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Amy and Isabelle

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 5,054 ratings · 743 reviews

National Bestseller

In her stunning first novel, Amy and Isabelle, Elizabeth Strout evokes a teenager's alienation from her distant mother—and a parent's rage at the discovery of her daughter's sexual secrets. In most ways, Isabelle and Amy are like any mother and her 16-year-old daughter, a fierce mix of love and loathing exchanged in their every glance. And eating, sleepi...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published February 1st 2000 by Vintage (first published 1998)

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Mar 06, 2012 Anastasia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biblioteca-civica, contemporanei, usa, 5-stars

In questo momento sono ancora in adorazione.

L'oggetto di questa mia smodata ammirazione è Elizabeth Strout.
Cominciavo a temere di dover dire addio ai cinque mensili. Di solito fra letture mediamente piacevoli, c'era sempre quella chicca, che in qualche modo incoronava il mese. Ultimamente la media dei miei voti alle lettura s'era notevolmente abbassata. Non capivo se fosse perché io m'ero inacidita, oppure perché davvero era un periodo un po' smorto.
Ora sono propensa ad optare per la seconda....more In questo momento sono ancora in adorazione.

L'oggetto di questa mia smodata ammirazione è Elizabeth Strout.
Cominciavo a temere di dover dire addio ai cinque mensili. Di solito fra letture mediamente piacevoli, c'era sempre quella chicca, che in qualche modo incoronava il mese. Ultimamente la media dei miei voti alle lettura s'era notevolmente abbassata. Non capivo se fosse perché io m'ero inacidita, oppure perché davvero era un periodo un po' smorto.
Ora sono propensa ad optare per la seconda.
Elizabeth, benvenuta nella mia Cerchia degli Eletti.

Ma chi è Elizabeth Strout? L'autrice in questione è una scrittrice statunitense del '56, vincitrice di un bel po' di premi fra cui un Pulizter per Olive Kitteridge. Laureata in legge con risultati brillanti, si lancia nella narrativa. Non c'è una naturale conseguenza fra i due eventi, ma noi lo ignoreremo.

Amy e Isabelle è il mio primo incontro con lei, e credo ciecamente che sia l'inizio di un amore memorabile e duraturo. Sono già pronta alle smancerie e alle fusa, con tanto di "pitti pitti" e "tesorino" e altra roba che non ha un vero e proprio riscontro nella vita reale.

