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Amgash #4
Lucy by the Sea
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction (2022)8 hours, 19 minutes
From Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch perfect novel about a former couple in lockdown together—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.
With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout once again turns her exquisitely-tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, this time following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William! through the early days of the pandemic.
As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and longtime friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea. They will not emerge unscathed.
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear, struggles, and isolation that come with life in a global pandemic, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we’re apart—the pain of a beloved daughter’s suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love. “We all live with people—and places—and things—that we have given great weight to,” Lucy says. “But we are weightless, in the end.”
From Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch perfect novel about a former couple in lockdown together—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.
With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout once again turns her exquisitely-tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, this time following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William! through the early days of the pandemic.
As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and longtime friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea. They will not emerge unscathed.
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear, struggles, and isolation that come with life in a global pandemic, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we’re apart—the pain of a beloved daughter’s suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love. “We all live with people—and places—and things—that we have given great weight to,” Lucy says. “But we are weightless, in the end.”
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First published September 20, 2022
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About the author
Elizabeth Strout
48 books16k followersElizabeth 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 8,828 reviews
October 21, 2022
Here I am on Outlier Island again. Nearly all my GR friends who have read this book loved it. I’ve made no secret that Elizabeth Strout is one of my favorite authors, but this was a complete miss.
If you want to read about how Lucy and William survived the pandemic, and their thoughts on quarantine, BLM, George Floyd, protests, vaccines, the election, and the January riots, this is the book for you. This is not just the background setting, it’s the entire subject of the book.
These are bad memories that I don’t like to revisit even with good friends, and I certainly don’t want to read about it in such detail in my fiction.
Just to be clear, I’m vaxxed, I wore my mask, and I followed quarantine and distancing protocols, and I too find myself annoyed at people who wear their mask under their nose. I don’t necessarily disagree with everything the author expressed, so that is not my reason for disliking the book. Lucy and William come across as unlikable, pretentious and judgmental.
No subject was left untouched. When Lucy assumes her married daughter was considering an affair with a man, the daughter reacts in horror: “Mom, where have you been? How do you even know it’s a man? It could be a woman, a gender-non-conforming individual…..where have you been the last couple of years? We don’t make assumptions like that anymore.”
Fine, of course. I agree, it could have been a woman. So what? But really, did Lucy deserve to be attacked for assuming her heterosexual daughter was considering an affair with a man? (Btw, spoiler alert, it was a man, the author simply used this device as an opportunity to lecture her readers).
If this sounds good to you, go for it. It most definitely was not for me. There is plenty of high praise for this book, so I feel a bit like a fish swimming upstream. However, pandemic books with political overtones are not for me. Ever.
* I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
If you want to read about how Lucy and William survived the pandemic, and their thoughts on quarantine, BLM, George Floyd, protests, vaccines, the election, and the January riots, this is the book for you. This is not just the background setting, it’s the entire subject of the book.
These are bad memories that I don’t like to revisit even with good friends, and I certainly don’t want to read about it in such detail in my fiction.
Just to be clear, I’m vaxxed, I wore my mask, and I followed quarantine and distancing protocols, and I too find myself annoyed at people who wear their mask under their nose. I don’t necessarily disagree with everything the author expressed, so that is not my reason for disliking the book. Lucy and William come across as unlikable, pretentious and judgmental.
No subject was left untouched. When Lucy assumes her married daughter was considering an affair with a man, the daughter reacts in horror: “Mom, where have you been? How do you even know it’s a man? It could be a woman, a gender-non-conforming individual…..where have you been the last couple of years? We don’t make assumptions like that anymore.”
Fine, of course. I agree, it could have been a woman. So what? But really, did Lucy deserve to be attacked for assuming her heterosexual daughter was considering an affair with a man? (Btw, spoiler alert, it was a man, the author simply used this device as an opportunity to lecture her readers).
If this sounds good to you, go for it. It most definitely was not for me. There is plenty of high praise for this book, so I feel a bit like a fish swimming upstream. However, pandemic books with political overtones are not for me. Ever.
* I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
May 29, 2022
There’s a scene in this novel where Lucy Barton is sitting in a car at a gas station and watches a policeman sitting in a cruiser. She wonders “what is it like to be a policeman…What is it like to be you? I need to say: This is the question that has made me a writer; always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person.” While Lucy is a fictional character, I can’t help but think that Elizabeth Strout might feel the same. And if she does, she certainly is successful in letting the reader know what it might be like to be a different person. I couldn’t help but think that’s why reading is such a satisfying experience “to know what it feels like to be a different person. “
For the last couple of years I’ve avoided books that focus on pandemics, Covid or otherwise. Then Strout’s newest book about Lucy Barton comes along and the time frame is during the pandemic. I couldn’t resist a new book by her and definitely not one about Lucy Barton. I’ve connected with Lucy in all of the books about her, not because I shared her unique experiences, but because Lucy, as in the previous books, is introspective and so honest. Throughout the story it felt as if I was listening to an old friend.
