The Things We Never Say

by Elizabeth Strout

Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout’s new novel tells the story of a chance incident that sparks a powerful realization in a beloved teacher’s life—a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, parenthood, and the importance of truth in a capsizing world.

Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.

Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Family Drama, Adult Fiction, Adult

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 5, 2026

About the author

Elizabeth Strout is the author of several novels, including: Abide with Me, a national bestseller and BookSense pick, and Amy and Isabelle, which won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. In 2009 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her book Olive Kitteridge. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including The New Yorker. She teaches at the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens University of Charlotte.

Reviews

[Susan's Reviews]

I was so excited to see this new title on NetGalley! I love Elizabeth Strout! I'd read her grocery list if they published it, honest! Fingers crossed that I can get an ARC of The Things We Never Say!!!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It will always be a source of frustration for me that I can love Elizabeth Strout's writing so much but spectacularly fail to explain why.

[Carol Scheherazade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved Elizabeth Strout’s writing for the way she captures the human condition with such clarity and compassion. Her books are consistently thought-provoking and remarkably perceptive about what it means to be human. This one was especially beautiful. It felt as though she had been quietly observing all of us over the past several years, taking notes and then shaping those insights into the story. It is timely, deeply emotional, and profoundly relatable. It is obvious she is the master of the human condition, and I look forward to many more books by this author.

[Kristine]

I just heard this book is coming out next year, May 2026. I have been meaning to read Elizabeth Strout’s books for a long time. Maybe, start with this One. Definitely, interested.

[Chris Chanona · Rating 5 out of 5]

How I love Elizabeth Strout’s writing. Once again I became totally involved with the lives of her characters, especially iof the main character Artie Dam. This time, the lives of her characters are set against the looming threat of the presidential election which has actually now happened although Trump is not actually mentioned by name. There is a lot of fear at the heart of this novel. Anxieties. But don’t let this put you off for, as always, her writing is spot on, every word counts. I whizzed through this novel and was so disappointed when it came to the finish. I could’ve carried on reading of her world.

Another triumph for Elizabeth Strout. I recommend this very, very highly. I received an ARC from the publishers and NetGalley.. this did not sway my opinion as I have read everything that this author has written and really enjoyed every novel.

[Ayelet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So lovely and wonderful. Love Strout’s writing and loved loved Artie!!!

[Kimberlin Whitsitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I’m not going to be able to stop talking about this book!

I loved the message and the story and the characters! We don’t ever truly know the full extent of people’s lives and stories and why they are the way that they are. Our perception is only what they want us to see. I love the people that Artie found comfort in. Anne, his son Rob, his girlfriend and his best friend Ken. 🥹 Artie’s wife really made me mad and her character drove me nuts but I think she drove Artie nuts too. 😂

I love Artie and his students that he impacted so much! This was full of so much real life and there were times I was in tears. I can’t wait until this book comes out so I can yap about it more!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But mostly we travel through life unsighted, grasping only the smallest details of another's selves, including our own. Thinking all the while that we can see." Artie Dam, the center of Strout's newest novel, is a high school teacher, a husband, a father, a sailor. In late middle age, Artie grapples with the fact that he doesn't really know or understand many of the people closest to him, including his wife and son. Profound secrets and hidden feelings define him, and his relationships, and are the preoccupation of his days. Strout's beautiful, powerful prose illuminates the loneliness of the human condition, and the deep connections that define us.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly sad

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I started I couldn’t put it down. I don’t know any of the characters, unlike her other books and yet they are so familiar. I know no other author who writes like this and pulls me in so quickly. I wanted to inhale the book.

The book starts with Artie Damm a teacher in America. I did consider whether I wanted to read a book set in America just before the recent election but I’ve read all her other books so trusted her. I think the book is about how even when we are close to people we can struggle to actually know what is happening for them in their lives and even when we do know we can struggle to communicate with them. That keeping details of our lives from others can build a gap that is very difficult to over come.

As with all her books there are conversations about politics which I think is important and even though I think she wrote this close to the current situation I don’t think even she could imagine where America is right now.
There is a few mentions of suicide which could be triggering for some along with death. I don’t think anyone reads an Elizabeth Strout book expecting an easy ride and yet I think I always feel safe and held by her writing, there is such kindness and compassion that I feel I can manage the places she goes to. I deal with a lot of distress in my job and tend to like escapism in my fiction but somehow her writing is different and whilst emotionally challenging it feels not draining but cathartic.

