"Oh William!" by Elizabeth Strout

I was recently sick--far more than I usually get--and I had to take about a week and a half off from my normal physical routines (rock climbing and a twice-a-week weight-lifting class). When I finally resumed, I was surprised (even though I shouldn't have been) at how sore I was. In just a short period of time, my body somehow lost its conditioning.

I've written about this many times before, but it's funny how my mind does the same with writing. When I take even a little time off (and usually it's a lot of time, not a little), I feel like I lose all skill and eloquence. I fear I've become dull and unable to write. So here's me attempting to resist the pull of inaction. 

Oh William! marked a break in my "unit" on Kentucky writers. It's also my third Elizabeth Strout book, though I only recalled Olive Kitteridge (which makes sense given that I gave a withering review to The Burgess Boys). What I remember most about Olive Kitteridge is the voice Strout gave to her characters--one that was unique and clearly defined.

The same is true--and is, in fact, the hallmark--of Oh William!, in which the voice given to the protagonist and narrator, Lucy Barton, is what makes the novel. On its own, the story isn't particularly interesting. Lucy's second husband has recently passed, and she has a complicated but amicable relationship with her first husband, William, with whom she has two adult daughters. William is in disarray after his third wife leaves him, and he unexpectedly learns that his late mother had a child (unbeknownst to William) with her first husband. Lucy joins William on a trip to Maine to learn about this half-sister.

Again, none of this should be particularly interesting, but somehow Lucy, with all her faults and insecurities, is a fascinating character. Oh William! is a sequel of sorts to My Name is Lucy Barton, which details Lucy's upbringing in an abusive home. Lucy references that book and her traumatic upbringing a number of times throughout Oh William!. I think it would be easier to long for the first novel (which I haven't read) and its more sordid tale, but somehow I didn't. Instead, I was engaged with Lucy's attempts to understand her ex-husband, and her attempts to understand her strengths and faults. As she notes, she's a rare success story as a woman who escaped an awful childhood and became a famous novelist, but Lucy hasn't shed the fear and anxiety of her childhood. She still feels invisible and often becomes unreasonably frightened. She realizes that a large part of why she married William was because he exuded the strength and confidence that she lacked. She admires William, but in doing so, she also makes excuses for him (notably from his many affairs). Part of the novel's trajectory is Lucy coming to terms more honestly with William's strengths and weaknesses.

Late in the novel, William tells Lucy that what drew him to her was her joy--a particularly unexpected joy given where she came from. Despite Lucy's fears and anxieties, her joy also permeates the book: her adoration for her children; her care for William and her second husband; her appreciation for the small details in her life. 

Though I wish I'd read My Name is Lucy Barton first, I'm not entirely sure I want to go back and read it now. I prefer to see Lucy not as a battered youth but as an adult woman who has managed to get through--not unscathed, but not destroyed.