Questo libro non ha assolutamente nulla di originale o nuovo, una storia che volendo abbiamo sentito tante volte: alla tv nelle serie-tv, nei film, a volte forse persino nei telegiornali, nei libri, nella vita di tutti i giorni (oddio, sinceramente a me non è mai capitato), però è fatto talmente bene, con tanta cura e tanto talento che questo è un punto irrilevante.
Il rapporto fra Isabelle sua figlia, Amy, non è propriamente un rapporto sereno. Nei momenti in cui si ritrovano da sole preferiscono stare in silenzio, anche se avrebbero qualcosa da dirsi, anche se Isabelle vorrebbe dire alla figlia che le vuole bene, anche se Amy vorrebbe dire a sua madre che non la sopporta più. Non riescono a comunicare, il silenzio sostituisce qualsiasi parola, Isabelle vorrebbe che la figlia le raccontasse di sé, che la rendesse partecipe della sua vita, ma capisce di essere troppo lontana da lei, che ha collaborato a costruire quella barriera che le divide quasi da sempre. Isabelle ha paura di sua figlia, ha paura dell'idea di essere respinta, ha paura che le rinfacci la sue scarse capacità come genitore, ed Amy ha paura di sua madre, a volte semplicemente ha paura di farla arrabbiare, altre di deluderla, di sfasciarle l'idea di un'adolescente modello.
Fra la paura, l'incomprensione causata dall'incapacità di comunicare, si aggiunge anche la differenza fondamentale fra loro due. Isabelle è un trentenne dai capelli perfettamente ordinati e con un collo alto alto che ricorda un cigno, rigida, timorosa, riservata, ossessionata dall'ordine: non può trattenersi dal correggere sua figlia nel portamento, dal rimproverarle un atteggiamento troppo trasandato a tavola, perfino dall'impedirle di usare un linguaggio poco fine per lei. Dipende dalle apparenze, si demoralizza se il gruppo della parrocchia la deride di nascosto, ha paura di esporsi troppo, non da troppa confidenza a nessuno per paura di scoprirsi, effettivamente, con delle debolezze e dei difetti.
Amy è una sedicenne dagli occhi pieni di meraviglia - presi dalla madre -, dai capelli ricci e lucentemente biondi, amante della poesia, passionale, forse un po' ingenua, con tante e tanti piccoli segreti che non rivela e, in parte, non rivelerà mai a sua madre. Come dirle che fuma? Sua madre, che da piccola si asteneva sempre dall'aspirare anche solo una boccata di fumo dopo la scuola? Isabelle, che si è sempre fatta in quattro da ragazza per rispondere alle aspettative di sua madre, e in fondo spera che Amy faccia lo stesso?
Il divario fra le due arriva al culmine in una sorta di incidente che evidenzia ad Isabelle quanto poco conosca di sua figlia, ed è in fondo il motore di tutta la storia. Non sappiamo cosa è accaduto a loro, quale sia l'incidente fatale da cui non possono più tornare indietro, che ha addirittura cambiato la loro vita e il modo di guardarsi, quasi con timore, riluttanza. Proprio dalla frattura insanabile parte la storia, che fa un balzo indietro per tornare al principio, spiegarsi e coinvolgere molto moltissimo.
I due personaggi si prestano tantissimo allo stereotipo, ma è proprio qui che scatta parte della bravura della Strout: le definisce così bene, ce ne offre un ritratto a 360°, ne smussa i contorni, sonda il loro animo, in modo da renderle reali. Da tempo non leggevo un autore contemporaneo così bravo nell'analisi psicologica dei suoi personaggi, praticamente non fallisce mai, neppure nei minimi dettagli. E poi, leggerla è un piacere: questo suo stile minuzioso, ma allo stesso tempo delicatamente leggero, capace di definire un'immagine in due, tre parole massimo. E che immagini, specialmente se guardiamo dall'occhio suggestionato di Amy. Ha una tecnica narrativa invidiabile: incastra ogni personaggio alla perfezione, è capace di tenere costantemente il lettore in attesa con colpi di scena spezzati a metà, ripresi dopo, anticipazioni che non rovinano assolutamente il senso di "scoperta", ma non fanno che aumentarla ed allettarla.

Fra il coinvolgimento del lettore che, leggo in tante altre recensioni, è sempre alto, lo stile delicato, ma sempre scorrevole, della Strout che personalmente mi ha incantata e la definizione di ogni personaggio così attenta, io mi sento di dire che Elizabeth Strout è una Signora Scrittrice.(less)

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Jan 20, 2008 Joanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Heartbreakingly real, beautifully written, the relationships in this book will stay with me. This was an intense read and I am filled with both hope and despair for all of these women. A delicate but steely line separates us from joy and can only occasionally be broken, but with a quick flip of the wrist that same line separates us from fear.

My favorite "aha" moment of the book--Isabelle decides to educate herself and starts reading Hamlet but breaks off at the point when he declares "Frailty,...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Florence MacIntosh rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Read while in Juniper New Brunswick milltown

Recommended to Florence by: Michael Edwards

Shelves: realistic-fiction, 2012, womens-issues, debut, lit-usa, reviewed

Yes this reads like a soap opera, how else could you hope to portray life in a small New England mill town? It’s pretty typical, everyone knows everyone’s business, social hierarchies are rigid and all ‘outsiders’ are suspect. Timeline is the 70’s but it could just as easily be taking place today.

In her debut novel Strout shows herself a master at building multi-layered characters, warts and all. Amy is a shy, insecure and socially inept teen - the perfect target for a sexual predator. Enter th...more

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Nov 15, 2007 Miya rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: why-did-i-bother, never-finished-reading

Not sure why I even picked this book up. Boring and predictable. The fact that it was made into an Oprah movie should have been the first clue...

