Instead, in its careful words and vibrating silences, my name is lucy barton offers us a rare wealth of emotion, from darkest suffering to i was so happy. Shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of allthe one between mother and daughter. Do you think that was a gesture of love on his part. My name is lucy barton confirms strout as a powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships, weaving family tapestries with compassion, wisdom and insight. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, paperback. The boston globe it is lucys gentle honesty, complex relationship with her husband, and nuanced response to her mothers shortcomings that make this novel so subtly powerful. My name is lucy bartonlike all of strouts fictionis more complex than it first appears, and all the more emotionally persuasive for it. Praise for my name is lucy barton there is not a scintilla of sentimentality in this exquisite novel. A character in my name is lucy barton says i like writers who try to tell you something truthful, and elizabeth strout has done just that. Ravenna book club my name is lucy barton by elizabeth. My name is lucy barton, strouts fifth novel, is set in contemporary new york and is a portrait of a woman who has escaped a barren, povertystricken childhood to become a writer, wife, and mother, a path she stumbles down with grace. There was a distance from the events that was unsettling. Lucy s husband asked her mother to visit her in the hospital, and paid for her trip.
Yet, in the end, she unabashedly admits all life amazes me. Support for my name is lucy barton is provided by the harold and mimi steinberg charitable trust. It is also the work of a more mature writer, scaling new heights. A new book by pulitzer prize winner elizabeth strout is cause for celebration. My name is lucy barton elizabeth strout, 2016 random house 208 pp. Produced on broadway by the manhattan theater club, lynne meadow, artistic director, barry grove, executive producer and the london theater company, in association with penguin random house audio.
In fact, it bears much resemblance to that novel and to. Her mother, to whom she hasnt spoken for many years, comes to see her. My name is lucy barton is produced with the london theatre company in association with penguin random house audio support for my name is lucy barton is provided by the harold and mimi steinberg charitable trust. For customized packages, savings, and ticket exchanges, become an mtc subscriber or patron today.
Praise for my name is lucy barton a quiet, sublimely merciful contemporary novel about love, yearning, and resilience in a family damaged beyond words. Now, in my name is lucy barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all the one between mother. How to discuss a book helpful discussion tips generic discussion questionsfiction and nonfiction readthinktalk a guided reading chart also, consider these litlovers talking points to help start a discussion for my name is lucy barton. It starts with the clean, solid structure and narrative distance of a fairy tale yet becomes more intimate and improvisational, coming close at times to the rawness of autofiction by writers such as. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, beginning with lucys time in the hospital when she was younger. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton the new york. My name is lucy barton is a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds. I always excitedly anticipate reading new books by elizabeth strout. Do you think lucy blames her mother for the more painful parts of her childhood. What role does the gossip lucy and her mother share play in the book.
I promise you its a book youre going to want to read. My name is lucy barton dramatic production audiobook. In her spare and mesmerizing novel my name is lucy barton, elizabeth strout elegantly probes the chasm between what is said and what is felt as a daughter and her undemonstrative mother shyly reconnect. During this somewhat arbitrary and isolated space, the narrators estranged mother appears and the two of them spend five days together, gossiping about people from their pastsmostly women whose marriages have, for.
Review of my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout. The title character of my name is lucy barton, rona munros crystalline stage adaptation of elizabeth strouts 2016 novel, is hardly a woman of mystery. Discussion questions for reading groups and readers on my name is lucy barton by pulitzer prizewinning author elizabeth strout. My name is lucy barton audiobook by elizabeth strout. Lucys husband asked her mother to visit her in the hospital, and paid for her trip. Soon to be a broadway play starring laura linney produced by manhattan theatre club and. Her mother, to whom she hasnt spoken for many years.
Still, my name is lucy barton is much larger and far more resonant than the sum of these parts. Elizabeth strout is my sarah payne, and my name is lucy barton is a gritty but elegant testament to human resilience despite the lingering pain of childhood trauma. Questions and topics for discussion my name is lucy barton. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout book club. The burgess boys, named one of the best books of the year by the washington post and npr. There was a time, and it was many years ago now, when i had to stay in a hospital for almost nine weeks. It sounds like there is a lot of material to analyze and discuss. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout lonesome reader.
Lonely was the first flavor i had tasted in my life, and it was always there, hidden inside the crevices of my mouth, reminding this book. But my name is lucy barton is the story of a daughter who loved her mother, and that is a very different story. Discussion questions use our litlovers book club resources. Beautifully expressed with sparse prose, my name is lucy barton left me breathless and, i have to admit, a bit teary by books end. This book feels almost like the reader is being told a onceuponatime recounting of lucys life and relationships, in a. A guide for book clubs study guides for book clubs kathryn cope on. My name is lucy barton is a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but also simpler, more sudden bonds it evokes these connections in a style so spare, so pure and so profound the book almost seems to be a kind of scripture or sutra, if a very downtoearth and unpretentious one. This is a magnificent book, one that explores much hurt and darkness without ever relinquishing its compassion or its light, says danielle. San francisco chronicle a short novel about love, particularly the complicated love between mothers and daughters, but. Although the tone reflected the fractured way we feel and think about our past not like a logical story so in that way it was unique and emotional. My name is lucy barton is quiet, powerful, and elusive. My name is lucy barton was originally produced by nicholas hytner and nick starr for the london theater company at the bridge theatre in june 2018. This is a magnificent book, one that explores much hurt and darkness without ever relinquishing its compassion or.
The story begins with lucy, now a published fiction writer, remembering a time, 20 or more years ago, when she was felled by an undiagnosable disease, a sort of visitation of sickness, and ended up in a new york city hospital for a prolonged stay. I dont know if this is because she writes powerful prose and striking. Gentle gossip about people from lucys childhood in amgash, illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of lucys life. Lucy barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Do not be misled by the slimness of this volume, the quietness of its prose, the seeming simplicity of its story line. My name is lucy barton, longlisted for the man booker prize.
Lucy recalls that her earliest memories of her parents are accompanied by a feeling of loneliness. Lucys husband asks her mother to visit her in the hospital and pays for her trip. Ultimately, lucy barton is a woman with keen insight who can, through her writing, get deep into the nature. My name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout reading guide. Lucy lies in a new york city hospital suffering from an undiagnosed illness when her mother unexpectedly arrives from rural illinois, where lucy grew up. Originally produced by the london theatre company at the bridge theatre in london.
It is both a book of withholdings and a book of great openness and wisdom. Elizabeth strouts my name is lucy barton is as powerful and disturbing as the best of strouts work, including the pulitzer prizewinning olive kitteridge. The narrator of strouts powerful and melancholy new novel, my name is lucy barton, might be a distant relation of olives, though she is. Its the pain that lucy says we children clutch to our chests, how it lasts our whole lifetime. My name is lucy barton, by elizabeth strout, is written as a fictional memoir of a famous author. My name is lucy barton ticket prices on the secondary market can vary widely depending on the location, day of the week, season, and other factors. The book does feel a bit abbreviated, but thats only because the characters and ideas are so compelling we want to hear more from the author who has limned them so sensitively. Her bestselling novels, including olive kitteridge and the burgess boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Review of my name is lucy barton by elizabeth strout, plus backstory and other interesting facts about the book.