Great read by a beloved author. She digs into the lives of her characters with empathy and a level of deepness that make you fall in love with them

This wasn’t my favorite of Elizabeth Strout’s books. The story meandered more than I remembered, and caused me to lose sight of the point many times. I did like the reflective nature of many of the thoughts Lucy has about life and marriage and grief - this is what Strout is best at, I think, and what keeps drawing me to her novels. However, I found myself constantly frustrated by Lucy and William’s relationship, primarily by how irritating and insensitive William is constantly, and Lucy keeps giving him passes. And maybe that’s just how they are, but it did not make for an enjoyable read for me, on the whole.

Everything Elizabeth Strout writes is gorgeous, and Oh William! is no exception. Strout finds such beauty and understanding in the day-t0-day minutia of life that she doesn't have to rely on crazy antics or characters to keep her stories going. Instead, they quietly fill the pages, and your mind, and leave you feeling like you just had a heart to heart with your best friend.

I can't recommend this book-or this author-enough.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

What took me so long to read this book? I thought it was delightful witty, heartwarming and a little sad. I loved the relationship between Lucy and her ex husband William. I too found myself saying “Oh, William “. This was a great break from the grizzly murder mystery books I’ve been reading.

ARC from Random House via Netgally.

I nearly wept at the end of this, the end of the Amgash Illinois series about Lucy Barton's people and community. The grief of letting her go, not having one more book, one more iteration of the story, perspective of another interestingly twisted mind (twisted in the best sense). This, the author's last book in the series, felt like a hymn to the complications (read blessings) of relationships. As light and dark-sided as they may be, there is a blessing there, a silver lining to acknowledge and recognize if one wants to reap the full benefit. And it is admitted and understood that there are many who do not want to so reap.

Marriage. What a sore subject for some of us. I couldn't imagine the comfort a book such as this with all its different marital Considerations leaving me soothed, wistful for my own experiences, and reassured that all is well after all is said and done. How does she do that? She enters the Consideration, downward tilting, toward the dark and difficult, the awkward and personal, and from there she factually presents and narrates, and while not even attempting to resolve (how does one really resolve unresolved pasts?), she pulls the reader along in a comrade-like way, an ascent one can feel both emerge into fresh air, fresh from the Consideration unscathed, but certainly thoughtful.

This was a most satisfying read. If you loved Lucy Barton is my Name, and then Anything is Possible, I suspect you are more than ready for this one. . . .

A Sincere Thank You to Elizabeth Strout, Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review. #OhWilliam #NetGalley

I always have a harder time getting into 'stream of consciousness' narration, and this was no exception. And, I still have the same complaint as "My Name Is Lucy Barton" in that I still don't feel like I know Lucy all that well - and considering she's the narrator of her own story, she holds a surprising amount of detail back from the reader. Lucy just always strikes me as a quiet reserved person who doesn't really want to share her story, but somehow has found herself doing so anyway. A bit of an odd way to present a character study, in my opinion. But this one held my fascination more than the original because William's story was so compelling!

I had a hard time getting into this story, I kept starting and stopping. Ultimately I didn’t love the book and I did finish it, although I did little skimming to get through it. I did not read the previous books so perhaps that is what I couldn’t really connect with the characters. I know the author is quite talented and I am sure the miss here is on me. I do appreciate the opportunity to reach the ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is my first book by Elizabeth Stout. I picked this up months ago and set it aside as I wasn't able to get into it 100%. I wasn't very invested in the characters. It just fell flat for me. To be honest, when I picked it up again, I skimmed the last half just to finish. I know others really enjoyed this book, it just wasn't for me.

I didn't realize this was the third book in a series and maybe that would have affected my reading of it. While I enjoyed the relationship between Lucy and her ex-husband William maybe I was missing something about the backstory. I liked that complicated relationship they shared and how after so many years, they still were able to be respectful and understanding of each other.

This book was unfortunately such a miss for me. Throughout the entire novel I couldn’t get past the fact that the MC is a writer, writing about her husband, and using so many repetitive phrases for over explaining and uncertainty. What I mean is, what I’m saying is that, etc. Over and over. I understand the MC’s own lack of certainty but she wouldn’t write like that! The plot is nearly nonexistent and just dull.

I should've looked at my previous reviews prior to reading this book. When it comes to reading the books by the gifted author Elizabeth Strout, sometimes I feel like I am missing something. I loved Olive Kitteridge, but I didn't love My Name is Lucy Barton, and I didn't love this book. It has been raved about by critics, so clearly I just don't always click with the author's writing. It's not you, it's me.

The ecopy I received had only the first two chapters, so while I love Elizabeth Strout's work and thought this book was off to a good start, I am not able to provide a full review of it, unfortunately. I am a fan of the other books in the Lucy Barton universe though.

Hard book to get into at first, but it's a good read. It is about human intricacies and interactions. I appreciated how Ms. Strout uses language and descriptions in a way that makes me want to use them in my own life. It is a well-told story that draws one in. A definite read.

Nobody writes more convincing characters than Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout. In her most recent novel, Oh William!, she brings back Lucy Barton, the protagonist in My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything Is Possible. My thanks go to Net Galley and Random House for the invitation to read and review; this book is for sale now.

