Lucy Crown is a novel by Irwin Shaw first published in 1956. It is about a wife and mother—the eponymous character—who, in the summer of 1937, begins an affair with a young man whom the Crowns have hired as a companion for their fragile son Tony.
Lucy Crown's deliberate act of infidelity and betrayal, which is witnessed by Tony, leads to the disintegration of her marriage and complete estrangement from her son. Only a chance meeting with Tony in a bar in Paris, France in the 1950s leads to a partial reconciliation of mother and son. Lucy learns that Tony is married with a son and actually living in Paris as an artist. She immediately sees through his façade and realizes that, while keeping up appearances, he is leading an unhappy life. Together they visit his father's grave in the small French village where he was shot by a sniper during World War II.
Famous quotes containing the words lucy and/or crown:
“No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;
She dwelt on a wide moor,
MThe sweetest thing that ever grew
Beside a human door!”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“So much of the trouble is because I am a woman. To me it seems a very terrible thing to be a woman. There is one crown which perhaps is worth it all—a great love, a quiet home, and children. We all know that is all that is worthwhile, and yet we must peg away, showing off our wares on the market if we have money, or manufacturing careers for ourselves if we haven’t.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)