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My Name Is Lucy Barton cover art

My Name Is Lucy Barton

By: Elizabeth Strout
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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Summary

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, read by Kimberly Farr.

A mother comes to visit her daughter in hospital after having not seen her in many years. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront her past, uncovering long-buried memories of a profoundly impoverished childhood, and her present, as the façade of her new life in New York begins to crumble, awakening her to the reality of her faltering marriage and her unsteady journey towards becoming a writer.

From Lucy's hospital bed, we are drawn ever more deeply into the emotional complexity of family life, the inescapable power of the past and the memories - however painful - that bind a family together.

©2016 Elizabeth Strout (P)2016 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about My Name Is Lucy Barton

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  • Overall
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A great pleasure!

I loved it from start to finish, I couldn't stop listening until it was finished. Will be recommending this for my next book club and to anyone who will listen!

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A subtle tapestry of family relationships

What made the experience of listening to My Name Is Lucy Barton the most enjoyable?

Like all of Elizabeth Strout's works this is beautifully written. The anecdotes that make up Lucy's past are fascinating to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

This is not a novel of action, more of meditation. I feel you could listen to any part of it and be moved.

Which character – as performed by Kimberly Farr – was your favourite?

The novel is told in the first person so it is Lucy's voice we hear.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Too many to mention but the last few lines are really moving.

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

'All life amazes me,' says Lucy Barton. <br />

and Elizabeth Strout tells her story so gently yet powerfully: complex, insightful and painfully loving. It amazes me.

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8 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 12-10-16

Disappointing lack of depth in mother daughter relationship for me

There were some really interesting snippets fold stories in this book but I felt it jumped around too much and left too much unexplained to allow the listener to get to know the characters or heir experiences to any real depth.

It had such potential to expose the relationship between mother and daughter but didn't give it the exploration I was hoping for.

I didn't find myself able to relate to any of the characters well. I wanted to know them more.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely brilliant. Please read it!

Such a good book and the relatively slow narration really works well. I found it hard to put it down. We all love imperfectly and this tale is about the love of a child whose parents are not the best but still the love finds a way. Not sentimentally but with understanding of why her parents maybe are as they are. And with the best will in the world we too love imperfectly . This story is lucy's and her life as a child, her marriage and her joy of life. And her kindness towards others. Looking forward to the next book which I have already downloaded. I will be buying copies of this book for presents for friends and family.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

beautifully read melancholy story...

enjoyed this - another tale of struggle with poverty in US rural life - thoughtful, unexpected , insights into Lucy who is herself a writer....

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Just Brilliant

Story beautifully told in a wonderfully appropriate voice. The conversation between mother and daughter in the hospital was particularly moving.
Thanks

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Easy to listen to

but this seemed to me ultimately unsatisfying. Nothing in the mother/daughter relationships resonated, and there were dangling threads or vagueness which I wanted to find more in than I could. The narrator is excellent, however.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful storytelling

I am a big fan of this author's take on 'small lives' Wonderfully narrated.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Perfection

Such a beautiful, sensitive story and so exquisitely read. Listen to it and you'll see.

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1 person found this helpful