Strout does it again! Oh William is yet another genius, extraordinary, beautiful novel. I read it in a day and found myself so moved by every page. 500 stars!

A most intriguing book, written in almost a "stream of conscience" style of writing. This is the third in a series of books with the central character of Lucy Barton as narrator, and my first read of the series. It stand along and there is no indication that there was information provided in earlier books in the series that pertained to this book.

Lucy alternates between telling stories about her life with William, both present and past, and the feelings she had when she was married to him as well as in the present. It is a rambling narrative that is captivating in that the reader doesn't know where it's going next or what to expect. In the process, there are a number of human emotions and experiences that are relayed which may strike recognition in the mind of the reader.

While the main narrative tells the story of Lucy and William, it is not told in a linear since, nor is it a recount of their history . Rather, it deals with various experiences and the emotions Lucy attaches to them over the course of both their marriage and their relationship as friends since divorce. She includes some stories about other family members, William's mother, Lucy and William's daughters, Lucy's second husband, almost as if when something she is saying reminds her of them. It's as if the reader is sitting in a room having a conversation with Lucy, and the book has recorded the tales Lucy is telling.

Many of the emotions and situations will strike a chord, either of recognition or empathy, within the reader. As such, it is likely the book will remain with them after completion as they think through the thoughts and emotions the book evokes. Anyone who has even a slight interest in the human condition or what makes people who they are will find things in this book to spark ideas and information.

My thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed her are entirely my own.

5★
“Grief is such a—oh, it is such a solitary thing; this is the terror of it, I think. It is like sliding down the outside of a really long glass building while nobody sees you.”

I loved this, which is no surprise since I’ve enjoyed Strout’s writing since I first read it. I’ve never been particularly fond of Lucy Barton herself.

She grew up in extreme poverty, was called smelly at school, and her home life was violent, due to her father’s post-traumatic stress after his World War 2 experiences in Germany. They lived an isolated life outside of town.

She’s just buried her second husband, David, who was raised as a Hasidic Jew, so he was another kind of outsider, and they understood each other as nobody else could.

“My husband’s name was David Abramson and he was—oh, how can I tell you what he was? He was him! We were—we really were—kind of made for each other, except that seems a terrifically trite thing to say but— Oh, I cannot say any more right now.”

This is like leafing through letters from a friend. Lucy frequently interrupts herself, saying she must add one more thing. Or sometimes she says she can’t talk about it right now. Some of it is new news, some of it is catching you up on what she might not have told you in the past, or reminding you of what she did tell you, because you’re old friends.

By that, I mean that she’s referring to ‘her’ first book, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and the short stories that ‘she’ wrote about her hometown of Amgash, Anything Is Possible. You do not need to have read those books to enjoy this one. She brings you up to speed with anything important.

Lucy is sixty-three now, a well-known author whose books are sold all over the world. She has travelled everywhere, but she has never really lost her feeling of awkwardness, of not belonging, of being invisible.

“I have always thought that if there was a big corkboard and on that board was a pin for every person who ever lived, there would be no pin for me.

I feel invisible, is what I mean. But I mean it in the deepest way. It is very hard to explain. And I cannot explain it except to say—oh, I don’t know what to say! Truly, it is as if I do not exist, I guess is the closest thing I can say. I mean I do not exist in the world. It could be as simple as the fact that we had no mirrors in our house when I was growing up except for a very small one high above the bathroom sink. I really do not know what I mean, except to say that on some very fundamental level, I feel invisible in the world.”

She mourns David but keeps on keeping on, largely because she is still strongly connected to the two daughters she had with William, her first husband. The girls are adults, close to each other, and they shop and lunch with their mother. William lives with his third wife and their ten-year-old daughter.

The exes have settled into a kind of fond, companionable relationship, so much so that it’s easy to think they will end up together again – happily ever after! Then the prickliness between them becomes scratchy again, and it's thank goodness she’s out of there!

Very early in the book she tells us about Joanne. She frequently drops these kinds of bombshells.

“About a year after our marriage ended, William married a woman he had had an affair with for six years.”

But they'd raised two daughters during the twenty years they were married, so there is a lot of family history between them, much of it happy. There are many nostalgic reminiscences about family celebrations, and ‘Remember Whens’.

She’s writing ‘today’, telling us anecdotes and truths as they occur to her. She moves through her life story in a linear order, but of course when she is reminded of her childhood or young married life, she stops to talk about it. She is more sophisticated and worldly, and is embarrassed sometimes by William - his clothes or his manner - which is when she thinks “Oh, William!” with fondness.