The parts of the book where Artie goes into the shop, his relationships with his son and students were especially moving. I found his wife terrified me and really saddened me.

I was always a prolific reader but whilst I was ill I got stuck reading Bridgerton, nothing wrong with that but I’d read them all over and over again and just couldn’t break into a new author. A colleague, who was a family therapist suggested Elizabeth Strout and I started with Olive Kitterage and was just hooked. I went from fantasy and historical romance to, for me, pretty gritty writing with stories that included sad details of people’s relationships and lives. Yet it absolutely sparked my love of reading again. I’d struggled with her last book and hadn’t read it a second time but I wonder if it’s because I struggle so much with saying good bye and it was billed as the end of those character’s arcs.

I read this book so quickly, initially just wanting to read a few pages but not being able to put it down. Staying up until late at night and finding the ending so moving and so perplexing. I will reread and I know I will see other things, think other things and feel other things. Right as I finish it I have a lump in my throat and wish I was still within the book. As will all of her books the characters feel so real, written with such understanding and compassion. It’s hard to read at this point in America’s history and I guess that’s the point.

I hope that the author continues to write and I can continue to read because I truly think she is the best author I have ever read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for my consideration, this is all my own rambling, honest and personal opinion. I think out of all the ARCs I have ever had this is the one that made me the most excited and I’m expecting to try really hard to buy a signed hardback, hopefully in my local book shop because I have all her other books.

[Lucy Ellis-Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout is a beautiful, deeply humane novel and a powerful exploration of what makes us human. I adored the characters of Artie and his son Rob, and the way Strout so gently examines kindness, empathy, friendship, fear, anxiety, grief, and the secrets we carry.

She captures how we don’t always present our true selves to the world and how everyone is struggling with something beneath the surface. In my opinion, this book is Strout putting into words how so many people are feeling today, living in a polarised and fractured society.

Her writing is lyrical, insightful, and emotionally breathtaking. It made me sigh out loud; sometimes with relief, sometimes with surprise, devastation, sadness, or longing.  Elizabeth Strout is my favourite author, and once again, I was completely absorbed, consistently engaged, and reluctant for the book to end. I was fortunate to read a free advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

Finishing it left me feeling grateful I’d read it, but also quietly bereft; that familiar ache that comes at the end of a truly special book.

[Sara]

Many life we live in same one
chang the page by our hand
power take over our history line
work to peace
to deapth of creat
to mark our days by love
lonily hold our words
hunt our future and past
our war make it daily fight
win over many difficult
gd exprince nt make it true
life rule our time
depth make us more lonily without love
justic of share word
love

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

That Mr. Dam had turned and asked her how she was that day as she moved down the hallway was—Rhonda Lazarre would always believe this—when she decided she would become a minister, even if she had not fully understood it at that moment. But as these things happen, she carried with her that memory and connected it to the future, and it was a good future for her; she understood more and more as she got older that she had helped people, people like she had been, awkward, scared, lonely, and people also like the other girls in her class had been, popular and pretty and suffering—as she found out through her career—from terrible pains and fears of their own. God bless Mr. Dam. So blind we humans are—so blind. To each other and to ourselves, moving through life as though through shadows, putting out a hand in the dark and thinking we have touched someone. And maybe we have, as Artie did with Rhonda Lazarre that day. But mostly we travel through life unsighted, grasping only the smallest details of one another’s selves, including our own. Thinking all the while that we can see.

 
Pulitzer Prize winner, international bestseller Elizabeth Strout is known and loved particularly for her Oliver Kitteridge and Lucy Barton series of books – which converged (along not just with her other beloved character Bob Burgess, but actually characters from all her books in her previous two novels – the Covid-set Booker shortlisted “Lucy By The Sea” (2022) (which also dealt with the first Trump presidency) and her Women’s Prize shortlisted “Tell Me Everything” (2024).
 
She said at the time that it was to be her last novel with that series of characters and indeed this, due to published later in 2026, not just has a new central and I suspect one-off character but is set, as a delightful easter egg makes clear, in a world where Strout herself is an author and her previous characters fictional.
 
