book I've read from their selection and haven't cared for any of them. The story didn't go anywhere--it was just them talking about people from their past with bits of flashbacks. I'm thinking they're just not my kind of books--most of them have gotten starred reviews and mention of the various topics they discuss but for me they go over my head and fall flat. Maybe I'll return to the ToB at a later point but for now I'm switching to something else."

"Quiet. Simple. But able to convey a lot about humanity and relationships. Able to sit in the back of the mind and stir thought and reflection."