Oh William!

 [a:Elizabeth Strout|97313|Elizabeth Strout|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361387789p2/97313.jpg]'s 2021 [b:Oh William!|56294820|Oh William! (Amgash, #3)|Elizabeth Strout|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617988577l/56294820.SY75.jpg|87609499] is the first of hers I've read. From reading it, I'd recommend that anyone who hasn't first read her [b:My Name Is Lucy Barton|25893709|My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash, #1)|Elizabeth Strout|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450653428l/25893709.SX50.jpg|45584499] because while Oh William! stands alone, the narrator, Lucy Barton, often refers to incidents that she won't go over here but has written about before, so I think you'll get more out of it.
 That's my only real criticism of it. Overall, I liked the voice of the narrator, a once divorced, once widowed sixty-three-year-old woman, very much. Questioning, uncertain of herself in nice ways. She often repeats herself, but not in a vague or careless way. It's like she's restating things to make them real to herself.
Excerpt:

Please try to understand this:
 I have always thought that if there was a big corkboard and on that board was a pin for every person who ever lived, there would be no pin for me.
 I feel invisible, is what I mean. But I mean it in the deepest way. It is very hard to explain. And I cannot explain it except to say—oh, I don't know what to say! Truly, it is as if I do not exist, I guess is the closest thing I can say. I mean I do not exist in the world. It could be as simple as the fact that we had no mirrors in our house when I was growing up except for a very small one high above the bathroom sink. I really do not know what I mean, except to say that on some fundamental level, I feel invisible in the world.

I stopped mid eye-roll and just kept on with this book as it was just resonating with voice- the first person voice of Lucy who narrates her late in life reckonings of herself and her relationships, as well as the voice of the actress, as I listened to it as an audiobook. The narrator, Kimberly Farr, was absolutely perfect. Despite the fact that there were passages I wanted the luxury of having in print either to easily revisit or highlight, her reading added something that would not have happened in my own head and seemed to fit the character of Lucy so perfectly it was uncanny how alive she became in my head.
My initial impression was that Lucy, a successful writer living out late middle age in NYC, would grate on my nerves. I like my realistic fiction heroines to be dark, trashy, complicated, depressed and rebellious. I want them to be fascinating strangers that I come to know well. I want them to sink low and go higher. Lucy, however, is privileged, kind, reflective, insecure, educated and almost funny in her way. She is full of old age wisdom which is not really pretentious enough to hold out as wisdom. Rather she has sort of sagacity that makes you throw your hands up and accept that we will never know ourselves or others the way we wish, which is the major idea of the novel.
This is not a revelation to a thinking person. But it was a comfort, a comfort to hear Kimberly Farr read Lucy's last thoughts where she sighs for us all and says "Oh, Everybody." It felt like a hug for the whole world, like a giant grandma taking us up in her big arms and kissing everyone of us on the foreheads whispering, "all of us, mythologies."
There was a lot of empathy and forgiveness in this book, not the big kind that you need for acts of wanton cruelty, but the kind that you need to let go of your human mistakes and those of your loved ones. At one point, William says that choices are rare, and that mostly we just follow. This resonated with me, as his voice presented as thought-provoking without being didactic. Whatever it lacked, the writing was so perfect that it could not be let go of, and it was a sweet and pleasant read.

I like Elizabeth Strout's books. I've read most of her books by this point. She writes very simply, about every day seeming people and events. But, I don't know how to explain, there is a quiet emotionality (is that a word?) that appeals to me. It is never ostentatious or show-offy but she makes her characters come alive and you can understand what makes them tick. Lucy Barton is a very lowkey character. She confesses to feeling invisible to others. But she has a rich inner dialog and she treats others with respect and dignity. She is a very easy person for other to feel able to be themselves around and they open up to her.

I don't know how to explain... Elizabeth Strout takes a simple book about a quiet person and makes it come alive. It's magical really. I can't give it 5 stars because nothing really happens out of the ordinary, lol. It is, however an enjoyable read for a certain type of reader who enjoys this type of thing.

Love Elizabeth Strout. I'll read anything she writes.