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Dolors rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Isabelle and Amy, mother and daughter, live in Shirley Falls, a small and quiet little town in Maine where apparently nothing much ever happens. But a lot of its people live in secret turmoil.
Isabelle has had a crush on her married boss for more than 10 years and she feels her life is being wasted away, and secretly, even without daring to articulate the thought, she blames Amy, her 15 years old daughter.
Amy has her own things to deal with. Brought up by her reclusive and unreachable mother, sh...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Piperitapitta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autrici-usa, letteratura-usa, romanzo, donne

«Un altro splendido giorno è passato»

In un'estate torrida e soffocante scorrono a Shirley Falls, immaginaria cittadina della provincia del New England, lente e monotone le vite di Isabelle e Amy, una madre sola e una figlia adolescente.
Sembrano immobili le vite a Shirley Falls, sembrano seguire ognuna un proprio corso predestinato, un cammino che assomiglia più ad un volo, come quello che tante farfalle fanno ciascuna intorno ad un suo punto immaginario.
Vola intorno a se stessa Isabelle, una don...more «Un altro splendido giorno è passato»

In un'estate torrida e soffocante scorrono a Shirley Falls, immaginaria cittadina della provincia del New England, lente e monotone le vite di Isabelle e Amy, una madre sola e una figlia adolescente.
Sembrano immobili le vite a Shirley Falls, sembrano seguire ognuna un proprio corso predestinato, un cammino che assomiglia più ad un volo, come quello che tante farfalle fanno ciascuna intorno ad un suo punto immaginario.
Vola intorno a se stessa Isabelle, una donna sfiorita, solitaria, insicura, completamente chiusa agli altri, incapace di un gesto che possa avvicinarla alle colleghe dell'ufficio con le quali condivide da quindici anni la sua vita, come una margherita bruciata dal sole.
Vola intorno a se stessa Amy, che è un bocciolo di rosa ma non ne ha coscienza, solitaria, insicura, incapace di un gesto che possa avvicinarla ai compagni di scuola con i quali condivide le sue giornate, come una rosa che non sa ancora di esserlo.
Vivono insieme, Amy e Isabelle, ma non si conoscono e non sono capaci di guardarsi negli occhi, di parlarsi con il cuore.
Non si accorge Isabelle che Amy sta cambiando, che non è destinata ad appassire rapidamente così come è toccato a lei, ma che è pronta a sbocciare in un'esplosione di colori e profumi, perché sta diventando donna; non si accorge di nulla, Isabelle, finché un avvenimento improvviso e inatteso manderà in frantumi la sua noiosa e opprimente immobilità.
«Solo che era assurdo, era tutto alla rovescia, pensò Isabelle, voltandosi ancora a dare un'occhiata alla figlia, ero io ad avere paura di te.»
Intorno a Amy e Isabelle tutto sembra sospeso e immobile, ma in realtà è solo quello che entrambe credono, così incapaci di volgere il proprio sguardo al di là delle proprie vite, tutto è immobile, tranne la sottile linea nera che le unisce, che le costringe, che le lega l'una all'altra.
«Ad Amy sembrava che una linea nera le tenesse collegate, una linea non più pesante di un tratto di matita, forse, ma una linea che era sempre presente».
Ed è molto bello il momento in cui inizieranno ad accorgersi che non solo nelle proprie vite, ma anche in quelle di Fat Bev, Dottie Brown - colleghe di Isabelle - e in quella di Stacy - compagna di scuola di Amy - tutto è in movimento e che nessuna tra loro è realmente sola; ed è solo da quel momento, quando volgeranno lo sguardo, che inizieranno a mutare e a ricongiungersi agli altri.
Questa svolta coincide nel romanzo con un cambio sul piano narrativo molto intenso; se fino ad allora la storia alterna unicamente le vicende di Amy a quelle di Isabelle, dal momento in cui madre e figlia, ma soprattutto Isabelle, iniziano ad aprirsi ai sentimenti, alle storie e al dolore delle persone che hanno vicine, anche il romanzo inizia a narrare le vicende degli altri personaggi che ruotano intorno a loro, acquistando finalmente una profondità ed una percezione di simultaneità fino a quel momento assente.
È molto bello accorgersi all'improvviso che nessun evento è mai "l'unico" nella storia di una comunità, o di una famiglia, o di un gruppo di amiche, che mentre Amy scopre un pezzetto di sé Isabelle ne ritrova un altro, che mentre Dottie Brown subisce un'isterectomia Stacy partorisce il suo bambino, che mentre Avery Clark parte per la vacanza sul lago Wally Brown se ne va e che tutte, ma proprio tutte, non sono più farfalle solitarie, ma creature dello stesso mondo.
Elizabeth Strout è bravissima nel descrivere tutto questo e a rendere l'apparente indolenza della piccola città di provincia - che mi ha ricordato per certi aspetti Peyton Place, con i suoi segreti e le sue passioni sommerse - un luogo dove tutto sembra apparente fermo e dove l'assenza di emozioni forti è vera solo in superficie.
In realtà tutti i protagonisti della storia nascondono all'interno un'inquietudine profonda e la loro agitazione è destinata, con o senza violenza, ad uscire dagli argini e a modificare il corso delle loro esistenze.

