Oh William! is strangely, unexplainably compelling. No spoilers here, nothing really happens. But Strout expertly paints a point in time portrait of the titular William – seen through the eyes of his ex-wife, Lucy, while simultaneously painting a portrait of Lucy herself – through Lucy’s own thoughts, judgments and decisions. I couldn’t put it down. This from someone who, while reading the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, put the book down to go to sleep.
Oh William!, though not a plot-driven novel, is ostensibly about William, with Lucy’s accompaniment, finding out and learning more about a family secret. A secret of whose existence William was not aware of until just now, well into the final third of his life. But Oh William is about so much more: the choices and emotions that pepper each and every day. Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Finding pieces of ourselves in everyone around us.
Perhaps Oh William's ordinariness is what makes it so compelling. Oh William! does not purport to be anything other than what it is: a glimpse into Lucy’s life. No effort to persuade or teach. Oh William! simply is. Strout’s plain prose does not feel lacking, rather, it feels real. Most people do not go through life with a thesaurus by their side and Strout earns respect for leaning into sparse prose rather than embellishing with unnecessary flourishes.
Oh William! is not a splashy, knock your socks off, plot twist on every page sort of book, but it is brilliant nonetheless. Strout continues to perform at the top of her game.