And that in itself is telling as this is perhaps her most real world-centred and political novel, while retaining the charm and empathy of the novels that have won her so many fans.
 
The novel’s main protagonist is Artie Dam, a veteran Massachusetts based 11th grade high school history teacher (affectionately known as Damn-dam by his pupils) and one time school soccer coach whose two key techniques are asking the students to write about anything the day they start class and then later to learn about the Civil War by taking on the role of a real historical American Civil War solider or nurse.
 
Early on though we already together with Artie get the sense that things have changed – the pandemic (and I would assume lockdown) has made them anxious and taciturn; later US politics and divisions start to enter his classroom not least when some parents start to complain that the pupils are not allowed to be confederate soldiers.  Artie particularly interacts with two of his pupils – the “unfortunate looking” bullying victim Rhona who develops a crush on Artie for his care for her, and one of her persecutors Danny who Artie initially confronts but then also tries to encourage as a chance encounter with Danny’s father explains much of Danny’s torment.
 
Artie lives with his wife of 30+ years Evie who was from a much richer background than him (Artie’s father a supervisor/janitor, his mother suffering with mental illness, his deceased sister with nerves before her death in childbirth), the two living in her large family home on an ocean private road from where Artie indulges in his gentle passion of sailing.
 
And here too we sense everything has changed in an unsettling way also – Evie and he increasingly seem to talk past each other.  Artie is sad about the departure of a long term friend Flossie (with who he had a jovial relationship) after the death of her husband – to go and live closer to her daughter with who she has an unsettled relationship.  Artie hated Flossie’s retired math professor husband Reginald; whereas Evie struggled with the “too much” Flossie but seemed to respect Reginald.  Meanwhile Artie and Evie’s son Rob (with who Artie seems to have drifted apart since a tragic accident years before when Rob lost control of his car and killed his girlfriend in not entirely explained circumstances) visits unexpectedly and announces he is breaking off with his concert pianist wife – although his new girlfriend who initially his parents find a better match – seems to have kleptomaniac tendencies. 
 
And Artie too has a secret – he is feeling strangely suicidal.
 
All of this is told with Artie, as I said, as main character but very much in the voice of a deliberately  omniscient narrator – privy to (and sharing with us) the private thoughts and secrets of each of the characters, as well as their feelings for and reactions to each other, and in many cases briefly explaining incidents or fates that will occur to them in the years to come.
 
Because the very explicit conceit of the novel – as captured in its title – is the way in which we know so little about each others deepest feelings, motivations and secrets and also how little we actually share about those with others.

And of course cleverly it is a deliberate contrary to the title of her last book bringing together all her characters - as Lucy and Olive swap stories about the lives of others in Tell Me Everything.
 
And as the novel progresses – firstly a sailing accident causes Artie to re-examine his plans and then a shock revelation (if I can be permitted a pun) unmoors him altogether.
 
If there is a second lesson of this often deeply moving novel it is the importance of small acts of kindness and their long lasting it often entirely invisible to the giver, impact on the lives of the recipients.
 
But if there is a second aspect to the novel it’s the creeping impact of the dysfunctional US political system and in the novels last pages it takes a mildly future-dystopian turn.
 
Overall I think this might be Strout’s finest novel to date. Perhaps I think too conventional for this year’s Booker panel but a second Pulitzer or first National Book Award (or 2027 Women’s Prize) is a possibility.
 
Highly recommended.
 
My thanks to Viking, Penguin General UK for an ARC via NetGalley

[Mana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Strout has a way of making regular existence feel almost divine while also being unpleasant. Here, she gives us Artie Dam, a high school history teacher who’s somehow managed to blend into the background of his own life. He sails around Massachusetts Bay, shows up at the usual holiday parties with his wife of thirty years, and goes through the motions. But deep down, he can’t shake the sense that most of what passes for connection is just people politely guessing at each other. Then a long-buried secret pops up, and Artie finally sees it: he’s not just a bystander to everyone else’s silence. He’s been building his own walls for years.

