Oh, William!

In Oh, William! Lucy Barton is a writer, but her ex-husband, William, remains a hard man to read. William, she confesses, has always been a mystery to me. Another mystery is why the two have remained connected after all these years. They just are. 

William asks Lucy to join him on a trip to investigate a family secret, which surprises her. It's one of those secrets that rearrange everything we think we know about the people closest to us. What happens next is another example of what Hilary Mantel has called Elizabeth Strout's "perfect attunement to the human condition."

On every page of this novel we learn more about the quiet forces that hold us together. William uncovers a hitherto unknown relation of his in Maine. William and Lucy make the long trip to see her but Henry has mixed feelings about the meeting. His hesitancy in all things leads to Lucy's repeated remonstrances, Oh, William! both in her ongoing inner monologue as well as aloud to him. The relative will resurface again in the next Lucy Barton novel, Lucy By the Sea.

At the heart of this story is the indomitable voice of Lucy Barton. She offers a profound, lasting reflection on the very nature of existence. "This is the way of life," Lucy says: "the many things we do not know until it is too late."