46 pages 1 hour read

Elizabeth Strout

Oh, William

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Pages 87-167

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 87-105 Summary

Lucy recalls that Catherine organized her and William’s vacations during the early part of their marriage and that she even accompanied them. Lucy found these vacations torturous, as she was uncertain of how to behave on them. Once, she called her family home and confided her despondency to her father. He suggested looking at the scenery.

Lucy meets her daughters at Bloomingdales, and they express their pleasure in her accompanying their father to Maine. Chrissy, who has not become pregnant after her miscarriage, says she will go to a specialist. Lucy is reluctant to pry, as she comes from a Puritan household, where such matters were never discussed. Nevertheless, Lucy reveals that her father’s post-traumatic-stress disorder, caused by WWII, produced “sexual urges in him almost constantly” (93). She breaks off before detailing how these manifested, emphasizing that she loved her father.

Lucy reflects how William is disturbed by his father’s fighting on the Nazis’ side, despite knowing that his father regretted his country’s deeds. Although William’s night-terrors have featured gas-chambers and crematoriums, he also accepted his inherited money from Wilhelm’s father, who got rich from the war. Before her death, Catherine described these funds as “dirty money,” indicating that William should “give it all away” (95).

Related Titles

By Elizabeth Strout

Plot Summary

logo

Amy and Isabelle

Elizabeth Strout

Amy and Isabelle

Elizabeth Strout

Study Guide

logo

Anything Is Possible

Elizabeth Strout

Anything Is Possible

Elizabeth Strout

Study Guide

logo

Lucy by the Sea

Elizabeth Strout

Lucy by the Sea

Elizabeth Strout

Study Guide

logo

My Name is Lucy Barton

Elizabeth Strout

My Name is Lucy Barton

Elizabeth Strout

Study Guide

logo

Olive, Again

Elizabeth Strout

Olive, Again

Elizabeth Strout

Study Guide

logo

Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout

Plot Summary

logo

The Burgess Boys

Elizabeth Strout

The Burgess Boys

Elizabeth Strout