Durable Goods

 

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

Katie Nash #1

Fiction

1993

Finished on January 7, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

"Sometimes life is so hard and then, bingo, it's like happiness is pushing at your back, waiting to come out your front..."

In the sweltering heat of a Southwestern summer, on a small army base in rural Texas, Katie waits impatiently for her life to change. These are uncertain times--a mix of pleasure and pain, of girlish confusion and adult discovery. Though battered by the recent death of her mother--and by a distant, abusive father driven to near madness by inner pain and rage--Katie's spirit remains miraculously strong. For she knows one day soon she'll be a woman. One day soon she'll understand.

I have now read this debut novel by Elizabeth Berg three times! I was organizing one of my bookcases and realized that I have more than a dozen of Berg's books, most of which I read back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The author's books are comfort reads filled with scenes of everyday life and engaging dialogue. I zipped through Durable Goods in two nights, and enjoyed it even better than the first two times I read it. I guess I'll put it back on my "keeper" bookcase.

Click here to read my previous thoughts on Durable Goods.

Below are links & ratings of all of Berg's books that I've read to date (2026):

Talk Before Sleep (4/5)

Range of Motion (4/5)

The Pull of the Moon (4/5) and (5/5)

Joy School (4/5)

What We Keep (4.5/5)

Until the Real Thing Comes Along (4/5)

Open House (5/5)

Ordinary Life (4.5/5)

Never Change (4.5/5)

True to Form (4/5)

Say When (4.5/5)

The Art of Mending (4/5)

A Year of Pleasures (5/5)

We Are All Welcome Here (3/5)

Dream When You're Feeling Blue (2.5/5)

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted (3.5/5)

Home Safe (4.5/5)

The Last Time I Saw You (2.5/5)

Once Upon a Time, There Was You (2.5/5)

The Story of Arthur Truluv (4/5)

Night of Miracles (5/5)

The Confession Club (2/5)

The Handmaid and the Carpenter (DNF)

My Name Is Lucy Barton

 

My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Amgash, #1

Fiction

2016

Finished on May 26, 2025

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout is cause for celebration. Her bestselling novels, including Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Now, in My Name Is Lucy Barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all — the one between mother and daughter.

 

Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable.

It's been a little less than a decade since I first read My Name Is Lucy Barton. I wrote the following in 2016:

After reading Bellezza's glowing review for My Name Is Lucy Barton, I knew I had to give it a chance, in spite of my disappointment in The Burgess Boys (which I did not finish). I read Amy and Isabelle many years ago, and more recently Olive Kitteridge, both of which I enjoyed quite a bit. I wish I could echo Meredith's praise for this particular book, but it failed to move me, even after listening to the audio, which I started as soon as I finished the print edition. I can't remember the last time I did that, but I really wanted to give it another chance since Meredith loved it so much. My Name Is Lucy Barton was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, BookPage, and LibraryReads. I am obviously in the minority, as I barely gave it an average rating.

I find it so interesting to see how my reaction to a book can differ so significantly from the first time I read it. Not only did I enjoy My Name Is Lucy Barton so well that I read it in two days, but I also enjoyed The Burgess Boys, which I couldn't even finish the first time I tried. I wonder if my deep dive into Elizabeth Strout's works has allowed me to feel more sympathetic toward her characters, many of whom are troubled or come from dysfunctional families. We don't learn specific details about Lucy's father, but her mother is really a piece of work. The vignettes toward the end of the book read like stream-of-consciousness, which required me to stay focused and pay attention. I think when I listened to the audio, my attention drifted more readily. I understand Lucy appears in two more books by Strout, and I'm eager to read those later this year.

Much of the joy of reading Lucy Barton comes from piecing together the hints and half-revelations in Strout’s unsentimental but compelling prose. . . . She reminds us of the power of our stories—and our ability to transcend our troubled narratives. — Connie Ogle, Miami Herald