I struggle to write a review of this book. I was not clear, even by the end, what the theme running through it is other than the relationship between two people who are divorced but still have affection with each other. The lack of chapters did not make it easier to understand. Sadly not a book I would recommend.

Lucy Barton in a luminous novel about love, loss, and the family secrets. Oh William! captures the joy and sorrow of watching children grow up and start families of their own; of discovering family secrets, late in life, that alter everything we think we know about those closest to us

Oh William! Takes back into the world of Lucy Barton but this is more her ex-husband's story, although the focus is still on Lucy and her viewpoint.
The book is full of detail but written in such a deceptively simple language you don't realise how skilful and clever the book is whilst still being a great read.
You can't like any of the characters as such but you desperately want to know what happens to everyone.

2.5 rounded up

I've long been a fan of Elizabeth Strout's writing. I adored Olive Kitteridge and its follow up, Olive, Again, and have enjoyed the previous novels in the Amgash series: My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible. These books follow Lucy Barton, a woman from the town of Amgash who reflects back on her life, specifically her family and the relationships she has formed throughout her lifetime.

Oh William! is stylistically more similar to My Name Is Lucy Barton than Anything Is Possible and focuses on Lucy reflecting on her relationship with her ex (first) husband William in the wake of the death of her second husband.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly why I found this less engaging than the other books in the series. William was not without his good qualities but I mostly found him frustrating and wanted Lucy to move on and get on with her own life (I'm heartless, I know -- and I get that this was intentional on the part of Strout but it didn't make for the best reading experience.). It took a LONG time for the story to get going, and the first two thirds of the book were mostly just seemingly random and disconnected memories/anecdotes of Lucy remembering times spent with her daughters told in a very chatty writing style, which I didn't particularly care for.

I've focused on the negatives but there are still some little nuggets of brilliance in the book which reminded me why I love Strout's writing - she portrays emotions and familial relations almost perfectly.

Slightly diminishing returns by this point but there's still no doubt I'll read anything Strout writes in future.

I think this may have become a new favourite.

I’m writing this fresh from reading, and I’m still a little stunned into emotional turmoil. I never expected to enjoy Strout’s novel quite as much as I did (though I recall being similarly impacted by her first ‘Olive’ book). There is something about the gentle, quiet realism and raw emotion that comes from Lucy’s first-person narration that makes this text so devastating. I’ve come up for air after finishing this book feeling as though I am the one who has exposed themselves, somehow. Lucy is captivating, and Strout’s narrative is intensely authentic.

Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the genuine privilege - what a treasure.

If you read Strout before you know what to expect - clear, concise writing and a lot of introspection, pondering and realism.

We are back into Lucy Barton's world. We first met her in My Name is Lucy Barton and later in Anything is Possible. This is a stand-alone novel, so it's not necessary to have read the previous two books, although why wouldn't you - Strout's characterisations and insights into people's inner worlds are wondrous.

In her latest, Strout comes back to William, Lucy Barton's first husband and the father of her two daughters. Lucy is now sixty-three years old and recently widowed. William is turning seventy, is married to a much younger woman, and is the father of a ten-year-old daughter.
Lucy and William's relationship is amicable - they still get together for catch-ups and for family dos.

When William's world is upended, he turns to Lucy. She is quite obliging and kind. Of course, there are recollections of their life together and past grievances and misunderstandings resurface and are analysed.

What came through for me, yet again, is that we never truly know anyone.

Oh Lucy! In this, the much loved eponymous heroine of one of Strout's previous novels goes on a journey with her ex-husband and in the process, as is always the way, learns as much about herself as she does about the person she's supposed to be helping. It's a lovely novel, gentle, measured, heart wrenching in the very lack of excess with which it deals with the characters' pain - William's agony on learning, too late, that he has a sister who does not want to know him; and Lucy discovering, equally too late to make a difference, that the reason for her mother in law's ambiguous attitude towards her was that she too 'came from nothing,' that any negative emotions were no doubt a projection of her own guilt, and how she felt about herself. If there is anything that I did not enjoy about this novel - and others in their reviews have picked up on this also - it is that whilst the tone of the narrator, the bumbling, hesitant, sometimes repetitious language, is believable of a character of Lucy's age and background, it is also somewhat jarring, especially in view of the constant reminders about how successful a writer she is. Nonetheless, the criticism is small and I found this an interesting and moving read.

I recently read, and loved, Olive Kitteridge by the same author, so I was excited to try another of hers thanks to Net Galley.
This one I liked less, but I do wonder if I was missing out having not read the previous stories about Lucy Barton?
It's written in an unusual way, almost like a monologue from the character, Lucy. And that's really beautifully and cleverly done...sustained throughout the story. The thing I found confusing, I think, is that Lucy is meant to be an author, and yet her 'story' is a rambling, jumbled bundle of anecdotes and observations! So I kept thinking to myself what a terrible author Lucy must be!
The ideas in the book, of where people come from, and who is anybody really, were interesting. And I liked the family observations, the thoughts about grief, marriage, children, loss and family. Sometimes I really loved Lucy, and sometimes I couldn't stand her, and the same went for William. Overall, I thought it was good but I didn't love it in the same was as I did with Olive. But it has the same sort of honesty to it. And perhaps I should go back now and read the other Lucy stories.

