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My Name Is Lucy Barton

by Elizabeth Strout

A woman in a hospital bed has a long talk with the mother she has not seen in years

2016Slow paceMelancholic

What it is about

Lucy Barton is in a hospital in New York for several weeks when her estranged mother visits and stays by her bed. The two talk about people from their hometown, but not about the things that matter most. The novel recalls Lucy’s poor childhood and her way to becoming a writer.

Who will enjoy it

Readers who like subtle literary fiction.

What you will get

A quiet, moving novel and the start of a series about Lucy.

My Name Is Lucy Barton Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting

Genre

Literary Fiction · Mother and daughter · Memory · Silence

Length

193 pages · ≈ 6 h

More about this book

Characters

Lucy Barton and her mother.

Setting

A New York hospital and a small town in Illinois.

What makes it different

A very short novel where the silence says as much as the words.

Feel

Quiet, spare and moving.

About Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout2 books on Tori BooksAmerican novelist from Maine. She won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge.

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