OH WILLIAM!

With full disclosure, I admit that because Elizabeth Strout and I shared the same college, major and year of graduation, I will forever be favorably disposed towards her books. Having shared that, I believe she has created another masterpiece in Oh William! In it, Strout brings back Lucy Barton from her earlier novel My Name is Lucy Barton which was the powerful, heartrending story of a daughter’s attempt to reconcile with her mother who lay dying in a hospital bed.

In Oh William! Lucy has matured and sets out with her ex-husband William on a road trip to meet his newly discovered half-sister for the first time. The plotline is engaging and the story immediately draws you in. But Strout’s real forte comes in her dialogues between Lucy and William. They absolutely pulse they are so alive and realistic. Strout also writes brilliant interior monologues for Lucy. Why would anyone accompany her ex-husband on such a trip? What could she possibly be thinking? The reader comes to understand—and even feel affection for—Lucy by the end of the story.

Oh William! is a beautifully written, short novel that deftly explores the inner workings of one relationship between a man and a woman. I felt completely immersed in Lucy’s world and as if she were a friend by the end of the book.(Liz)