William has asked her to go with him to research his mother’s family history in Maine, because he’s discovered some shocking news, and he needs Lucy with him. They will fly together then rent a car and stay in towns along the way. It is trite to say it’s a journey of discovery, but of course, it is.

Lucy does not write as if she’s a literary author; she writes conversationally, almost embarrassed to say how foolish she was, how inexperienced, how awkward, how invisible. She is emotional and raw and very insightful – now.

She thinks it’s only in retrospect that she has some idea of what was going on. I'm inclined to think she was easy for someone (William) to measure himself against and be sure he'd come out ahead.

When William’s mother, Catherine, who features largely in the book, took them on family holidays to fancy resorts, Lucy said people lounging around the pool knew how to relax and order drinks.

“. . . how did they all know what to do? I feel invisible—as I have said—and yet in that situation I had the strangest sensation of both being invisible and yet having a spotlight on my head that said: This young woman knows nothing.”

That is something like the quotation I opened with, where she wrote about grief being like sliding down a glass building (obviously visible) but nobody sees you.

There is a time when they are driving that William reminisces about something odd he’d seen Lucy do during their marriage and how he’d laughed at her. Telling her now, he laughs again.

“I looked out the window of my side of the car, and my face became very warm.
‘You’re a strange one, Lucy,’ he said after a moment.
And that was that.”

She remembers that David loved her, admired her, was thankful they had met.

“And then he would say—every morning he said this— ‘Lucy B, Lucy B, how did we meet?
I thank God we are we.’

Never in a thousand years would he have laughed at me.
Never. For anything.”

It’s a journal, it’s a road trip, it’s a family history, it’s an exploration of one woman’s invisible life except it isn’t invisible. She’s the crucial hub for her family and her extended family. I wish Lucy would just keep adding to her letters or journal or reminiscences so I could check in with her from time to time. I do like her as a character now.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for a preview copy This is due to be published in October. I sure hope she is working on another one - either Elizabeth Strout or Lucy Barton, that is. :)

After reading the first few pages of Oh William I felt reconnected with my long lost friend Lucy Barton from Elizabeth Stout's previous books.
This story of relationships, discovery of the past as well as discovery of self is told in a relatable and comfortable way. Unputdownable!
I highly recommend this book and anything Elizabeth Strout writes.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.

I haven’t read the first book but I didn’t need it to enjoy this book. I didn’t feel the context was missing. Yet, the author has a way of conveying characters in a realistic way, that I simply want to know what happened before.
I enjoyed this book. It’s portrayal of love, loss, and enduring friendship is captivating.

I've been wanting to read something by Elizabeth Strout for a few years so when I was offered an ARC, I happily read it. It was a quick read and I finished it in a weekend. It seemed that it would have been helpful for me to have read the two books in the series before this in order to have a better appreciation for the characters.

Lucy is the narrator and explores the family dynamics of her former husband. The writing style is conversational and flows well. "Oh William" is a bit of a condescending thought that Lucy often has when interacting with her first husband. They have a familiar but tense relationship when they both find themselves single in later life. Lucy accompanies William to explore some family secrets and the story goes back and forth with Lucy's history as well.

Thank You Random House, NetGalley and Author for Oh William!

Sadly I have not read the two first books that goes with Oh William!
And honestly wished I did first before reading this.
Because you don't know what has happened to Lucy's husband and such.

But anyways this was a funny, sad, and moving.
You Elizabeth Strouts writing style is very amusing, smooth and engaging.
I loved that this was about imperfect people dealing with everyday struggles.
Which I simply love in lit fiction novels.
This book is beautifully written and definitely not one to be missed. I will definitely be checking out more books by this author.
I couldn't put my kindle away long enough. Because I couldn't get enough of this story.
Now I'm off to buy the first two books and read those.

Again thank you so much for the opportunity to read this out so novel!

This is a short novel that packs a big punch.

In Oh William, we follow Lucy Barton, later in her life, as she reflects on her relationships with her family and her first husband, William.

Lucy’s second husband recently passed away and, not long after, she ends up supporting William when he discovers that he has a long-lost relative that his mother had never mentioned before.

This book is so short - it’s two chapters, and is told entirely from Lucy’s perspective. It’s easy to finish in one sitting. There is not much plot, the reader mostly floats along with Lucy’s narrative.

I thought there were some great insights on childhood trauma and how the effects of that can carry on into adulthood, such as how Lucy’s abusive upbringing left her uncertain on how to behave “correctly” in her new social sphere.

The second half of the novel is when I really became invested in Lucy’s story. Her relationship with William, even after their divorce, was both sweet, funny, and slightly painful.

