Saturday, January 15, 2011

Book Review: Amy and Isabelle

Elizabeth Strout's Amy and Isabelle was a great way to start off the new year. I read it all on January 1, on which I had the rare luxury of being able to spend the entire day reading, napping, and occasionally eating.

I loved Olive Kitteridge and Abide with Me, and I'm happy to say that Strout did not disappoint with her first novel, Amy and Isabelle. This is the story of a mother and daughter with a lot of secrets between them. Not an uncommon theme, but Strout tells it so well.

Until this particular summer, Amy and her mother, Isabelle, have lived a solitary life. Isabelle prefers to keep her distance from the rest of the community, and shy Amy follows suit. But something happens in the midst of Amy's school year that leads to a total upheaval in their quiet and lonely world. As in her other two novels, this one takes place in a small town in New England, and a host of well-drawn characters join Amy and Isabelle as their stories unfold.

Apparently there is a TV movie based on this novel that gets fairly good ratings. I might try to find this, although it's not available on Netflix.

If you haven't read any Elizabeth Strout yet, please do. She is truly a wonderful writer, and I look forward to whatever she has coming up next.

Other Reviews of Amy and Isabelle
Reviews by Lola
The Written World
Babbette's Book Blog
Civil Thoughts

2 comments:

Alex said...

I haven't read anything by Elizabeth Strout but you make her sound so tempting. I think I will definitely read one of her books this year.

Ann Summerville said...

Elizabeth Strout is new to me. I'll take a look.
Ann