RaveThe Free Lance-StarEvery time I read a novel by Elizabeth Strout, I wonder why I have not read her whole backlist. I have learned to expect great things from her, and her novel Oh William! is no different ... Exquisite ... Oh William! is a quiet, character-driven novel. Strout writes with such an understated elegance, and Lucy’s melancholy voice tugs at your heartstrings during even the most seemingly innocuous moments ... What continues to astound me most about this novel, however, is Strout’s depiction of Lucy’s perspective ... Oh William! is a story about grief. It is also about legacy. But mostly it is about reckoning with the past and reckoning with the person you have become ... The title of the novel comes across with multiple resonances throughout the text, and Strout’s compassionate voice tells us gently how flawed human beings are. Though there is a lot of sadness in this novel, it never loses hope. And that is Strout’s greatest gift.
Ae-Ran Kim, Trans. by Chi-Young Kim
RaveThe Free Lance-StarThis quiet novel profoundly moved me and is not to be missed ... Kim allows us to dig deeply into her characters’ psyches, showing us the flaws of each, but also highlighting the love that binds these people together ... As the novel continues, [...] the complexity of Areum’s response to his disease becomes plain, and the novel’s emotional heft continues to build ... My Brilliant Life heralds an equally brilliant voice in fiction. Kim’s portrayal is at once complex and compassionate ... This life-affirming novel, which reminds us above all of the human capacity to love one another, is sure to stay with you well after the final page is turned.