Overall, I enjoyed this one, I just wish there was more of it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

My first reading experience with Elizabeth Strout was "Olive, Again" which I thought was very good book. This book, "Oh William!" is apparently the third book she has written about Lucy Barton, It too is a good read; not quite as good as Olive Again, but still pretty good. I am a reader who can no longer tolerate trollers, police procedurals, etc. I have put down way more books than I have finished. Books have to have good writing and a good (not cliched) story that interests me and moves me. When I started Oh William! I was pushing through it but by halfway through It was pulling me.
The story is at the beginning a current account of Lucy's history with her first husband William, in the wake of the death of her second husband. The book really takes off when Lucy travels to Maine with William to look for William's just discovered half-sister. Others will give you more details on the plot.
What I can say is that this is a book full of humanity (at least full of middle class NYC white humanity) and it moved me. I will be returning to Elizabeth Strout and her earlier Olive and Lucy books.

If you’re already a fan of Elizabeth Strout, you’ll be delighted with this, her latest book, and especially so if you enjoyed her earlier book, My Name Is Lucy Barton, as this book continues Lucy’s story. And if are not already a Strout fan, this will likely make you one. Lucy is now in her 60s, divorced from but still friends with William, her first husband. Through her voice, we explore the experience, impact, and meaning of life, death, marriage, divorce, relationships, family, childhood, friendship, and more. I highly recommend it.

Oh William review
Lucy Barton is back. Her second husband has died and she is living alone in NYC. Her first husband, William, is retired from teaching at NYU but still goes into his lab at the school daily. When his third wife leaves him and takes their young daughter, he contacts Lucy to commiserate with her.
William’s mother, Catherine, had been an important part of their life when William & Lucy were married. Now Catherine has been dead for some years but was still remembered by Lucy and her 2 daughters.
Before William’s third wife left him, she gave him a membership in an ancestry finder website. What William learns will be surprising to both he and Lucy.
I enjoyed this book as I had the first Lucy book, My Name is Lucy Barton and the author’s next book, Anything is Possible, in which Lucy Barton was a featured character.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Barton is back reflecting upon her post-divorce relationship with her first husband, William. Of the three Lucy novels, the first, which introduced the character, was my least favorite, but I may return to it now that the character has been more fully matured (both fleshed out and aged).

"Oh, William" refers to Lucy Barton's ex-husband, with whom she had a 20 + year marriage and an even longer relationship. However, we (and Lucy) learn a lot about Lucy herself and her relationship with her mother, mother-in-law, daughters....and even William's current wife, Estelle. Lucy has the advantage of being a mature woman seeing the total picture, with the wisdom gained from over 60 years of hindsight. Even though they are no longer married, William still turns to Lucy in stressful times. They each still have good relationships with their adult daughters, yet I loved that much of the conversation with these daughters was about the absent parent. It was obvious that they all still cared very much about each other. William has received some startling news about his family history, and choses to have Lucy help him sort it out. The findings reveal a history that provides a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationship. Our history is such a part of who we are.
I loved this book, as I have loved almost everything Elizabeth Strout has written. I sometimes feel like Ms Strout writes my thoughts. I find myself thinking, “Yes, that’s it!” so often while reading.
Please excuse me as I go recover from the book hangover that finishing this lovely book has left me languishing in. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this advance copy in return for an honest review.
#OhWilliam #NetGalley

I haven’t read the other books with this character and often wondered if that would have been useful. I was intrigued about Lucy’s childhood in particular. Overall though it was well written with interesting characters. It’s a slight but slice of life story that I enjoyed. Bigger fans of Strout may be more enthusiastic.

In this wonderful, delightful novel Lucy Barton reflects back on the seventy plus years of her life. After her ex-husband's third wife leaves him, Lucy accompanies William on a trip to Maine where he discovers secrets about his beloved mother that shatter his peace of mind. (And I didn't like the first Lucy Barton book)

Oh William by Elizabeth Strout

The name Lucy Barton may be familiar to you if you are an Elizabeth Strout fan. Oh William gives us a look at Lucy’s life going forward.

A stream of consciousness story of Lucy’s loves and losses, we come to see her struggles with ex-husband William. He’s a nice enough guy and father of her now-grown children. A relationship must be maintained. But how far do you take that? Truths revealed can hurt.

We also find that Lucy is still wrestling with her cold, unloving mother, and yet carries on, being a good mother to her own two daughters. We get inside Lucy’s head in this novel, maybe helping us to sort out our own relationship conflicts.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouse for the ARC.

