Will I love Oh William!?

Even though the marriage in Oh William! ends in divorce while my marriage ended (without my consent) in my husband’s untimely death, the book brought me back to the unconventional nature of my marriage. Elizabeth Strout’s uncanny ability to say much in a single sentence had me traveling back in time and heart to the many moments that made our marriage. The tendernesses and fears, the deep trust and insecurities that quietly but forcefully bound us together made up the subtle mysteries of our uncommon relationship. What makes people move apart yet remain forever close, as in Lucy Barton and… show more.

The quiet, mesmerizing voice of Strout’s Lucy Barton tells of getting to know her first love truly and deeply long after their marriage has ended. The book accomplishes the difficult task of making the improbable seem believable. It affirms my use of unlikely events in my own stories, making fiction more like life. In my life as a dancer and now as a writer,  I am always moved by art that is not set apart, high on a pedestal, but takes place right in the middle of life’s messy events.