![]() In this volume, when she recalls her surprise at a therapist speedily diagnosing PTSD, part of the moment’s power is that it comes as no surprise at all to the reader. The life of Lucy Barton remains the crucial central pivot – this woman “who came from nothing” and who, despite real success as a writer, believes herself to be “invisible”, remaining for ever the victim of her upbringing, her brutal poverty, her uncommunicative father and her unsmiling, unloving mother. And now, with this new book, we know so much more about where and exactly how those circles will collide. ![]() So it isn’t a linear narrative so much as a Venn diagram that is being drawn around Lucy and the result is that every action she takes, every decision she mulls is already surrounded by intersecting circles. With Oh William! and its predecessor, Anything Is Possible, however, Strout is constantly weaving new strands alongside the main narrative, skidding backwards and forwards in time, but also – and satisfyingly – sideways to siblings, to neighbours, to offspring.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |