Elizabeth Strout | Book Chatter

Lucy by the Sea
By Elizabeth Strout
Random House, 9780593446089, September 2023, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

Strout’s books are like a warm, comforting hug.

The Rest of It:

The COVID pandemic is just ramping up and as the world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton leaves her life in Manhattan for a small town in Maine. With her? Her ex-husband-friend, William. William insists that she leave town with him. NYC is too crowded, too dangerous to wait out the lockdowns. Lucy at first feels that William is overreacting but then settles into their decision to go off the grid, so to speak.

This is my third Strout book and let me tell you, I am really liking her writing. It’s quiet, and thoughtful and falls into a genre that I completely made up. I call it “episodic domesticity”. As they learn to live together once again in this tiny place, we are invited into their daily routines, their innermost thoughts about family, politics, the pandemic, the locals in town. I love the minutiae of everyday life.

As the pandemic ramps up, the tension does too. To say that Lucy is unsettled is an understatement. She worries about their adult daughters. Are they doing well? Taking care of themselves? She considers her friends and how the are doing. Loneliness sets in. Yes, she has William but William is a man of few words and yes at times, she feels quite lonely.

This story is filled with fear and isolation but also hope. In these quiet moments, Lucy comes to terms with who she is and who she wants to be. Strout is so good at setting the tone and creating likable characters. Lucy is a person I’d love to meet. She feels that real.

One note, I listened to part of this on audio and I did not feel that the reader captured Lucy well. The image that I had of her in my head did not at all match the voice that I was hearing. That said, I’d stick to print but I highly recommend Strout’s books.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Tell Me Everything
By Elizabeth Strout
Random House, 9780593446096, September 10, 2024, 352 pp.

The Short of It:

This story is like coming home.

The Rest of It:

It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William.

I never read the Olive Kitteridge books, but I did read and review My Name Is Lucy Barton. Tell Me Everything revisits all of those characters and I loved it. The added bonus of a murder investigation made it a little different and added a bit of depth to this pleasant story.

Lucy and Bob continue to explore their friendship. They are very close, and often read each other’s minds with just a look or sigh. Their walks gain importance and meaning and much is said and not said each time they meet. It’s a time for them to honestly share their feelings and regrets but to Bob, it’s almost an impossible friendship. Can it be more? Should it be more? Lucy is with William and he is with his wife. They begin to walk a very thin line.

Lucy, an accomplished writer finally meets Olive, who is residing in a retirement home and lives for the stories she tells, stories of her life, the interactions she’s had with people, and what she observes on a daily basis. At first, Olive isn’t all that impressed with Lucy but as their visits increase, Lucy and Olive look forward to their time together. Story telling is such a cozy way to get to know a person and both Lucy and Olive can tell a story. Olive can be a little grouchy and her internal thoughts, shared with us, can be a little snide or even cruel at times but mildly so. She is a character!

Then comes the murder investigation. A woman has died and her adult son is the main suspect. He’s pretty much lived in isolation his entire life. Caring for his mother and not much else. His sister asked for Bob’s help because it’s not looking good for him and she has nowhere else to turn. Bob takes the case and spends much of his days pondering this man’s life. How he’s suffered, quietly, staying to himself. No friends really. No social life at all. It gives Bob food for thought. How should a man live?

Tell Me Everything explores many things, but mostly what it means to be a true friend, even if it means possibly letting that person go. These are all good people, doing the best they can, exploring love and loyalty and how it impacts their future.

Highly recommend. Now that I’ve met Olive myself I need to read those other books.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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