**Elizabeth Strout** reads from her latest novel, _My Name is Lucy Barton_, joined in conversation by fellow author **Brock Clarke**. _My Name is Lucy Barton_ tells the story of a mother-daughter relationship more complicated than it appears at the surface. While protagonist Lucy Barton recovers from a simple operation, her estranged mother visits her in the hospital. The two women connect over gossip from the town where Lucy grew up, but soon they uncover the tensions that have strained their relationship for much of Lucy's life. Strout writes from Lucy's point of view, crafting an observant, unforgettable, and deeply human voice. (Photo © Leonard-Cendamo.)
Elizabeth Strout is the author of *Abide with Me*, a national bestseller and Book Sense pick, and *Amy and Isabelle*, which won* the Los Angeles Times* Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and *the Chicago Tribune* Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including *The New Yorker* and *O: The Oprah Magazine*. She is on the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and lives in New York City.
Brock Clarke is the author of six novels, his latest work being \_The Happiest People in the World\_ (2014). He currently lives in Portland, Maine, and teaches creative writing at Bowdoin College and in University of Tampa's low residency MFA program.