Book Beginnings: Anything Is Possible

Anything Is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, April 2017). I've already posted a quote from this one for Teaser Tuesday, but I'm still reading it — so... here are the opening lines:

Tommy Guptill had once owned a dairy farm, which he'd inherited from his father, and which was about two miles from the town of Amgash, Illinois. This was many years ago now, but at night Tommy still sometimes woke with the fear he had felt the night his dairy farm burned to the ground.

About the Book:

“In Elizabeth Strout’s Anything Is Possible, her stunning follow-up to My Name Is Lucy Barton, a famous author returns to the Midwestern hometown of her childhood, touching off a daisy-chain of stories narrated by those who knew her—memories of trauma and goodwill, resentments small and large, and the ever-widening gulf between haves and have-nots.”—Vogue

My Thoughts:
I read Elizabeth Strout's My Name Is Lucy Barton last year, and had mixed emotions about it. I'm having pretty much the same sort of reaction to this one. Enjoying it, but having some trouble dealing with the disturbingly high level of emotional damage that exists in nearly every one of her characters. After a while, it becomes just a tad exhausting.

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.