Edgar and Lucy

This is a book about love. Love of all kinds: the gentle, confused love the 8-year-old Edgar has for his distracted mother Lucy; the fierce - even eternal - love his grandmother has for him; the impassioned and futile love Lucy carries for her husband as he slides into madness and death; the tragically warped affection a haunted man has for young Edgar; the matter-of-fact, steadfast and loyal love a butcher has for Lucy... all this love shifting, changing, won and lost. This story takes its time, related largely through the eyes of small, wan, perceptive but naive Edgar, but also through the reckless, selfish, impulsive character of his mother Lucy or the devoted if sometimes confused thoughts of Edgar's grandmother, Lucy's bereaved show more mother-in-law. There is dark woe in their stories, gradually unfolded, but Edgar's anxious attempts to understand what is going on around him, behind him, and before him are leavened with poignantly comical misapprehensions. The earnest butcher's courting of the mercurial Lucy is bittersweet. And the writing is wonderful: rich, startling, heartfelt. If you do not swallow hard when Lodato describes Lucy's final understanding about the sorrow of "unspent kindness," it is your own fault, not Lodato's.

That said, this book will not entrance everyone. It is slow-paced, packed with ruminations and descriptions, and some redundancies. There are a couple of sexual encounters rather too overwrought for my taste. Some will not care for the thickly-spread prose; others (like me) will revel in it. The characters are difficult, complicated, by turns irritating (took me a long time to warm up to Lucy) and endearing (Edgar. Period.). But they are deeply human, and now that the book has ended, I miss them. In a world choking on multi-volume pseudo-medieval bloodfests, industrially-produced thrillers, and gaggingly twee mysteries, Lodato's big, dense, loving, humane novel is to be cherished. show less

I really loved this book. Edgar is a young Albino boy with a special connection to his grandmother, Florence. When Florence dies, you fear for Edgar since his mother Lucy is very self centered.
She's definitely had a very difficult life, with an abusive father and then married to a man with mental health issues. While she is desperately trying to get things together after Florence's death, she loses track of what her son needs. I don't want to go into too much detail because that would spoil the flow of this magical story. I read this book not knowing what to expect and I'm glad that I did. Highly recommended.

Eight-year-old Edgar lives with his mother, Lucy, and grandmother. His mother largely ignores Edgar, not knowing what to think of him. His grandmother worships him, catering to his every need. The men in their past are long gone, yet their ghosts are a large part of their home. Edgar's father, Frank, went missing (presumably, he committed suicide, nearly taking Edgar and Lucy with him) when Edgar was a baby. Frank's dissolve into mental illness haunts Lucy, and prevents her from bonding with Edgar.

When Edgar's grandmother dies suddenly, Lucy finds herself unable to care for Edgar or herself properly. Looking for another way to live, Edgar reaches out to a man who seems like a friend and savior, yet has been secretly stalking Edgar for a show more while. Thus begins a period where Edgar goes "missing."

Missing Edgar changes the way Lucy behaves and changes her viewpoint on life. She stops floating through life, finding ways to tether her to reality rather than the disjointed, disorganized, irresponsible life that she lived with Frank and after Frank. Losing Edgar turns Lucy into a real human being, it seems.

While nothing "bad" happens to Edgar during his time with his abductor, it's still not how a little boy's life is meant to be. Is Edgar there willingly, or is he even able to tell what he wants from his life? Is his abductor as mentally ill as his father was - does this man represent what Edgar is looking for from a different life? Should the reader hate the abductor, or appreciate the alternate life and form of love he's giving to Edgar? Are we given enough information from the character to really know what to think?

I really enjoyed the story, though I feel it dragged in parts. I would have given it 5 stars if it would have been edited down better. The reader sympathizes with the abductor more than the mother, which is a weird perspective, yet one that feels right with this story. I received this book from Library Thing. show less

I picked up this book this morning and I couldn't put it down until I finished it, right before midnight.

It's the most lovely book, but also a very sad book. It reminds me of the grandmas and grandpas and my mama and dad, who are long gone, and encourages me that, if I need them and talk to them, they will somehow hear me. It makes me think of beloved pets, too, living and dead, so innocent and loving and living in the moment, as I should always do, and try hard to.

It's a lovely, lovely book and I thank Lodato for writing it.

3.5 From the beginning I just loved Edgar, an eight year old albino boy, the light of his grandmother Florence's eye. Their relationship is so special and tender. His young mother Lucy, scarred by her past and the traumatic death of her husband is not much of a mother and is very self centered. Things will change quickly for our little group and the reader is taken on what is at times an intense emotional journey.

It is a journey in other ways as well, as we learn the back stories of our characters, what made them whom they are now, and why they act the way they do. The characterizations are amazingly thorough and we watch as the present circumstances propel them to change, gain understanding. The first part of the book has a great deal show more of welcome humor and the pace moves quickly. In the second to last section, I felt this changed, the pace slowed and I think some of the scenes added little to the story and served to slow the pace. There are quite a few sexual scenes and graphic language is sometimes a factor. I didn't like Lucy in the beginning, felt sorry for her when I learned her story but it wasn't until the end that I embraced her as a character. I loved the Butcher who will play an integral part in the positive change that will eventually envelop our characters. I did feel, that Edgar at age eight acted more grownup then most of the adult people in his life.

The ending was wonderful, an emotional relief after the roller coaster of our journey and the last chapter is perfect. Think this is a book to enter into with the mindset that while at times the reading is difficult, it is the journey that matters. If you take little Edgar into your heart you will want to know how he fares after everything he goes through. I did.

ARC from Netgalley. show less

What an incredible novel! It is heartrending! Damaged souls, an albino, Aspbergers- burdened boy, a pathological grief-stricken father crazed by guilt, and a grandmother desperate too protect the boy in life and after death. It took a little while to be clear on the family characters and their relationships, and then I could not put it down. How would this group of dysfunctional beings find resolution? Read it to find out. Beautifully written, great characters, and a plot that is beautifully crafted. The primary themes grief, child abduction, and imperfect love. Outstanding, if a tad disturbing!

It takes a while for this book to build up - I was a little confused about where the story was going for a while, and then the plot slowly revealed itself. I liked the book plenty, but I just didn't love it. Edgar is a good character and his youth makes him easy to like, but Lucy, who struggles to get by and be a mother, is a much harder character to empathize with, although by the conclusion I had developed a real sympathy for her. Parts of this book make for hard reading and I can see why it earned so many high profile fans.