If you know Elizabeth Strout you probably know her most famous character, Olive Kitteridge. Strout has created another strong woman as well, Lucy Barton, the writer from Amgash, Illinois. In My Name is Lucy Barton, she tells of a period in Lucy’s life when she was hospitalized, and her mother came to visit.
Lucy and her mother inhabit two different worlds, but for an interlude of five days, they meet in the neutral ground of a hospital. Lucy drinks in the attention of her mother who she hasn’t seen in years. Her happiness and contentment rise from the page giving the reader the same feeling of peace and restfulness.
The two gossip about the people they knew when Lucy was growing up. We then meet these characters from the past and hear their own points of view; the novel moves back and forth always returning to the unifying element of the hospital room. Lucy and her mother do not discuss their own relationship – how it was then or what it is now. They don’t discuss the extreme poverty and abusiveness of Lucy’s childhood or her budding success as a writer. Mom is not interested.
Little action happens, but through her concise prose, Strout manages to expose the realities of family relationships and the conflicting needs of its members. She dares to suggest that for adults, there may be something more important than an intact nuclear family.
In her next book, Anything is Possible, Strout continues with Lucy. She, and the characters from her childhood, have matured. Each gets a separate chapter to tell in her own voice what has happened. All have a tenuous connection to Lucy, but it is hard to keep the relationships straight. It isn’t necessary since the stories are self-contained, but a nice extra layer if you can do it.
Through these separate stories, various subjects are explored. Should we ruthlessly pursue happiness (anything is possible) or dutifully accept our lot? Strout is also interested in how little we know about the realities of the lives of our friends and family except for the little bits that we happen to share. She continues to explore the subject of loneliness within apparently compatible relationships. There is the lasting impact of poverty on children’s lives.
Some of the language is just beautiful. A character yearns for a glimpse of a forbidden and secret love. “(He would) risk all to be near the white dazzle of the sun that somehow for those moments seemed to leave the earth behind.” The outpouring of a stream of consciousness at the end of the novel builds tension and wonder, leaving the reader satisfied even if the outcome is uncertain.
Fame and glory, fortunes made and lost, a place all races and classes could share the excitement – that was horse racing in Kentucky in the mid 1800’s. Although all the horses were gorgeous, powerful, and lightning fast, Lexington was the champion of them all. In Horse by Geraldine Brooks, she tells us his story, the story of the enslaved trainer who loved him, and the stories of those they inspired even to the current day.
Jarrett was with Lexington the day the colt was born. Both the young boy and the horse were especially gifted. Lexington, a natural star, outpaced the competition from the first race. Jarett, a natural trainer, brought out the very best in his charge, enabling him to win a fortune for their master. The care of the horse and life on the plantation is told in detail. As Lexington is bought and sold, so is Jarrett. He counts himself lucky to be allowed to stay with the horse. His plight as one of the enslaved trainers puts a spotlight on a category of unrecognized people who brought wealth and fame to their stables.
A parallel story told in the present time begins when a black art student rescues a painting of a horse from the “free” pile at a curb. He coincidentally meets a young white scientist from the Smithsonian (she is an osteo preparator, someone who cleans and assembles animal bones) who is working on a neglected horse skeleton. It is Lexington they both have found and they are drawn to discover his story. As their own relationship grows, we see that the racism of the 1800’s is alive and well in Washington D.C.
Brooks says she started to write a novel about horse racing but soon realized that her story needed to include the other kind of race as well. I wish she had chosen one to be predominant rather than presenting two equally detailed main subjects. The book felt crowded. Nonetheless, it is a very enjoyable read that presents lots of horse/racing information, several compelling story lines, plus well developed, very likable characters, including the horse.
A bit of fun information is that Brooks herself owns a horse with the memorable name of Screaming Hot Wings.
Talking about great names – here’s a headline for an article, probably from an agricultural newspaper:
“Apocalypse Sow: Can Anything Stop the Feral Hog Invasion?”
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