Reading Strout is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it’s a glorious thing to read writing this strong. On the other, poor Lucy Barton has endured a tremendous amount of pain, and Strout’s skill enables her to communicate every inch of Lucy’s pain and suffering to the reader. I wasn’t sure if I was up for it, but now I am glad I read it, because in this installation, most of her dreadful early years are left in the past, where they belong, and she is a successful novelist that can afford to provide for herself and when necessary, her adult daughters.

The premise is that Lucy’s ex-husband, William, has once again been left by his most recent wife; this is what happens when a man can’t keep his zipper shut. But he has taken an ancestry test, and he’s discovered that he has a half-sister that lives in Maine. His mother is dead, so there’s no asking her about this. Should he contact this sister? Well, probably not. But he’s curious. Should he? Maybe. Well, no. Unless.

Lucy is recently widowed, and she is hurting. Her second and last husband, David, was a wonderful man, and it was a terrific marriage. She misses him terribly. But she has remained friendly with William; after all, they had two daughters together, and so there are occasions. William calls Lucy to ask her advice about the half-sister, and later, he wonders if she’d drive with him to Maine. He’s not sure what to do.

I am always astonished at people that can divorce, yet remain so friendly. It’s hard enough to be courteous on occasions involving children and grandchildren; to be chummy enough to chat on the phone, to seek each other’s advice, to go on a road trip together, for heaven’s sake, seems to me like a tremendous gift. At any rate, Lucy and William are friendly, and she agrees to go with him to scope out the land of his forefathers, and do a little recon on Louise, the secret sister.

The magic of Strout’s prose is in her sterling character development. Earlier here, I was discussing how amazing it is that Lucy and William are on such good terms; these are fictional characters, but to me, they have become flesh. Lucy’s first person narrative is so intimate that I feel as if I am talking with an old friend over coffee.

If I could change one thing, I’d tone down a couple of Lucy’s mannerisms. The title, Oh William!, is used so frequently in the narrative that by the last quarter of the book I want to say, Yes, okay, I get it already. The other one is “What I mean is…,” and “…is what I was thinking.” These are legitimate devices that contribute to the writer’s voice, but I would use them less often.

Because I had fallen behind--or more truthfully, I had been avoiding this galley because I expected it to be grim—I checked out the audio version from Seattle Bibliocommons. Kimberly Farr is an exceptional reader, and for that reason I recommend the audio book over the print, although both are excellent.

Highly recommended to those that treasure fine literary fiction.

I’ve read and enjoyed several books by Elizabeth Strout and Oh, William did not disappoint. I was intrigued from the very first line, “I would like to say a few things about my first husband, William.” In Strout's novel that seems almost like memoir, writer Lucy Barton examines her relationship with William after the death of her second husband, David. At times the first-person narrative feels as if you are sitting next to Lucy as she describes the ups and downs of their marriage and surprisingly how well they got along after their divorce. The writing conveyed a real sense of Lucy and William's shared past and how different events shaped their marriage. Strout also wove in their childhoods and how their parents had a lasting effect that surfaced in their adult lives and later years.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an introspective novel and enjoys seeing how the past meets up with the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

This is the third book in the series but I read it as a standalone book and didn’t think I missed a beat. Elizabeth Strout always writes in a way that makes the reader love these imperfect characters and this book was no exception. In the story, Lucy Barton and her ex-husband go on a trip to investigate a recently discovered family secret. This book is sweet and heartwarming as Lucy and William reflect openly on their relationship and life as their trip takes place. Not a whole lot happens in this book, but it is enjoyable in a slow pace type of way. Thank you Net Galley and Random House Publishing for a of this book in return for my honest review.

I loved My Name is Lucy Barton and was delighted to see Lucy return in Oh William! Strout's spare, unsentimental writing is part of what makes her novels so emotionally complex. We feel without being told to feel. What it means to age, to still love a former partner whose friendship one values, to acknowledge the struggles of one's past without succumbing to self-pity--another great read from Strout. (A sidetone: I had the pleasure of interviewing the author some years ago in San Francisco, and she was hilarious in person.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of Elizabeth Strout's latest.

I have to say upfront that when it comes to 'Elizabeth Strout, I am team Olive all the way. That said, Strout provides us with an emotionally satisfying end (?) to the story of Lucy Barton, and the characters that populate her realm of Strout's world.

At first, I wasn't sure whether I would be satisfied with "how well do we know the people we love" vs. "how much do we project what we want to see onto the ones we love" as that truly satisfying, but in retrospect, i find myself quite satisfied, and emotionally so, especially.

When it comes to marriage, this book explores the loneliness and lack of intimacy that can come with the relationship. Strout deftly handles other issues, such as the harm done to later relationships by growing up impoverished in an unloving and aggressive home.

This is not my first Elizabeth Strout book, but it is my first Lucy Barton book! Now I want to go back and read the other two books told from Lucy's perspective! I find Elizabeth Strout's books so full of character stories and development...the format is quite different than most any other books I usually read. It can be a jolt to the system but I cannot imagine creating such vivid and detailed casts of characters and settings as Elizabeth Strout. I definitely adore Lucy Barton and now I need to know more about her childhood and early years!