Susanne’s Review:
Actions and Reactions.
Secrets and Lies.
Mothers and Daughters.
Husbands and Wives.
Isabelle Goodrow is a prim and proper woman. To her, appearances are everything. As a mother, she is quite reserved. Her daughter Amy longs for something more.
When Amy finds it, she becomes, shall we say, unfettered.
Amy, entangled with someone older, someone inappropriate, somehow who most certainly should know better.
An awkward situation, discovered. Isabelle beside herself, angry and desperate.
Actions, of course, have ramifications as both Isabelle and Amy soon devise.
Amy and Isabelle are not alone. Many folks in the town of Shirley Falls are keeping secrets of course, and they too suffer the consequences.
Oh, the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter.
Oh, how well Elizabeth Strout delves into the different facets of interpersonal relationships as a whole.
Though “Amy and Isabelle” was not my favorite of Elizabeth Strout’s novels, I enjoyed certain aspects of it and appreciated the complexities of all of the personalities within this book and how each was impacted by the decisions they made. Having read all but one other of Ms. Strout’s novels, I am anxiously awaiting her next release.
Published on Goodreads on 1.3.21
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