Qui un'intervista a Elizabeth Strout

http://www.radio.rai.it/radio3/libri/...(less)

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Jul 17, 2008 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

This story could have ended halfway through and I would have been content with that. Instead, it went on, way past where I would have expected it to end, and each additional page felt like some secret reward. Strout writes deliberately and without trite language. She's able to masterfully capture the feel of both the single mother and her sordid past as well as the teenage daughter and her sexual awakenings. While predictable in spots (I knew that Isabelle would eventually reveal her past and th...more This story could have ended halfway through and I would have been content with that. Instead, it went on, way past where I would have expected it to end, and each additional page felt like some secret reward. Strout writes deliberately and without trite language. She's able to masterfully capture the feel of both the single mother and her sordid past as well as the teenage daughter and her sexual awakenings. While predictable in spots (I knew that Isabelle would eventually reveal her past and that it would be somewhat identical to that of her daughter's present), there were a number of twists that were not foreseen (or, rather, a number of false predictions). The final scene between Amy and Mr. Robertson was typical, yet still (I typed stiff, LOL) fresh enough that I had to read it twice before deciding to read it once more. And while teacher-student relationships are wrong, I still found myself hoping that this one would be different, sort of similiar to Amy's slight obsession.

Strout incorporates the New England summer well, presenting it almost as its own character, alongside the small town snobs and busybodies that surround the tangibly difficult relationship between mother and daughter. Amy, in high school, is already at odds with her mother, as well as the world. It isn't until the new teacher takes a special interest in her that Amy blooms (trite as that may sound, it's true). Isabelle grapples with wanting to destroy her daughter, thus ending the possibilities of continually repeating the same pattern, and embracing the child she can still see in her daughter.

Things that I expected to happen but didn't:
Amy and her pregnant friend experimenting sexually.
Mr. Robertson being the local killer.
Amy and Paul driving off in search of Mr. Robertson.
Mrs. Robertson murdered by Amy or Mr. Robertson.
Isabelle to turn into Carrie's mom, or Sibyl's mom or Mommie Dearest.
Amy to commit suicide, Stacy to then take Amy's place with Isabelle.

As I read it, I tried to visualize the characters, cast the movie based-on-the-book, if you will. For Fat Bev, I imagined the housekeeper from Two and a half Men. Mr. Robertson would have been Ryan Gosling, Isabelle Toni Collette. I Googled the book (as I do for almost everything) and was briefly excited to find that a movie had already been made. Then I read the entry at IMDb and found myself awash with disappointment: Oprah Winfrey as executive producer? Elisabeth Shue as Isabelle? Some really old guy as the teacher--as if old teacher and young student isn't played out. I was tickled to find I'd appropriately cast Fat Bev, though. I would gladly read this again, but I'll pass on the made-for-TV movie.(less)

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May 08, 2008 Mayra rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel is about a mother and daughter with secrets that are to be kept a secret so that nobody thinks bad about them.Amy is a quiet girl and she is very shy.She meets Mr.Robinson and hates him at first but after sometime starts to like him.Their relationship goes even further then a teacher relationship.Amy starts to see her teacher and they start to talk later they do more.Amy is told not to tell anyone and she doesn't. She loves the fact that he loves her and does these things with her and...more

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Aug 20, 2009 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was wowed by Strout's writing in Olive Kitteridge, so decided to read other books she has written. I was not disappointed with Amy and Isabelle, a novel about the strained relationship between Isabelle, a single mother, and her teen-aged daughter Amy. A/I is a coming of age story of young Amy--but also of her mother--as both slowly and painfully find their freedom, independence, and the confidence to move ahead.

