"My Name is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout. I have read some wonderful books lately! After a few days with a fabulously twisty book with more secrets than most carry I read this today. I needed a little rest from drama which is usually where I seek Anna Quindlen. So happy to have a "small" book on my pile by one of my new favorites, Elizabeth Strout. I just love how she weaves her stories and some of the lessons you learn along the way.

Now, her mother sits in a chair next to her hospital bed for 5 days and 5 nights. They talk.

Her mother doesn't talk about the painful past directly. Instead, she gossips about people back home in Amgash - "Did you know that...". But through those simple stories, all the old wounds, shame, and love come back.

Lucy realizes two things:

1. Her mother loves her, but never knew how to show it.
2. No matter how far you run, your childhood never leaves you.

*What happens after:*

The book is short, only 193 pages, and very quiet. It's all told in Lucy's soft, simple voice.

After she gets out of the hospital, Lucy must deal with her marriage ending, becoming a successful writer, and learning to have compassion for her parents who were damaged people themselves.

*Main Theme:*

It's a book about memory, poverty, trauma, and especially about mothers and daughters. It's about how we can love people who hurt us, and how stories are what save us.