There are, though, shared experiences as she grapples with the pandemic and her lockdown with her ex husband William in Maine, bringing to my mind, my own experience. It’s about her lockdown with her ex husband William and their relationship, but also about her grief, her life in New York before the pandemic, her regrets, her reflections of the past, which still haunt. The past is always present in Lucy’s memories of her mother, father and siblings as is her desire in the present over her relationship with her daughters- not wanting it to be like her relationship with her mother.
I saw an older, more wiser, but maybe a more vulnerable Lucy, but still Lucy, and one of my favorite characters. Strout has lovingly brought back Bob Burgess, from a previous novel and a few mentions of another Strout character I love, which was a great surprise. (No spoiler. You should be surprised as well if you read this). What wasn’t a surprise was Stout’s brilliant story telling.
I received a copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.
September 20, 2022
Happy Publication Day! (September 20, 2022)
“It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us.”
"Lucy by the Sea" begins with our protagonist Lucy Barton being whisked away to a “house on a small cliff on the coast of Maine” by her ex-husband and friend Dr. William Gerhardt. William, a parasitologist by profession, is concerned for Lucy’s well-being. Her history of asthma renders her vulnerable, as the coronavirus that has already ravaged Europe is making its way into the United States. William also urges their daughters and their husbands to leave New York for the time being. While Chrissy and her husband take his advice and leave New York before the shelter-in-place orders take effect, Becka and her husband do not. Though it takes a while for Lucy and William to adjust to their new surroundings in Crosby, Maine , they gradually settle in, make friends and reorganize their lives in keeping with the rules and restrictions imposed during these challenging times.
As the narrative progresses we get to know more about Lucy’s daughters and their respective lives- their childhood, professional and personal lives and their bond with their parents. While Lucy still grieves for her late second husband David, she finds herself comforted by William’s presence and remains concerned for the well-being of her daughters both of whom are experiencing rough patches in their relationships. Lucy's thoughts often take her back to her childhood and memories of her impoverished upbringing in Amgash, Illinois and her dysfunctional family. We see moments in which she drowns herself in memories and regrets over all that has gone wrong in her life, doubting her self worth and her role in the lives of others but we also witness how she picks herself up with the help of new friends, William and her daughters bringing her back to her present-day reality. Not everything or everyone is perfect, but life never is and Lucy is doing the best she can just like the rest of us.
“I had made up everything in my life, I thought! Except for my girls, and maybe even them I had made up, I mean their graciousness to me and to each other, how did I know?”
It is easy to relate to Lucy’s feelings of disconnect and isolation during lockdown , the questioning of her life and her relationships, dealing with the loss of acquaintances, friends and family members from Covid and her efforts to embrace the new normal as a way of life. Her struggles are real and often so relatable that at times you need to take a pause and breathe and remind yourself that Lucy is a fictional character. But Elizabeth Strout's thought-provoking, simple yet elegant narrative makes readers feel as if they have become a part of her story, and in a way, we are, every one of us having been impacted by the pandemic in one way or another! As the story takes us through 2020 - both the pandemic and other real-world events that impacted the social and political landscape of the country-the author’s tone while dealing with sensitive issues remains respectful, restrained and most importantly, compassionate. While some of Strout’s characters from her previous novels are referenced in this story, we also get to meet a few familiar characters when their paths cross with Lucy’s.
Introspective, insightful and so beautifully real, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout is an exquisite novel that I would not hesitate to recommend. However, I feel reading the preceding books in the Amgash series prior to this one would enable the reader to fully appreciate and feel invested in the character and her story.
“And then this thought went through my mind: We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all. But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.”
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for approving my request for a digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
August 1, 2022
Elizabeth Strout once again resurrects the brave and courageous iconic writer, Lucy Barton, and writes movingly and profoundly of Lucy's experiences of lockdown, like so many us not quite grasping initially the implications of Covid 19. It is William in his determination to save her who whisks her away from New York to the Maine coastal town of Crosby, with Lucy having no idea that she will never again return to her apartment. Strout paints an authentic, gentle, intimate, understated and resonating picture of the loneliness, isolation, anxiety, fears, panic, grief, love and loss that Lucy feels, along with the development of her complicated relationship with her ex-husband William, the comfort they find in each other despite their odd irritations with each other, a comfort that leads to them finding their way to each other again, despite his cheating on her in their marriage, something her daughters find more difficult to accept than she expects
Strout exquisitely captures what it is to be human in these challenging times, such as what it means to be family, of being a mother to 2 precious adult daughters with their own issues, Chrissy's miscarriages, the crumbling of Becka's marriage to the poet Trey and its impact on William as he reflects upon and regrets his past infidelities. There is a compassion, non-judgementalism, and a humanity with which the author approaches her characters, many of whom make an appearance from other books, building on old connections whilst there is the simultaneous creation of a web of new connections after having moved to the strangeness of a new place, physically and metaphorically. Lucy makes a heartfelt empathetic connection with Bob Burgess through their walks and socially distanced meetings, he has read her memoir and relates particularly to the issue of growing up in such deep poverty. She begins to understand and see beyond the stereotypical Trump supporters through meeting Charlene at the food pantry, and her sister, Vicky, people living under heavy pressures, part of the troubled communities who have been regarded with contempt and looked down on by establishment circles.