The story is not merely a struggle between mother and daughter; it’s an intricate...more

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Dec 14, 2010 Paola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: narrativa

Non so che scrivere, é talmente bello questo romanzo.
La sua bellezza é nella capacità della Strout di de-scriverti l'umano essere in modo così semplice e piano, profondo e vero da restare estasiati.
La Strout mi piacerebbe conoscerla e parlarci e farmi raccontare, e raccontarle affinché mi aiuti a trovare le parole per dirlo, perché secondo me é qualcuno che sa, che tante domande si é posta e altrettante risposte ha cercato é poi, per sommo gaudio e piacere di chi legge le ha sapute mettere per...more

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Dec 17, 2008 AJ LeBlanc rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

An amazing read! Takes place around the early 1970s, but reads as if it were today. Isabelle is a single mom raising 16 year old Amy in a small, gossipy mill town. The two have a common mother/daughter relationship of sometimes love and sometimes hate. The book starts out looking at the lives of the two, but slowly branches out to include many of the women in the town.

Strout has a gift for developing characters that are so complete you wonder if they actually exist. Everyone has their flaws and...more

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May 12, 2013 Caroline Herbert rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a masterful study of the intense, fraught relationship between a single mother and her 15 year old daughter. On one level they're going through the usual struggles of the teenage years, with Amy (the daughter) moving away from her mother to develop her own identity and independence. Having given up everything for her daughter, Isabelle is having a lot of trouble with that transition--especially the realization that Amy is discovering her sexuality. I don't want to say much about the...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

There was absolutely nothing extraordinary about this book, which is what made it so remarkable. It was a bit slow in the middle, but that was because the significant 'present day' event relating to Amy, the daughter, happens in the middle. The last quarter of the book is really where we get the backstory of Isabelle, the mother. What is remarkable about that event, and really the entire book, is how real and 'drab' the events were. There was no excitement, no real suspense. The book was predict...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Meghan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Elizabeth Strout (ironically enough, a classmate of Ann Patchett's at Iowa Writer's Workshop, and a friend of hers now too) and anything she's done is quality fiction at its finest. I decided to read this because I loved Olive Kitteridge, and I was not let down. Strout's characters are so real I could feel them; they were so honest in their responses that it was sometimes painful. She captures the heartwrenching love and frustration and beauty of a mother daughter relationship; she also c...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great story of a daughter and her mother. They are navigating the life changes that come from the child becoming an adult and the parent letting go. This book is beautifully written and one becomes enthralled with the characters of Shirley Falls. A mill town in New England. The summer is the hottest anyone can remember. The town is split with class differences that boil over. Expectations unmet. Bored teenagers.

This is mostly a book about women. Strong women. I loved the characters in...more

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Jun 21, 2011 David Lentz rated it 4 of 5 stars

In her first outing, Elizabeth Strout shows great promise as a novelist. Clearly, she has not caught full-stride as a writer in this probably largely autobiographical first work. Her lean, almost minimalist, writing style is deceptive in its depth, at first. The women are all round, full and deep in their portrayal. But the men are all flat, one-dimensional, cardboard fiends. She seemed to be stretching to create a gritty realism in the dialogue, which simply came across in many places as contri...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Carla Lowe Baku rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Readers of Anne Tyler or any other strongly character-driven fiction

Recommended to Carla by: Megan Staffel (MFA advisor)

I just finished Amy and Isabelle and am in a state of writerly awe; it is now on the list of books about which I can say "I wish I had written that book!"

