The Good That Sorrow Creates by Gabriela

The Good That Sorrow Creates by Gabriela - October 2020 Scholarship Essay

In the year of 2020, with the added stress that the situation in the world has brought on, it has been difficult to find ways to ease our minds and relax. Reading has been a great pass time for me and has helped clear my mind of the negativity in the world. The best book I have read thus far this year is “The Story of Lucy Gault” by William Trevor because of its plot. The disheartening events that occur in the story make for a great read and message to take from it.
This book has been my favorite read of the year because of its unique plot. The book begins by describing a fire that occurred at the house of Lucy. This leads to the need to move houses; which Lucy does not want. She drifts off into the forest because of this but gets lost and hurt. Her parents do not find her and take her for dead, moving to another country to leave the sadness behind. Months after they leave, Lucy is found and goes back home, only to find that her parents are gone and left no trace of where they are at. Years go by and her mother dies never knowing that her daughter was alive. This makes her father return home and find Lucy, but by then she is already a middle-aged woman and are like strangers to each other. Such a sad storyline makes the reader want to read the whole book, hoping for a happy ending.
While reading the book, I kept getting mad at the parents for leaving their daughter without knowing what happened to her. This made me invested in the story, unlike other books which I read and leave no lingering thoughts in my mind. A plot with such a disheartening event makes me more intrigued in the book. Though most people do not like to read something that will make them sad, I enjoyed reading this book because books that are meant to be sad do not make me sad, they just make me mad at the characters. To be able to feel such an emotion from a book means the writer has succeeded in getting the reader’s attention, which they did.
Overall, “The Story of Lucy Gault” by William Trevor is a great book that I would recommend. The loneliness Lucy experiences living in a large house with no parents and only staff makes me appreciate the sense of family I have. It makes me think about what is truly important: family and love. Though her life was quite sorrowful, it allowed for me to learn from her story and want to try to live a life filled with happiness surrounded by loved ones. Her loneliness and lack of purpose are expressed perfectly well in this beautifully written book. A book that makes me think about my own life is a book I like and so this is why this book has been the best one I read this year.