by the NTU Psychology Book Club

We have lots of avid readers here at NTU Psychology, and one of our very first articles shared some psychology-related reading inspiration from across our department. So for those of you that also enjoy a good book – and looking out for the psychology within them – we’re delighted to share our NTU Psychology Book Club’s review of their latest read: Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout.

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Oh William! was a lightning-fast, easy-to-read novel, focusing on the relationship between a man and a woman who are friends despite being long-divorced. Lucy, our narrator, is grieving. William, her first husband, has been having bad dreams featuring his mother. On this alone, one might think that this Booker-nominated story is a prime candidate for psychological review!

The highlights

Lucy Barton, the narrator, gives us observations about William like a diary entry or a stream of thoughts to the reader. This makes the novel very engaging. Her narration features comical self-editing and inflections that convey her personality as an introspective, perhaps naïve, woman trying to understand her ex-husband. There are topics of adultery, parenthood, and loneliness.

“The psychological bit”

Like Lucy, NTU Psychology Book Club enjoyed analysing our impressions of the titular character, William. From one perspective, he is a difficult character to love. He has been a philanderer; approaching love like a multiplayer game, and using women, including Lucy, for his own ends. His actions are uncomfortable, socially unacceptable as an outsider; he shows a “Ludic” or gaming playing approach to love. However, Lucy reveals another perspective to explain this aloof older man; the novel uncovers William’s complex family history, and the love he may have missed as a child. With this we wondered about the impact of attachment styles into adulthood. And finally, the novel gives insight into the dynamics of an American, primarily white, class structure. We watch the characters struggle to navigate between Lucy’s background in extreme poverty, and William’s exorbitant wealth. 

We’d recommend this novel for:

  • A reflection on gender, romantic relationships and power, and which is changing as characters are ageing;
  • unconventional families;
  • a short, sweet book that packs a lot of heart.

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NTU Psychology Book Club are a group who enjoy light-hearted reading, and spotting Psychology in the ‘wild’. We cover and discuss a whole range of topics, genres, authors, and formats of literature, accompanied by a decent slice of cake.