In her entire life, her mother has never, and never did, tell her directly that she loved her. It was then, Lucy writes, that she knew that her mother cared. When they both woke up in the morning, her mother's hand print was on her leg from where she held on to her all through the night. However, her mother surprised her and stayed, sleeping by her side all night. She was afraid that when she came back her mother would have left. Whenever Lucy thinks about love, even in the present, she thinks of warmth, and to her loneliness is attributed the feeling of cold.īack in the hospital, and another memory, the doctors came to take Lucy for a CAT scan. It was her refuge and she often opted to stay later than the others so that she could enjoy the warmth of the building, the food that was offered, and have access to the books.

Because her home life was so dismal, she loved being at school. Lucy discusses the fact that her entire childhood was one of extreme poverty, sadness, and isolation. It is this lesson that Lucy internalized and carried with her, as well as the fact that someone cared enough about her to stand up for her. Later, he pointed out that prejudice happens in many ways and in many forms. Hanley gave a stern lecture about prejudice once everyone was back inside. Out on the playground some of the girls had teased her about being poor.

Hanley, who had such a monumental impact on her life, though she doubts that he ever realized it. Lucy recalls her third grade teacher, Mr. When she thought to come back to her husband, he wouldn't have her, and both of them remained alone and sad the rest of their lives. Kathie, though she was very well off, had left her husband for another man, only to find out that the other man was gay. They discussed one of the women that Lucy's mother did alterations for, a Ms.

Her mother, at first, just made small talk. Her mother hated hospitals, but had come nonetheless, which spoke volumes to Lucy. While in the hospital, many years later, when she, herself, was a wife and a mother, her own mother visited her, which was monumental, because her mother and father lived in impoverished conditions in a rural part of Illinois. She says that those times alone devastated her, and instilled in her the idea that she was a burden. She remembers that when her parents would go to work, and she was still too young to go to school, they would take her with them, and lock her in the cab of the truck until they were done for the day. Lucy recalls that her earliest memories of her parents are accompanied by a feeling of loneliness. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, beginning with Lucy's time in the hospital when she was younger. My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout, is written as a fictional memoir of a famous author.

My name is lucy