The Burgess Boys
A Novel
-
-
4.0 • 898 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton comes “a portrait of an American community in turmoil that’s as ambitious as Philip Roth’s American Pastoral but more intimate in tone” (Time).
“What truly makes Strout exceptional . . . is the perfect balance she achieves between the tides of story and depths of feeling.”—Chicago Tribune
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Good Housekeeping
Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride.
But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed the brothers’ relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.
This edition includes an original essay by Elizabeth Strout about the origins of The Burgess Boys.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Strout's follow-up to her 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner Olive Kitteridge links a trio of middle-aged siblings with a group of Somali immigrants in a familiar story about isolation within families and communities. The Burgesses have troubles both public and secret: sour, divorced Susan, who stayed in the family's hometown of Shirley Falls, Maine, with her teenage son Zachary; big-hearted Bob, who feels guilty about their father's fatal car accident; and celebrity defense lawyer Jim, who moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. When Zachary hurls a bloody pig's head into a Somali mosque during Ramadan, fragile connections between siblings, the Somalis, and other Shirley Falls residents are tested. Jim's bullish meddling into Zach's trial hurts rather than helps, and Susan's inability to act without her brothers' advice cements her role as the weakest link (and least interesting character). Finally, when Jim's neurotic wife, Helen, witnesses the depth of her husband's indifference and Bob's ex-wife, Pam, finds the security of her new life in Manhattan tested by nostalgia for Shirley Falls, Zach's fate and that of the Somalis becomes an unfortunate afterthought. Strout excels in constructing an intricate web of circuitous family drama, which makes for a powerful story, but the familiarity of the novel's questions and a miraculously disentangled denouement drain the story of depth.
Customer Reviews
Beautiful character study
I liked this book very much. It ends abruptly after all the depth Ms Strout wove into the story—that was a little disconcerting. But as with all of Elizabeth’s books, I felt warmth and comfort getting to know these characters, and I hope to hear from some of them again.
Took a chance
This book was an unexpected pleasure to read. Terrific character development and a story well told. I will definately look into her other books, as this was the first I had read by her.
Good read
My second read of Elizabeth Strout
Good story
I too would say, I want to sit with Elizabeth Strout and have a cup of coffee.
In her writing, I again can absolutely hear her voice telling this story.