My Name is Lucy Barton

Author: Elizabeth Strout (read by Kimberly Farr)
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2016
Pages: 208 pages (4 CDs)
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable.

Review: I had tried to read the hardback version and it just didn't grab me. My coworker, the one who recommends books to me all the time, suggested trying the audio version. She was sure it was one I'd like. To be honest, I only reconsidered because it was published in 2016, a line item on my 2016 Reading Challenge.

It took a few tracks to get into the rhythm of the narrator's style, but this actually ended up being interesting and easy to "read." I don't get why this is such a popular book because it's more in the three star range for me.

Here's where I found it lacking, I wanted more. More of everything. More details, more introspection, more answers, more juicy family gossip. 

I guess what's good about it is that any one of us could have been Lucy Barton. Her life wasn't extraordinary. She seemed real and likeable. Just a child who grew up and as an adult had to come to terms with her childhood.

Elizabeth Strout will never be a favorite author, but her writing is solid.

I read Amy and Isabelle, also written by Strout, in 2011. I remember reading it, but not much else about it.