Oh William!
by Strout, Elizabeth
- Used
- as new
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- As New
- ISBN 10
- 0241508177
- ISBN 13
- 9780241508176
- Seller
-
Hay-on-Wye, Powys, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London, UK: VIKING. First edition. First printing. One quarter blue cloth with paper sides. 240pp. As new. A lovely copy. . As New. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 2021.
Reviews
On Oct 21 2021, CloggieDownunder said:
Oh William! is the third novel in the Amgash series by best-selling, Pulitzer Prize winning American author, Elizabeth Strout. Not long widowed and still very much grieving her second husband, David Abramson, Lucy Barton relates recent events in the life of her first husband, William Gerhardt.
Two life-changing things that occur in fairly short succession see her travelling with William to Maine to perhaps connect with a relative of whom William was, until recently, unaware. It's a journey of many revelations, both about newly-discovered family, those already departed, each other and themselves.
Lucy's narrative comes across as a little rambling, at first, but it soon becomes clear that all those casual asides, those frequently inserted anecdotes from earlier, are given to illustrate a certain point, a feeling, an opinion.
Musing on what she had with each husband, she tells the reader that even though "At times in our marriage I loathed him. I saw, with a kind of dull disc of dread in my chest, that with his pleasant distance, his mild expressions, he was unavailable", William was her home, that she felt safe in his presence.
She does not talk much about David, noting what they had in common "It is hard to describe what it is like when one is raised in such isolation from the outside world. So we became each other's home. But we— both of us felt this way—we felt that we were perched like birds on a telephone wire in New York City" and concluding that "David was a tremendous comfort to me."
Strout gives her characters palpable emotions, wise words and insightful observations. When Lucy is unable to understand why William married her, a nothing, he tells her: "Lucy, I married you because you were filled with joy. You were just filled with joy. And when I finally realized what you came from—when we went to your house that day to meet your family and tell them we were getting married, Lucy, I almost died at what you came from. I had no idea that was what you came from. And I kept thinking, But how is she what she is? How could she come from this and have so much exuberance? …. There has never been anyone in the world like you. You steal people's hearts, Lucy."
Strout's writing, both in style and subject matter, is reminiscent of Sebastian Barry with shades of Anne Tyler. Strout writes about ordinary people leading what they believe are ordinary lives (although there are definitely some quirky ones doing strange things amongst them) and does it with exquisite yet succinct prose. Another powerful read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin UK Viking.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Broad Street Book Centre (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 110170
- Title
- Oh William!
- Author
- Strout, Elizabeth
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- New As New
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0241508177
- ISBN 13
- 9780241508176
- Publisher
- VIKING
- Place of Publication
- London, UK
- Date Published
- 2021
- Keywords
- contemporary American fiction New York unit nine
Terms of Sale
Broad Street Book Centre
We accept returns within 7 days of receipt should the item not prove to be as described
About the Seller
Broad Street Book Centre
Biblio member since 2008
Hay-on-Wye, Powys
About Broad Street Book Centre
Our bookshop is situated in the world famous book-town of Hay-on-Wye and hosts 20 individual booksellers covering the broadest possible range of books with everything from antiquarian to zoology
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- First Edition
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- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...