Artie’s changes sneak up on you, which is classic Strout. There’s no dramatic breakdown, no big Hollywood moment. Instead, it’s this slow, awkward process, like he’s peeling off a skin that never really fit. Watch him with his students, and you’ll notice he’s warmer with them than he is honest with himself. The people around him, his wife, his neighbors, they aren’t painted as villains. Strout sketches them with this sharp, kind eye. They’re just folks who’ve agreed to keep things simple for decades, even if that means keeping some doors locked.

What really stands out is how Strout zeroes in on the gap between what we say and what we actually mean. It hits especially hard now, when everyone’s sharing everything online but still dodging the messy truths underneath it all. She gets that tired feeling you get from keeping up a front. The story isn’t just about grief; it’s about how it can lurk in a room for years, ignored but heavy as ever. The book keeps circling back to this idea: the real mysteries aren’t in history books. They’re sitting across the table from you, quietly waiting to be noticed.

Strout's style is sleek and rhythmic, eliminating the superfluous embellishments that sometimes clog literary fiction. The rhythm of her sentences matches the way your mind works when you’re trying not to think about something painful. The tone stays calm and clear-eyed. Some people might wish the story moved faster, but honestly, the slow pace is what makes Artie’s realization feel so heavy. There’s no neat ending here, either. The book leaves you with the kind of messy understanding that real life hands out; nothing tied up, nothing easy.

Strout captures the unique loneliness that comes with being known but not truly seen in Artie. The story sticks with you. It made me look at my own long-standing relationships and wonder what is being left unsaid for the sake of peace. The book is a reminder that secrets are heavy, even when they are kept with good intentions. You might find yourself wanting to have a tough conversation with someone you love after finishing the final page.

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artie Dam is a character I won’t forget in a hurry. A teacher in a Massachusetts high school, Artie is only a few years from retirement. A kinder, more compassionate man you will not find anywhere.

He ruminates often about such profound questions like “What is free will?,” he wonders about his friends, what they discuss and importantly, what they don’t.

Artie really does care about his students, he has this wonderful knack and ability to get through to this tricky cohort of troublemakers. I love him.

Strout, nails this male character beautifully. As a man of the same vintage as Artie, I can vouch for that. He loves his free time, his hobby (sailing), his family – son and wife, friends, with all his heart. Love comes easy to this man.

But Artie is a bit sad, he's also lonely. Again, Strout knows this – knows how to explain it, from a male perspective. There are things in his life, and the lives of those dearest to him that are often embroiled in things that aren’t said. It’s a charade at times. Living a lie.

This story happens under the dark, pernicious cloud of the election win of the current POTUS. The uncertainty and fear this brought the people, or many or most of the US’s populace.

There was one moment in this book where I choked, teared up. An Angry, often disruptive lad in Artie's class, it was revealed, really understood Shakespeare. Artie learned this from one of the other teachers – Artie kept this young lad back after school, this rough boy, this angry young man – and Artie asked him, “tell me about Shakespeare.” And when the boy started......that’s when I cried. I didn’t bawl like a baby, but my throat performed those involuntary spasms, air was expelled, I grunted spontaneously. This scene – I found to be incredibly emotional, profoundly so.

See Strout got this reader to the stage of knowing the boy, even caring about this young pain in the arse – so when the lad talked about Othello and Hamlet and the genius of Shakespeare it made my heart melt. Now that is what this author does, Strout has always done this - all day, everyday day.

This book encapsulates a small snapshot of a very ordinary life. Typical Strout fare if you like. She does this in such an intimate way, such an uncomplicated way, suddenly the reader feels part of the story.

I miss Artie already.

5 Stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Ms Strout for providing me with an advance cope in exchange for my review.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top Read for 2026 - incredibly powerful

"Why don't people ever say anything real?" ..."And now he knew why. Because to say anything real was to say things nobody wanted to know. Or I they wanted to know, they would not care in the right way. Or even understand."

A new Elizabeth Strout book is always something to look forward- over the last two decades she has tapped into the human condition and crated some of the most memorable literary characters of recent times.

The Things We Never Say has a slight different feel- as ever, the depth and understanding of human emotions within the principle character Artie is so palpable to feel that he is sitting with you. But this has a sense that Elizabeth Strout need to write this novel as a part of a cathartic process to try and make sense of the rapid and often confusing changes in the world today.

