OH WILLIAM! by Elizabeth Strout

Lucy Barton narrates this engaging novel in a conversational tone as she negotiates her grief over the death of her beloved husband, David, while at the same time dealing with her ex-husband, William, who is in an emotional crisis.  William is blindsided when his wife leaves him abruptly, shortly after giving him a DNA kit that reveals information about his mother’s history, which stuns him even more.  He coaxes Lucy into accompanying him on a trip to Maine to investigate his roots, and she obliges, despite the fact that the trip’s purpose is somewhat nebulous. She becomes his sounding board for his various grievances and his intermediary for an awkward meeting with a long-lost relative whose existence proves that William’s mother, Catherine, was no saint. Lucy and William both adored Catherine, but as her past unfolds during the trip, I was puzzled as to why.  I devoured this novel and love Strout’s writing, but William and his mother do not come off as lovable at all.  I can only surmise that Lucy’s own escape from unfathomable poverty caused her to be overly deferential to William and especially to his mother, who regularly introduced Lucy to friends as someone who had “come from nothing.”  This condescension did not really bother Lucy, although I found it abhorrent, until she uncovers the secret of Catherine’s own upbringing.   As for William, he accuses Lucy of being self-absorbed, but he is far worse in that department and extremely needy, without being the least bit sympathetic to Lucy’s grief.  When one of Lucy and William’s grown daughters asks Lucy if she and William are getting back together, I could only think, “Please, no!”