#lucy barton

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is a contemporary literary fiction novel, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Penguin.

The novel is a sequel to her award-nominated My Name is Lucy Barton (a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award), and the 3rd novel in a sequence centred around the fictional rural town of Amgash, continuing to explore the heroine's complicated interpersonal relationships as a chance encounter leads her from New York back to Illinois, where the widowed author reconnects with her first husband and recalls the good and bad times that brought them together and drove them apart, via introspective character sketches.

Offered free in the UK and possibly other regions, available from the Kobo store.

“Mom, when you write a novel you get to rewrite it, but when you live with someone for twenty years, that is the novel, and you can never write that novel with anyone again!”

— lucy barton.

Age: 29

Occupation: Vice President of the Barton hotel chain

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Gender: Female

Neighbourhood: Inman Park

Length of time in Atlanta: 29 years

Faceclaim: Margot Robbie

— biography.

trigger warnings: – infidelity,

From the beginning, Lucy Barton had an easy life. Born to a former flight attendant and heir to a hotel empire, the four Barton children wanted for nothing, although their down to earth mother made sure her children always remembered just how lucky they were. Being born into a half Swedish (On her mother’s side) family, Lucy’s childhood was enriched with lessons on culture and the children all embraced their Swedish heritage, all learning to speak Swedish from an early age, as well as English. Despite the family’s ties to the hospitality industry, her father becoming CEO of Barton Hotels when Lucy was eight, Richard and Freja decided to give their children a quieter upbringing and the family home was moved to Atlanta when Lucy was eighteen months old, just after her little sister was born.

Despite their riches, the Barton children were like any others, regularly playing out in their quiet street with the neighbourhood kids, including Lucy’s fast best friend, Callum. As the third born child, there was little expectation on Lucy, except to do well at what she wanted to do. Lucy got through school as she should, she kept good grades but she was always the more adventurous child, wanting to go out and about, wanting to a play a new game or finding new places in the city when she got older. As the second youngest, Lucy was used to being slightly overlooked, her eldest sibling, her only brother was expected to train to take over the family business from their father and Lucy was content to keep quiet from an early age, preferring to draw or read or go out with her best friend than sit in with talks between her brother and father. It was this trait that kept her quiet when in high school, Lucy’s feelings for Callum became more romantic.

Her good grades granted her admission to a good college and Lucy decided to major in Economics and Communications, a part of the world Lucy had grown interested in when doing an internship at the family company. It was in college that her five year long crush on Callum finally came out and the two began dating. As Callum prepared for law school and Lucy prepared for grad school, Callum proposed and Lucy honestly couldn’t have been happier. Deciding on a masters in business and economics, Lucy graduated with honours and took her place within the family business, gradually working her way up the ranks until she was made a Vice president, along with her brother and sisters.

Despite her career making her professionally happy, Lucy’s personal life began to suffer, although at first, it was little to do with her. As Callum got busier and busier with law school, he spent less time and effort on his relationship with Lucy, always knowing she was there seemed to be enough and the romance suffered. Although she loved him with her whole heart, Lucy began to feel lonely as even when they were both home, Lucy would barely see her fiancee. It was then that she grew closer to Henry, his little brother. At first, the two were nothing but close friends, as they had been for years but as their friendship continued, Lucy found herself less lonely and in a moment of drunken stupidity at Callum’s graduation party, Lucy and Henry slept together and Callum caught them.

Her engagement was over immediately and Lucy felt her world being ripped apart. Her family were horrified at her behaviour, as was she and it was after losing Callum that she realised she had never been lonely, he was only a conversation away. Determined to make losing her best friend and the love of her life worth it, Lucy threw herself into a relationship with Henry, eventually feeling some kind of love for him too. Continuing her work as Vice President of the family business and still in a relationship with Henry, Alice is somewhat content with her life, although having to see Callum at each family function still rips her apart. Sleeping with his brother was her biggest mistake, but she’s determined to make it work. She has to, or she destroyed her best friend for nothing.

—personality traits.

Compassionate, determined, kind hearted

Stubborn, rash, quick tempered

—headcanons.

Lucy hates confrontation which has gotten her into some messes in her life. She rarely speaks up for herself unless it’s in the boardroom and is very much a suffer in silence type.

“This must be the way most of us maneuver through the world, half knowing, half not, visited by memories that can’t possibly be true. But when I see others walking with confidence down the sidewalk, as though they are free completely from terror, I realize I don’t know how others are. So much of life seems speculation.”

“I have said before: It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere, and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down. “