Oh William - Elizabeth Strout

n• The book is part of The Booker Prize 2022 Longlistn Lucy Barton is a successful writer living in New York, navigating the second half of her life as a recent widow and parent to two adult daughters. A surprise encounter leads her to reconnect with William, her first husband - and longtime, on-again-off-again friend and confidante. Recalling their college years, the birth of their daughters, the painful dissolution of their marriage, and the lives they built with other people, Strout weaves a portrait, stunning in its subtlety, of a tender, complex, decades-long partnership.

Oh William! captures the joy and sorrow of watching children grow up and start families of their own; of discovering family secrets, late in life, that alter everything we think we know about those closest to us; and the way people live and love, against all odds. At the heart of this story is the unforgettable, indomitable voice of Lucy Barton, who once again offers a profound, lasting reflection on the mystery of existence.

This is the way of life, Lucy says. The many things we do not know until it is too late. n n A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own - Hilary Mantel n n A terrific writer - Zadie Smith She gets better with each book - Maggie O'Farrell One of America's finest writers - Sunday Times n n This is meticulously observed writing, full of probing psychological insight.

Lucy Barton is one of literature's immortal characters-brittle, damaged, unravelling, vulnerable and, most of all, ordinary-like us all - Booker Prize Judges