Strout's deft handling of the omniscient point of view is remarkable and fluid. It's rare to find a story that dares to dip into the heads of multiple characters in a single scene, primarily because it's hard to do WELL. The author does so in this novel subtly and with a light touch. Her handling of time passing is also wonderful--reminiscent t...more

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Aug 28, 2010 Nitya rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Elizabeth Strout's writing. Wanted to read this since reading Olive Kitteredge. Amy and Isabelle did not disappoint, though I see Strout's growth as a writer in that I think Olive Kitteredge was even better.
Amy and Isabelle tells the story of a single mom (Isabelle) and her teenage daughter (Amy) in a small midwestern town in the late 60's. Isabelle works as a secretary at a local mill, goes to church regularly, but has no social life and no friends. Amy, like her mother, is also social...more

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Jan 27, 2010 Salwa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book so I feel like I can accurately judge it. This is Elizabeth Strout's first book of fiction (pubbed in 1998) and I can see how she has evolved into the writer who wrote Olive Kitteredge (2008), which I read recently. She likes to keep multiple story lines going all at the same time, though it's clear that the relationship between Amy (16 years old) and her mother, Isabelle, is the primary concern of the book. I think what Strout does best is describe her...more I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book so I feel like I can accurately judge it. This is Elizabeth Strout's first book of fiction (pubbed in 1998) and I can see how she has evolved into the writer who wrote Olive Kitteredge (2008), which I read recently. She likes to keep multiple story lines going all at the same time, though it's clear that the relationship between Amy (16 years old) and her mother, Isabelle, is the primary concern of the book. I think what Strout does best is describe her characters' inner thoughts and feelings. Often while reading I'll think, "yes, that's true," or, "that's exactly how I've felt, too." This is an amazing skill. Her characters, too, are completely believable. Unfortunately, she lacks in the plot department. Spoiler alert: The main crisis of the book is the reveal of Amy's affair with her teacher. OK, that's a pretty intense crisis and it definitely had me wanting to skim to find out what happened as quickly as possible, but there were 150 pages leading up to this and another 150 pages dealing with the sulky teenage and distressed mother wreckage. The scenes with the teacher are definitely cringe-worthy and horrifying or seductive and sweet, depending on your perspective (adult/parent or teenage girl). As with Olive Kitteredge, she spends pages and pages fleshing out minor stories, some of which are interesting (her friend Stacy and her pregnancy) and some less so (the church ladies in general---boooooring). At least Olive was billed as a short story collection, so the minor stories made more sense there. The effect of the description and sub-plots is to understand the context of Amy and Isabelle in this town and this particular moment in history. But, let's move it along here. I like a lot of description, but it's all just taking too long. I mean, 5 pages about the heat and then the rain that finally ensues? I get it, the bleakness of the summer parallels the issues in the relationship, but do we need so much of it? So, to summarize, a good book, beautifully and insightfully written but a bit slow. That being said, I just ordered Abide with Me, here 2nd book, so clearly I like Strout as a writer. (less)

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Nov 19, 2010 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: completed-in-2010

I liked this book right up to the ending.

Both Isabelle and Amy were well developed characters, and I particularly liked that Isabelle was somewhat unappealing. Much like Olive Kittridge, Strout makes her main character flawed in a way that I found disconcerting, but mostly because I recognized things Isabelle did in myself and my acquaintences which were less than flattering.

Amy was very convincingly written to me. I thought Strout presented a very believable teenaged girl who was often in the b...more

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Jun 23, 2009 CJ rated it 3 of 5 stars

I didn't love this book, but I liked it. It took me until nearly halfway through to find it compelling, but I admit that after that, I couldn't put it down. I feel kind of picky when I think of the things that I didn't like about it. First, the setting wasn't clear to me. I know it was in New England, but I kept picturing the South. I also know it was set roughly in the 70's, but it felt like a much earlier time period, such that the mentions of TV news and hippies felt anachronistic. Then, I di...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Lucy rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story was depressing, but...I loved the author's description of settings to reinforce the mood-- weather, appearances of flowers, trees, house decor, etc. Also, her manipulation of time and place whetted your appetite to read on to find out the rest of the story. Sometimes when we are caught up in our own problems we fail to see the pain of others around us. The author did a good job of portraying the concurrent struggles of major and minor characters.