On a wonderful story of family secrets, human condition and life told in the most delightful way possible. I was able to get hold of an advanced copy of this book which is going to be available in the UK in October 2021, so of course, I was going to read it. Even more after I saw the glorious reviews from the likes of Zadie Smith, Ann Patchett, Hilary Mantel, Maggie O'Farrell, and so on. My friend has been talking about the other Elizabeth Strout's books she has read and I haven't read a single one! If everyone single one of her previous books are like this one, then I think I'm going to read them all. Strout's ability to write about the most basic of human emotions and things that can happen to any of us in our lives is storytelling at its best.⁣
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To me, the book is so much about empathy and forgiveness. Strout captures the joy and sorrow of love and life in a such a wonderful way that I was finding myself love the characters I read about, particularly Lucy Barton. This book is on Lucy's life as a recent widow, mother to two adult daughters, and confidante to her ex-husband, William. We get read about their complex relationship, from their early years to their divorce, and how upon being reconnected to William, Lucy helped him uncover his family secret. ⁣
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It's a book that makes me reflect and put myself in the characters' shoes. Probably not so strangely, I thought of my parents a lot whilst reading the book. A really fine book and it definitely made my day yesterday.

I am sorry but this was not for me. It felt like a monologue. I read it through to the end and found it repetitive and actually boring.

Maybe if I had read the book before this one I may have felt differently.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin for my ARC for which I have given my unbiased review.

Oh William! is a tender, understated tale that continues Strout’s character study of Lucy Barton, moving between quiet devastation and chucklesome insights, often on the same page. I possibly enjoyed this even more than the two previous visits with Lucy and although all three novels feel different and could standalone as separate stories, Oh William! opens up its predecessors and I now feel the need to re-read them. Strout continues to amaze with her beautifully observant style.

Another triumph of a novel. It is an intelligent novel which, in short, explores the idea of knowing ourselves and knowing each other - or not in some cases. It is so great to read about the old protagonist and I loved the stream of consciousness style it was written in. Highly recommend. Thank you so much for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

One of my favourite authors. First she gave me Olive Kitteridge and now it's Lucy Barton. Makes me feel as if I know them such is the depth of feeling I have for these stories. Excellent.

Oh how wonderful it is to be back in the company of Lucy Barton. Now in her 60s and grieving the loss of her second husband she takes a road trip with her first husband William and contemplates their marriage, her life, her (now adult) children while also unearthing a family secret. Beautifully written with a tenderness and an understanding of how people have the ability to deal with adversity in their own manner. I can only hope there is more to come from Lucy. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Penguin, UK for an ARC. Highly recommended.

New England-based Elizabeth Strout is best known for her enigmatic, unforgettable literary protagonist Lucy Barton who navigates the unruly, sometimes messy realities of family life. This novel from the Pulitzer-prize winning author reprises Lucy Barton and lets her recount her complex relationship with William, who has become her longstanding friend and first husband. Spanning the years of their college education, marriage, birth of their daughters, and painful divorce, this novel paints a picture of several decades of modern US-American society and the cost of human relationships. I would imagine this novel is easier to appreciate in its richness if you have read the preceding Lucy Barton novels, but it may also work as a stand-alone or introduction to this versatile author. Warmly recommended! I wish to extend my thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free ARC they generously provided me with in exchange for this review.

"But when I think oh William, don't I mean oh Lucy too? Don't I mean oh everyone, oh dear everybody in this whole wide world. We do not know anybody, not even ourselves. Except a little tiny bit me do. We are all mysteries, is what I mean. This may be the only thing in the world I know to be true."

So wonders the protagonist of some of my favourite books, Lucy Barton. Lucy is as real to me as Strout herself, even more so possibly, though I've luckily met the latter and unfortunately not the fictional former. Lucy's statement sums up her wonder and quiet curiousity about the world around her, and the theme of this book, about her first husband and lifelong friend, William.

For readers new to this character I'd strongly recommend that you start with My Name is Lucy Barton, and preferably continue with Anything Is Possible, which tells the story of people from Lucy's haunting hometown, so that when you arrive to Oh William you are greeting Lucy as an old friend. As she says herself, this book is as much about her understanding herself as she ages and changes as it is her understanding William, who remains something of a mystery to her though they know eachother better than anyone else in the world. Not only do we delve into William's life with the same microscopic yet gentle lens as I have come to associate with Strout, from his mother's first marriage to her falling in love with a German prisoner of war, to William's childhood, to Lucy and William's at first companionable marriage to his affairs and their subsequent marriages, through bereavement and into older age, but Strout turns this lens on Lucy in new and unsurprising ways. Lucy tells us frankly about her life during an extended illness in My Name is Lucy Barton, we catch her in glimpses through people who only knew her as a child in Anything is Possible but it is in Oh William that we see her through someone who knows and loves her so well.