I choose Oh William, by Elizabeth Stout, with eager anticipation, I was excited to start and by midway through was struggling with this one, At times the story seemed to wander aimlessly through situations in Lucy's life and I found myself thinking who cares (with inner eye-rolling). I pushed on to finish and since doing so have found that I care. I find myself thinking back and now need to go back and read (reread some) of Stout's earlier books to see the background of this story and the relationships that resulted. While it seems that most agree that this is a stand-alone novel, I think it best enjoyed with a background set by Stout in earlier novels involving Lucy Barton.

4 1/2 stars! I couldn't put it down! For the cohort who will read every novel from Strout, the continuation of Lucy Barton's life in Oh William is a deeply satisfying read. Barton's first husband,, William is going through a crisis and carries Lucy along for the ride. Lucy has just lost her second husband, with whom she was well matched and deeply grieves. It's another slice of life book addressing existential themes, Lucy's inner life, family life, and small town, rural community. Fans of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead books will appreciate this reflective novel that includes characters from previous books. This is part of a 3-book series, so I suggest you start with My Name is Lucy Barton, reading them in order. There are also allusion to characters in The Burgess Boys and Oliver Kitteridge. I was lucky to receive receive an Advance Reader ebook.

Oh William!
Elizabeth Strout
Penguin Random House,
Available October 19, 2021

Elizabeth Strout's latest book, Oh William! does not disappoint. How could it? She is a master writer and storyteller. Her characters are eminently relatable in their simultaneous human frailty and strength.

To those familiar with Ms. Strout's work, Oh William! is a continuation of the story of the character Lucy Barton introduced in My Name is Lucy Barton (published January 2016). It is not necessary to have read that book or any of Ms. Strout's previous titles in order to enjoy her newest offering, however. Each work stands firmly and proudly alone.

William Gerhardt is the first husband of Lucy with whom she had two daughters, Chrissy and Becka. In the interim since their divorce, Lucy married and lived very happily with a cellist named David who died shortly before the time period covered in the book. William is on his third marriage to a vivacious younger woman named Estelle with whom he had a 10-year-old daughter Bridget. Lucy, her daughters and their husbands, were included in the lives of William and his most recent family, especially for holidays and other celebratory events.

Lucy walked into the Gerhardt kitchen at a party to over hear Estelle, a very fourth-rate part-time actress, ask a male guest just how bored he was. The intimacy of the vocal tone disturbed Lucy and as it would happen, for good reason. Shortly thereafter, Estelle abruptly left William - without forewarning, taking what she wanted from the apartment including their daughter Bridget and only somewhat explained herself in a letter. William called Lucy, who along with their two daughters, responded to his plight and offered what love and support they could. As they had remained civil and actually somewhat warmly cordial to each other since their divorce, it was inevitable that with Lucy's grief over the loss of David and William's hurt over the harsh exit of Estelle that they would support each other.

The growth of their friendship is a delight to behold in the remaining pages of the story. Estelle gifted William with a subscription to a website to research his ancestry and as he had loads of time after she left, he logged on and got the surprise of his life. His mother Catherine had a daughter who was one year old when she, Catherine, left her first husband, a Maine potato farmer, to run away with a German POW who had worked on the farm during WWII. Immediately upon getting the letter from Wilhelm, the POW, that he was coming back to America, Catherine fled her husband's farm, ran to the train station and to NYC to start a new life. She never mentioned the half-sister to William. The two of them, William and Lucy, take a trip to Maine to scout out the area that Catherine came from and where the half-sister, Lois, lived her entire life. It is an emotional blitzkrieg for William and Lucy both.

I found two themes in this book. As in My Name Is Lucy Barton, the author illustrates how destructive poverty is to human lives, that it is much more than lack of money but a deprivation of the lives, the very soul/spirit, of human beings, affecting their personalities, self-worth and self-image throughout their existence. They tend to pass this on to their children and the cycle is rarely broken. The other theme is that of what maturity does to us, haunting us with the knowledge that we could/should have handled some things differently in our relationships. It also gives us insights into others' behaviors and choices as well as our own and might make us forgive what others' lack of honesty did to our lives. Ms. Strout writes of these things much more eloquently than I can.

If you want a read that will hold your attention, that you can identify with (no matter what your age), I highly recommend this title. In the barren desert that American publishing has become over the past decade, I found Oh William! to be an oasis.

5 stars - Maggie Gust - 07/17/2021

Note to publisher: Also posted on Goodreads on this date - thank you very much for allowing me to read this book!

elizabeth strout has the ability to make the ordinary, a little less so with her writing. lucy barton is now in her 60’s and is reflecting on her life and the people around her with such beautiful details, you can’t help but feel along with her.