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Sep 25, 2009 Dawn Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2009

1 1/2 Stars

I did not like this book. At all. And after reading reviews by others here on GoodReads, I have to wonder if I missed something !!) in this book. I didn't see ANY of the same things that they all saw that they deemed the making of this book wonderful. In fact, in over 20 reviews, only TWO reviews were negative, where they (like me) felt the book was crap. And all this makes me feel flawed (Even though I *KNOW* I am not). Like there is something inherently wrong with me. That I am inc...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Hillary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I picked up this book because i'm on the waitlist for Olive Kitteridge and was wondering why i'd never heard of this author before. i'm so glad i did, as i was quite impressed by her Strout's first novel. reading her evocative descriptions of New England weather, and how the seasons played into her tale, really reminded me of the drama of New England seasons that i grew up with. and while the the student-teacher plot would appear, on face, to be the more titillating of the many major and minor p...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This turned out to be a rather lovely read. It started I thought as a simple little story of relationships between Mother and Daughter;but soon revealed itself to be a complex relationship that wasn't to be fully understood till the end though much surmised by the reader. But the daughter lost in the turmoil of growing up and maternal moods never really understood until the end. Around the central characters there were several subplots of women struggling with a myriad of lives issues. I loved h...more

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Jul 06, 2009 Karyl rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is just as bleak and dour as you'd expect from a book associated with Oprah. (It's not an Oprah Book Club book, but apparently it's an Oprah Winfrey Presents movie.) Initially it was hard to get into; it seemed a bit slow and confusing. The book isn't told in straightforward chronological way; a lot of it is told in flashbacks.

However, I found the imagery very compelling. The author will be going along, describing a mundane event (like a sermon the minister is giving), when she drops...more

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Oct 15, 2007 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in well-drawn mother/daughter relationship

Shelves: novel

On the whole I really enjoyed this book - a story of a strained mother/daughter relationship with lots of secrets in the single mother's past. Life eventually forces the very controlled and tense mother to give up some of her stuff, due to events in the life of her teenage daughter. The author has a great sense of humor which manifests in the day to day lives of some of the less important characters. The novel is set in a backwater New England mill town.

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Jun 13, 2010 Rhonda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

3.5 stars, if I could.
Isabelle and her infant daughter, Amy, move to a small gossipy mining town, saying only that she was widowed and needed a job to earn a living. She works her way up to becoming secretary to the boss. Isabella and Amy are going through the tough, difficult relationship brought on by teen years, when Amy starts staying after school with her substitute math teacher, Mr. Robertson. Things happen....and they are caught by Isabelle's boss.

This book explores the ties that bind mo...more

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Jan 02, 2010 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm quite behind in my reading. There's three big reasons for this: I am ridiculously busy at work; I'm trying to read The Corrections and I can't get into it; because I can't get into it, I've been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables books to pass the time. But I did manage to finish Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout. It's a mother-daughter tale, so you know it can't be good. Wait, that came out wrong. I mean that fictional mother-daughter tales usually involve heartache and strife, not that...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Suzy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Meagan, Elise, Teri, Kathy

I loved this book as if it were a person--still do. It's actually several people, mainly Isabelle and her teenage daughter Amy, but also Amy's friend Stacy and her boyfriend, Amy's substitute teacher Mr. Robertson (whom I don't love), and Isabelle's office mates Fat Bev and Dottie. I read Olive Kitteridge--also by Elizabeth Strout--and didn't much like it (unlike most people) but I had nothing against Strout's writing, so I gave this office book-swap find a try. I found Strout to be amazing when...more

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About Elizabeth Strout

ELIZABETH STROUT is the author of several novels, including: Abide with Me, a national bestseller and BookSense pick, and Amy and Isabelle, which won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. In 2009 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her book Olive Kitteri...more

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Books by Elizabeth Strout

2008 Short Stories: Olive Kitteridge, N., Harry Potter Prequel, Sammarynda Deep, Exhalation, Shoggoths in Bloom, 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss

Ploughshares at Emerson College Vol. 36, No. 1, Spr. 2010

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Quotes from Amy and Isabelle

“But what could you do? Only keep going. People kept going; they had been doing it for thousands of years. You took the kindness offered, letting it seep as far in as it could go, and the remaining dark crevices you carried around with you, knowing that over time they might change into something almost bearable.” — 13 people liked it

“The evenings grew longer; kitchen windows stayed open after dinner and peepers could be heard in the marsh. Isabelle, stepping out to sweep her porch steps, felt absolutely certain that some wonderful change was arriving in her life. The strength of this belief was puzzling; what she was feeling, she decided, was really the presence of God.” — 5 people liked it

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