The Size of My View

(The Story of Lucy Gault review)

Ordinary life is the hardest thing to depict in fiction of any kind because it is, for the most part, uneventful. We live our lives from day-to-day stuck in the sleep of habit. Of course, great events can happen and impact our world, but even if they do, life goes on as normal most of the time, even if altered. William Trevor’s The Story of Lucy Gault (2002) understands this to a painful degree. In a story that spans the bulk of the 20th century in 228 pages, the characters live through great events, but are largely not affected by them. The novel can be read on a political level, but lacking the knowledge of the social history of Ireland, I chose not to and took the story at face value as both heartbreaking and healing in its ordinariness.

The novel is difficult to review without spoiling it. Of course, I could tell you what happens, but the jacket copy for the book is sparse for a reason. This is the kind of novel that works best without any kind of advance knowledge, you should let it unfold out before you just like life. But I will do a summary of the early pages.

County Cork Ireland 1921: the protestant Anglo-Irish Gault family have had a privileged existence for generations, but after an attempted arson attack on the family estate, Captain Everard Gault decides to move with his English wife Heloise and nine-year-old daughter Lucy to England fearing for their safety. Lucy being nine years old is distraught and cannot bear the thought of leaving, so on the day of the move she decides to make a show of running away to convince her parents to stay, but…

And now I must say nothing more except that the events that transpire will affect the Gaults and the people in their community for their entire lifetimes. I wish I could tell you more, but the joy of the novel is in the unexpected.

Actually, I’m going to stop this review right here. What more can I say when the book speaks for itself? The Story of Lucy Gault is easily among the best books I have read all year.

Patrick Paul Barrett