What readers think of Anything Is Possible, plus links to write your own review.

I just want to say this first: Elizabeth Strout is my new favorite author. She consistently writes with an empathetic and wise compassion of the human condition. Her books touch my heart.

"Anything Is Possible" is a continuation--not a sequel--to "My Name Is Lucy Barton." Do read "Lucy Barton" first as it adds to the richness and depth of "Anything." Lucy grows up in an impoverished and abusive home in Amgash, Illinois. She marries, moves to New York City and becomes a successful and somewhat famous author. "Anything Is Possible" is a novel in stories with each story about someone who lives in Amgash and knew Lucy as a child. These are not happy people, for the most part. These are people who have had to fight for just about everything. But there is hope and solace in these stories.

I was enveloped by this book in a way like no other. Strout's understanding of human nature--of how we think, how we act and how we treat one another--is soul-deep.

Anything Is Possible is the second novel in the Amgash series by best-selling American author, Elizabeth Strout. There was, in Lucy Barton’s memoir, mention of a number of people whose lives intersected with her own when she lived in Amgash. Their recollections of the Barton family, and their encounters with the members of that family, and each other, provide different perspectives of the life she described, expanding on what she shared and providing a background to those lives.

As Tommy Guptill, former janitor at the high school, drives past the Barton farm into town, he recalls his concern for young Lucy; the book store has made a display of her memoir; on his return he calls in to check on Pete Barton’s welfare and hears a disturbing confession.

High School Counsellor, Patty Nicely loses her cool during an unpleasant encounter with Lucy’s niece, Lila Lane; conversations with her sister and her increasingly-demented mother recall incidents with the Barton family; reading Lucy’s memoir is a positive experience that inspires a good deed.

Patty’s older sister, Linda Peterson-Cornell and her wealthy husband host a photographer exhibiting at the Summer Festival. Yvonne Tuttle feels uncomfortable, apparently with good reason. What happens next has her assessing why she is so loyal to her perverted husband.

Vietnam vet and PTSD sufferer, Charlie Macauley gives the woman he loves a gift not his to give, then waits for the inevitable fallout in Dottie Blaine’s B&B.

Having decamped to Italy with her lover four years earlier at the age of seventy-four, Mary Mumford finally gets a visit from her dearest daughter, Angelina. Misunderstandings are cleared up, marriages discussed and Amgash gossip shared.

Pete Barton prepares for a visit from the sister who has not returned to their Amgash house in seventeen years. They are surprised by their sister Vicky’s arrival, and Lucy’s reaction to unearthed childhood memories baffles them both.

In her B&B, Dottie Blaine, second cousin to the Barton siblings, sees a passing parade of guests, some of whom share confidences she would rather not be burdened with; others, like Charlie Macauley, for whom she will always feel empathy.

When actress Annie Appleby returns to the family’s potato farm, her father’s long-held secret is revealed.

Abel Blaine, the second cousin who took Lucy Barton dumpster diving when they were dirt-poor and hungry, muses on his acquired wealth with a poorly-reviewed theatre actor.

These vignettes of peoples’ lives occur over a year or more, and illustrate that premise of six or less degrees of separation. Revisiting those characters from Lucy’s memoir, and learning more of their lives, is quite a pleasurable experience.

Strout gives many of them wise words and insightful observations: “This was the skin that protected you from the world – this loving of another person you shared your life with” and “They had grown up on shame; it was the nutrient of their soil” are examples.

Strout’s writing, both in style and subject matter, is reminiscent of Sebastian Barry with shades of Anne Tyler. Strout writes about ordinary people leading what they believe are ordinary lives (although there are definitely some quirky ones doing strange things amongst them) and does it with exquisite yet succinct prose. Another powerful read.

Anything is Possible is the sequel to My Name is Lucy Barton which I absolutely loved, and I was worried that it could only be disappointing in comparison. I couldn’t have been more wrong! This book is even better than the first. I took some minor characters from My Name is Lucy Barton who Lucy and her mother gossip about in the first book and flesh out their “real” stories. It’s almost like a book of connected short stories done as though each is a novel in itself. I will be recommending this book to everyone!

I have read most of Strout's novels and short story collections, but had not read My Name is Lucy Barton prior to reading Anything Is Possible. While I typically don't enjoy short stories as much as novels, I was excited to read this as I love Olive Kitteridge and Amy and Isabelle - all characters that are not only realistic, but jump off the page with facets that remind me of people I know. The characters in Anything Is Possible are believable, but lack the familiarity and complexity of some of Strout's other characters. However, the characters are all loosely tied together via Lucy Barton and I am more intrigued by Lucy after reading these stories.

Perhaps because of the brevity of the stories, there is some depth missing in characterization, and at times Strout makes broad leaps in an attempt to tie together characters or events from different time periods. More than once, a character is described as thinking of someone for no reason, or having a memory unbidden by anything going on the present - it is as if she is apologizing for the clunky attempts to tie stories together. While this book may lack the brilliance of Olive Kitteridge, it is still a quick read with diverse stories that range from strange to sweet.