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'My Name is Lucy Barton'

 

This book found me when I was going through the darkest time of my life. I always had a thin book that talked to me when I thought I lost. ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ is such a book for me. You won’t find the mesmerising fantasies, ornamental language or unexpected plot twists in this book. It is a normal story of a woman who has survived poverty and post-war hardships. You don’t have to go through all of her life. Her life is compressed into barely 200 pages and presented between a hospital-time conversation between the character and her mother. Somehow the book resonated with me more than anything. After a long time, I scribbled down lines from this book, that meant something to me.


I felt for Lucy Barton and everything that happened in her life. The time she went through poverty, and how she faced the class difference in society. How she was herself, and how she learned new things. I have felt stuck in time and life but believed in the journey. When I look at Lucy Barton I somehow, feel hopeful. But this is not a story of hope, inspiration or miracles. It is just life.



Lucy Barton, the narrator of the story was admitted to the hospital for some symptoms and they were running her through some tests to figure out what was happening to her. Fortunately, the book's prime focus is not the medical terms or the physical sufferings of the narrator. Her mother was there in the hospital to look after her. They are meeting after a long time. Mother and daughter relations with all of their complexities are portrayed in the book. They didn’t have fights or blame each other for anything. They were not acting like the best mother and daughter as all the new media posts. They tell each other stories, stories of people they both knew from the past. What happened to each and everyone they knew and they shared their opinions and views on the situation. They disagree sometimes and agree on some other things.

The conversations between Lucy and her mother, the journey through the memories of Lucy, her education, love, family… ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ is simply life. How people love and care for each other may vary from person to person and is complicated. People express emotions based on the responses they received in their early lives when they became expressive about themselves.   It is also remarkable that the author uses simple language and situations to communicate life's layers and emotions' complexities. Lucy Barton is a deep one. The book is like a coming-of-age story. Elizabeth Strout brilliantly told us how childhood wounds stay with us and form our personality and behaviour.

When you are so overwhelmed with werewolves, dragons and vampires, this book is a detoxifying agent. Like an eye-opener, this book can show you how simple life can be, but how complex it is. The depth and layers of human lives are sometimes more than enough to compete with any magic or fantasies.


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