Artie Dam is a high school teacher who cares profoundly for his students- a man of the old-school who had time for each and everyone around him but all is not well. His equilibrium is changing - trying to comprehend how and why national changes are occurring and the long term effect of the young people he supports. After a near death experience, Artie is told a family secret that brings into question who he is and how we all never truly reveal everything of ourselves to one another; the unspoken truths and lies.

As the story progresses, your heart aches for Artie and a deeper realisation hits as a reader that where will the Artie's of the world be in the future - how will they survive the turmoil of politics and the ever increasing demise of humanity with the rise of technology manipulating and controlling all?

The two student characters - Rhonda Lazarre and Danny Marino need a future novel.

This could be construed as a 'dark/depressing' as so may alarm bells are rung - but actually Elizabeth Strout has produced a masterpiece that forces the reader to reflect upon how we all need to come together to challenge, question, support and show that kindness should be the winner and not relegated to the past as we all feel a sense of losing control in a world of insanity.

A novel of our times written by one of the planet's consummate contemporary storytellers. Superb.

Thank you to Viking publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

" His students continued to move him deeply, partly now because he felt that he was delivering them to an unsafe world."

"But mostly we travel through life unsighted, grasping only the smallest details of one another's selves, including our own. Thinking all the while that we can see.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books entertain, some books inform and others, like this one, cause you to pause and review the life you’ve lived in a new light.

Artie is a teacher, a really good teacher - and an all round good guy. Everybody seems to think so. But in his life he’s had his share of tragedy and these days, for reasons he doesn’t fully understand, he’s having suicidal thoughts. He’s been married to Evie for over thirty years and they still get along well. She’s from a wealthy background, unlike Artie. And this weighs on him a little. They live in Evie’s large inherited New England house. It’s by the water and Archie keeps his boat moored nearby. He loves sailing, which he mainly does alone.

The book explores Artie’s inner thoughts, his relationships with people he regularly interacts with (including his wife and only son), as well as his fears for his country as the upcoming vote, resulting in the re-election of Trump, approaches. He’s not a fan! But then everything is thrown into the air by two events: an accident and an astonishing surprise. Suddenly he’s having to re-evaluate everything in his life - his past, his present and his future.

It’s a piece to make you think, and perhaps to re-evaluate your own life. It’s not a particularly cheery tale - though there are light and uplifting moments - but it’s most certainly brilliantly conceived and executed. I’ll be seeking out more books from this hugely gifted writer.

My thanks to Penguin for providing an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[SueLucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of Elizabeth Strout’s novels and never been disappointed by the quality of her writing and her empathy with her characters and their lives. I feel she has surpassed herself this time round. Everything I have enjoyed before is still there in spades but she surprised me by her outraged political take on events in her and her characters’ country. But then these are unprecedented times in America and things need saying.

Artie is a joy. I was rooting for him throughout the unsettling twists and turns he experiences. I found his relationship with his son and daughter-in-law and the way it evolves deeply moving. He is a teacher who treats his students with respect and teaches them to respect that others have difficulties in their lives that are not always immediately apparent. Danny and Rhonda could so easily have accepted failure where Artie ensured they did not. The snapshot of these two at the end of the novel is especially poignant.

In his study of history, he had learned about the leaders, and the various groups involved, but he had somehow missed this fact about every single person: that they held within themselves a vast, unknowable universe.

A perfect novel for me and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. No need to have read any of her previous work but there is a wealth of back catalogue out there to enjoy.

With thanks to Penguin via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

[Laura Spira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have friends who share my literary tastes and are huge fans of Elizabeth Strout's work so I always start reading her books hopefully but I am generally disappointed and left feeling sad for no obvious reason. Her books have often reminded me of the early work of Anne Tyler, which I loved, but there has always been something missing.

With this new book, I have realised what it is: humour. Strout's characters lack humour. There is certainly laughter in this book. The central character, Artie, shares jolly meals with his widowed friend where they laugh a lot but that laughter becomes the sort of superficial type that covers an essential sadness.

