My Name is Lucy Barton is a novel about motherhood, being a writer, and the nature of bravery and truth. It’s an excellent, trim piece of writing.

The novel begins with Lucy in hospital, bed-bound. She reflects on childhood, and the ‘swamps’ and ‘dank air’ of marriage. She makes doe-eyes at the kind doctor. Lucy wears her heart on her sleeve and falls in love with anyone who is kind to her. But there is steel in her too; ruthlessness, she calls it.

She’s had a tough life. Her childhood memories are of violence, fear, and humiliation. Hiding in the corn fields with her sister, they would only return when darkness became scarier than home.

Lucy’s mother visits her in hospital and their conversations drive the novel. They circle their shared past warily, finding safety in gossip about other people’s misfortunes.

It’s a novel about kindness, integrity, and the tiny paper cuts our words wield - intentionally or not. The prose is understated, poised, but full of dark corners, sharp edges, and funny moments.

My Name is Lucy Barton was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. In the sequel - Anything is Possible - Lucy returns to her childhood home of Amgash, Illinois.

Don’t you just love Lucy Barton by the end?! Sitting in the park reading the final pages, I tried very hard not to cry...