Anything is Possible - Fiction Review

Goodreads:  Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Rating: Good
Source: Library (Audio)

Description: Short story collection Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others.

Here are two sisters: one trades self-respect for a wealthy husband while the other finds in the pages of a book a kindred spirit who changes her life. The janitor at the local school has his faith tested in an encounter with an isolated man he has come to help; a grown daughter longs for mother love even as she comes to accept her mother’s happiness in a foreign country; and the adult Lucy Barton (the heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton) returns to visit her siblings after seventeen years of absence.

Genre: Fiction - Short Stories

Why I Picked This Book:  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed her previous book so I really wanted to try this short story collection.

My Impression:  I read My Name is Lucy Barton last year and was surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  It was a fairly quiet book with the focus on getting to know the character that is Lucy Barton.  This is similar but instead of 1 character there are 9 short stories with each one focusing on a different character - all with a connection to Lucy in some way or another.  I thoroughly enjoyed each story and was pulled in quickly.  Some are sad, some are very everyday but in each there's a little bit of sadness and a thread of hope.  Because they were short there was none of the repetitiveness that can happen in a quiet character driven story.  I especially enjoyed seeing what had happened to the "Pretty Nicely" girls as well as the janitor who had been so kind to Lucy when she had been in school.  You don't need to have read Lucy Barton before reading this one but I think it would enhance the experience.  However, while I had read the book I didn't remember all that much about it and still loved this one.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  I absolutely would.  I love how the author mixes hope with sadness.

Would I Recommend this Book?  I would especially if you enjoy short stories.