Artie is a fundamentally good person, like many of Strout's characters, who suffers bad experiences, sometimes due to making bad choices but often through circumstances beyond his control. As I read, I hoped that I would have some sympathy for him but it wasn't easy. His slowly repairing relationship with his son was touching, as was his new friendship with the man who saves him for drowning in a freak accident. Artie is a fine, committed teacher and his impact on two troubled students is important. But, even beyond these life-affirming relationships, ultimately he is sad and this is an unremittingly sad story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time spent with Elizabeth Strout is always joyful, although her stories may not be. I find that she holds such mastery at compressing the human condition into small day to day interchanges between characters, each flawed in their own way. Grief resonating beneath every surface. Ennui and state of the (American) nation trickle through the novel by human interaction - the spoken and the unspoken.

Small town living. Artie Dam is a school history teacher who is cut from a different cloth. He teaches with respect, he inspires whilst unravelling within. He sees things in his students that others pass by, yet he really doesn't see what is in front of him elsewhere. As he negotiates life he comes to realise how little we know those close to us. Subjects we avoid rather than risk conflict whilst feeling deeply about individual cruelties and the Trump polarity (which mirrors Britain during Brexit).

I love how the author drills down into what defines us, our own truths, internal struggles and family clashing with new information. Creating and blurring family dynamics. It gave me everything I want from a novel, as Strout regularly does.....daily life going on whilst we forge a fully rounded relationship with our protagonist.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #Viking for the opportunity to read and review

[Jackie Murrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth Strout, and much as I love Olive Kitteridge, Lucy Barton and Bob Burgess, was beyond excited to read that her new book features completely new characters. I was not disappointed. It was pure pleasure to make the acquaintance of Artie Dam, an inspirational history teacher who finds, towards the end of his life, that things have not always been as they seemed, and America is changing in ways that disturb and alarm him. As always, the writing is beautiful, and the characters come alive from the page through small details about their actions and personalities. Common Strout themes are found again here- loneliness, family, love, death, class- and this is also her most political novel yet, with her fears for her country clear. Yet still there is a strong sense of hope and of joy, especially in the portrayal of the teenagers in Artie’s favourite class, who he encourages to aim high in their futures, and with whom he really makes a difference. It is a short book, and I tried to eke it out by rationing how much I read at a time because I was loving it so much, but I was drawn back in!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone expecting a further gentle instalment of life in Crosby, Maine, with her much loved characters Lucy Barton or Olive Kitteridge is in for a shock. This is an excoriating and damning indictment of the US "committing suicide" as a result of the last election result.
Strout uses character Artie Dam, a popular and lauded teacher, to confront topics of loneliness, desperation, loss of control, and anger at the way the world is changing.
Artie is a beautifully constructed character. He doesn't believe he is intellectual or particularly special, but the way he teaches and mentors his pupils is beautiful to read, as is the way he copes with a potentially devastating discovery.
I am particularly haunted by the lesson he teaches his students about the world wars. Explaining about Nazi Germany, he's asked why there wasn't more resistance or protests. He tells the students there was resistance, but Hitler's rise to dominance was extremely fast: he had changed the government in just one month and 3 weeks. The world was never the same again. The significance of this is not called out, but there's no doubting the intention and its application to today's world.

[Kristen Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favorite authors, and I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Things We Never Say from Netgalley. Strout gives us characters are that are just real, regular people. The message here is that we really don't know what's going on in other peoples lives AND their minds, and some people are just a lot more fragile than they may outwardly seem. I really loved Artie, and his son, Rob. There are a lot of unlikeable characters in this book, just as we all have unlikable people in our lives. I love Strout's writing style (it's like you're having a cup of coffee with her in a cozy cafe and she's just talking with you). The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because I felt such a sense of sadness when I finished reading it. So much infidelity, so many people truly unhappy, the timely description of what is happening in our country right now.. I know we can't always have happy endings, but it is something that I personally appreciate in the books I choose to read. Of course, I will gobble up ANYTHING Elizabeth Strout writes.

[Kate Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As many people do, Artie and Evie have suffered a tragedy." Elizabeth Strout has a remarkable gift for creating quirky, deeply human characters and getting straight to emotional truth—saying what we all feel, but with far greater eloquence and a signature dry humor. Things We Never Say is the kind of novel that lingers long after the final page, something I’ve found true of all her books.

Artie and his son stayed in my heart, their thoughts and feelings ringing achingly true. I found Evie more difficult to embrace at first, though she grew on me as the story unfolded and Strout dug deeper into her pain. This novel leads you straight into the characters’ loneliness and the complicated ties that bind us. As one line captures so starkly: “I did not want to die, I just did not want to live.”