The novel is, in short, about the pain of knowing and not knowing ourselves, and of knowing and not knowing each other. I love that Strout writes about older people, second marriages and second chances, about parenthood in later life and those specific challenges and about grieving people who had long been powerful forces in our lives. There are so many lines that I had to stop and reread, taking my breath away with emotion. This is work that on the surface is well written and simple, but contains depths of heartbreaking emotion.

Another triumph for Elizabeth Strout.
In her sixties, Lucy Barton retrospectively recalls her life with ex-husband William. Despite becoming parents to two daughters whom they adore, and leading successful academic and rich, professional lives, and only partly because of William’s roving eye, they divorce.
And they move on to second marriages. And yet, they remain pulled towards each other through their subsequent lives, calling on each other for support when inevitably life gets ‘complicated’ as family secrets and bad memories resurface for both of them.
Lucy’s voice is disarmingly honest as she works through her own anxieties about what it is to be human and to be so powerfully influenced by family, upbringing, education, love, children and those light bulb epiphanies. There is both despair and hope in the ‘Oh…’ and also helpless and irresistible affection.
Loved it. And thank you #@NetGalley and #@Penguin General UK for my pre-release copy.

I started this wonderful novel in the morning and finished it in the evening, then read it again the following day. I’ve now lined up Elizabeth Strout’s other novels to reread. What makes her such a good writer?

I love the way she focuses on the small, seemingly trivial incidents that make up a life. Strout does not judge her characters, and eschews big dramatic events, writing about, as she says, ‘the murkiness of experience and the consistent imperfections of our lives’. Strout describes her style as ‘a relaxed, storytelling voice that’s going to go into all sorts of details about this and that’.

Having got to know Lucy Barton in Elizabeth Strout’s previous novels, it’s hard not to think of her as a real person. She is now 63, has lost her second husband, and gets involved in the life of her first husband, William, when he is in need of help.

Lucy is like a really good friend who is telling you about her first marriage, going off on tangents but then always coming back to the central mystery of William. What makes him tick? Why are women attracted to him, yet leave him when he marries them? Why is this self-assured and successful man suddenly walking with a stoop?

Lucy is highly attuned to other people and has observed William’s second marriage closely. One gesture or chance remark reveals the state of his marriage. Lucy is upset on William’s behalf when she hears Estelle, his second wife, address a casual remark to a male friend at William’s birthday party, asking the friend if he is ‘bored to death’. Lucy intuits from this innocuous remark that Estelle is going to leave William. Such tiny, condensed moments of kindness or cruelty resonate in people’s lives and have the quality of poetry:

‘But I had not liked the tone of her voice with the man; there was an intimacy to it, and it implied - perhaps - that she herself was bored, and this was a thing I did not care for. It was a tiny ping I felt, I guess is what I am saying’.

In exploring William’s character, Lucy is also analysing and questioning her own responses to him. Throughout the novel we learn to what extent her whole perspective on life, her relationships and her personality have been marked by her abusive childhood. Now that she is in her sixties, Lucy feels that she can admit that she still feels frightened as a result of her terrible childhood: ‘almost every night when the sun goes down, I still get scared’. She still feels invisible and lacks confidence in social situations.

Yet Elizabeth Strout suggests that our thinking about our past and other people can solidify into a fixed narrative which doesn’t reflect the nuances of life. She wants us to try to see everyone ‘with some open-heartedness’. To her astonishment, Lucy has begun to recall tender moments with her father. Miraculously, William describes her as being the most joyful person he has met when she has escaped from her home and started at college. Also, Lucy’s childhood experiences have made her very empathetic, acutely observant and sensitive. So it is Lucy William turns to, not his second wife, when he starts to wake up during the night, feeling ‘awful terrors’.

Lucy sets out on a journey with William to discover his roots and together they uncover uncomfortable truths about William’s parents which explain why William, ostensibly from a secure and affluent middle class family, sometimes becomes as frightened as Lucy. Lucy has always seen William as possessing authority and giving her the security of home; she is forced to reevaluate her perception of him as someone who is solidly reliable and socially confident. The reader is forced to consider the mythologies we construct: we think we know other people, and why they behave as they do, but we need to question our certainties.

In Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout imparts the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime, but tentatively; she isn’t sure about anything, and that’s what she’s learned: ‘we are all mysterious … This may be the only thing in the world I know to be true’.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for an e-copy of an exceptional novel in exchange for an honest review.


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

An intelligent, finely drawn novel that continues the story of Lucy Barton now that she is in her 60s, mourning the death of her second husband. The road trip she takes with her first husband brings to light both their failings but Elizabeth Strout does it with a lightness of touch coupled with emotional depth.