Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors of all time, definitely in the top five. I have yet to read something of his that I didn’t adore from start to finish. He won a Pulitzer for a reason, people. I strongly encourage you to pick up a book of his, any book, and read it immediately. You will thank me, so let me just say you’re welcome now. But I digress.
Lou (Lucy) Lynch is writing the story of his life in small-town upstate New York. At sixty he is on the cusp of going out into the world with his wife and seeking new adventures, begrudgingly, but he is a man with one, if not two, feet in the past. What will the examining of the past lead to in his future? How did he come to find himself in this life? Jumping between past and present we see the history of Thomaston and how Lucy’s life, and the life of those in his narrative, has unfolded.
Rich characters woven together beautifully with humor, compassion, honesty and flaws. This is what Russo does best.