Things We Never Say is a deep, emotionally demanding read that requires the right state of mind—one willing to confront what is broken, painful, and unresolved in today’s world. I found it well worth the heartache, offering insight and honesty about the truths of our relationships. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Strout and readers who enjoy authors such as Ann Patchett, Richard Russo, and Celeste Ng.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheThingsWeNeverSay #NetGalley

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw another reviewer express their frustration that they can neither understand nor adequately express why Elizabeth Strout's writing means so much to them. I've felt that in the past, and I felt it again reading The Things We Never Say. I also asked myself (again) how the author says so much in books that are so small (on my IPad, this was a mere 142 pages). And let me tell you, I almost cried when I got to the epilogue and realized my time with Artie Dam was nearly over. As a book lover, I often like to say that books make the world better. And that is certainly true with this book--while I have many, many thoughts upon finishing this book, a predominant thought is that we have to honor and savor the things, people, moments that bring beauty into such an ugly world. Thank you for writing this book, Elizabeth Strout--reading it was a gift, especially when everything is so hard right now and ugliness seems to surround us. Thank you also Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for the privilege to read this book prior to it's release.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with other books I have read by Strout, this is well written with compelling characters that come together in a thought-provoking story of human relationships, modern America, and the consequences of silence. Through the character of history teacher Artie Dam, Strout explores family and friends, society and politics, and how what we say or do not say impacts everything. It’s an absorbing novel. Both bleak and hopeful, this tackles suicide, adultery, the state of the nation, and how a person can impact the hearts and minds of others. I found the interactions between the characters convincing and occasionally made me pause, thinking about my own choices. I initially found some of the foreshadowing mildly irritating, but generally I think it works within the contact of what Strout is writing about, and everything does come together extremely well overall.
My thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable, I romped through this in no time at all. I really liked Artie, and felt completely drawn into his life within just a few pages. I've read Elizabeth Stout before, and I enjoy her small town America stories where you feel like you get to know a whole neighbourhood.

The story itself is a strange mix of depressing and hopeful, which I guess reflects what we are seeing of the USA in the media right now. She doesn't shy away from talking about the election, and Artie is fearful of what is to come (with good reason it turns out...)

There are little bits of gentle humour, and some much, much darker, more serious moments too. I felt quite spent by the end, and a little sad too, but very glad to have read the story.

With thanks to the publishers, and to Netgalley for my ARC.

[Alex Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Strout's The Things We Never Say, her first standalone novel in some time, is, in a word, devastating. In this emotional, political story, high school history teacher Artie Damm interacts with neighbors, colleagues, friends, students, and his family, set against the backdrop our our fractured political landscape. This is not a hopeful novel, and at times, especially in the epilogue, becomes somewhat dystopian. It is a sad, hard read, and yet it is wonderful. Even though the story is difficult, I felt, as I do whenever I'm reading Strout's work, safe in the capable hands of the storyteller. This is the saddest Strout novel to date, and it's also a landmark, a book that we can pick up in 10 or 20 years, and say, this here, this is what things were like: Here's the sadness that enveloped us all. Hopefully, we can reflect back from a happier, more stable point in the future.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Strout is so perceptive and writes so honestly about the human condition. The main character, Artie, was so flawed and so wonderful. His inner musings are so insightful and I appreciate Strout tackling the current state of America through the eyes of this history teacher. The parallels Artie draws are all too real, unfortunately. Strout reflects the anxieties many of us have through Artie.

As a teacher myself, Artie’s presence in the classroom and the sense of belonging he fostered there really resounded with me. I love that he has a box of notes from his students—- I don’t know a teacher who doesn’t have a stash of those to look back on after a hard day at school. This little detail made Artie even more real in my mind.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a return to form! I found her last few books a little laboured - perhaps trying to tie up all of her previous characters was too much, but this new book; with new characters, is a delight. Strout's straightforward prose is used to great success with Artie Dam's view on the world, his relationship with his wife, son and friends as well as his view on the world.
I could feel Strout's pain in the direction that her country is taking under Trump. Although she does not mention him by name it is apparent that the President's current course is causing her great distress. I only fear that the book will be out of date as more atrocities are committed and international relationships destroyed.