In the darkest of times, Strout provides hope and light in her latest stellar and thought provoking novel, highlighting the time and opportunities available for us to spend in reflections of our current lives, the past, the family, relationships, and growth in developing greater resilience and vital understanding of others who make up our fragile, desperate, and ravaged communities, whilst potentially generating new energies and excitement by moving into new areas professionally, personally and geographically that might have been otherwise unthinkable pre-pandemic. This is a beautiful and contemplative novel that just bursts with heart and underlying wisdom, and a Lucy whose struggles and challenges are a pure joy to follow through the harsh realities and losses of a nightmare pandemic. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
Strout exquisitely captures what it is to be human in these challenging times, such as what it means to be family, of being a mother to 2 precious adult daughters with their own issues, Chrissy's miscarriages, the crumbling of Becka's marriage to the poet Trey and its impact on William as he reflects upon and regrets his past infidelities. There is a compassion, non-judgementalism, and a humanity with which the author approaches her characters, many of whom make an appearance from other books, building on old connections whilst there is the simultaneous creation of a web of new connections after having moved to the strangeness of a new place, physically and metaphorically. Lucy makes a heartfelt empathetic connection with Bob Burgess through their walks and socially distanced meetings, he has read her memoir and relates particularly to the issue of growing up in such deep poverty. She begins to understand and see beyond the stereotypical Trump supporters through meeting Charlene at the food pantry, and her sister, Vicky, people living under heavy pressures, part of the troubled communities who have been regarded with contempt and looked down on by establishment circles.
In the darkest of times, Strout provides hope and light in her latest stellar and thought provoking novel, highlighting the time and opportunities available for us to spend in reflections of our current lives, the past, the family, relationships, and growth in developing greater resilience and vital understanding of others who make up our fragile, desperate, and ravaged communities, whilst potentially generating new energies and excitement by moving into new areas professionally, personally and geographically that might have been otherwise unthinkable pre-pandemic. This is a beautiful and contemplative novel that just bursts with heart and underlying wisdom, and a Lucy whose struggles and challenges are a pure joy to follow through the harsh realities and losses of a nightmare pandemic. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
March 21, 2023
93rd book of 2022.
1.5. Sickly and pointless. Not sure what Strout really wanted to gain from this novel other than have Lucy moaning about everything that's happened in recent years, Covid, lockdowns, mask-wearing, the Capitol event, George Floyd, etc. Is she just trying to be 'current'? This is the very reason I also hated Pollard's Delphi; we all lived through it, not that long ago, so what's the point? Nothing new was brought to the table about Lucy Barton or her ex-husband, William. They move to Maine and that's about it. Lots of phone calls, lots of watching the news. Strout even had Lucy's daughter, at one point, say, '"Mom, where have you been? How do you even know it's a man? It could be a woman or a gender-nonconforming individual [...] We don't make assumptions like that anymore."' It just came across as corny and forced. And don't get me started on the lines like, 'We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don't know it, that's all.' So, if you want to read about every bad event that's happened on the news in the last few years but through the eyes of a now-whiny Lucy Barton, read this when it comes out next month. Be warned though, it's a 300-page waste of time. But thanks to Penguin for the ARC, anyway.
1.5. Sickly and pointless. Not sure what Strout really wanted to gain from this novel other than have Lucy moaning about everything that's happened in recent years, Covid, lockdowns, mask-wearing, the Capitol event, George Floyd, etc. Is she just trying to be 'current'? This is the very reason I also hated Pollard's Delphi; we all lived through it, not that long ago, so what's the point? Nothing new was brought to the table about Lucy Barton or her ex-husband, William. They move to Maine and that's about it. Lots of phone calls, lots of watching the news. Strout even had Lucy's daughter, at one point, say, '"Mom, where have you been? How do you even know it's a man? It could be a woman or a gender-nonconforming individual [...] We don't make assumptions like that anymore."' It just came across as corny and forced. And don't get me started on the lines like, 'We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don't know it, that's all.' So, if you want to read about every bad event that's happened on the news in the last few years but through the eyes of a now-whiny Lucy Barton, read this when it comes out next month. Be warned though, it's a 300-page waste of time. But thanks to Penguin for the ARC, anyway.
September 25, 2022
There is something so wonderful about Elizabeth Strout’s writing. It is basic, no frills, but so authentic. I always feel like I’m just listening to an old friend describe her life.
The story starts just as Covid hits NYC. Lucy’s first husband, William, convinces her to leave NYC for Crosby, Maine. There, what she initially thinks will be a few week stay turns into a much longer time period. This was a vivid reminder of the initial months of the pandemic, of that sense of otherness, that dreamlike (or should is say nightmare-like) as we all grappled with the new reality. Her life in Maine reminded me so much of our life during the pandemic.
Lucy and William have a complicated past, which comes out as they once again live together. But yet, they are able to move beyond their prior difficulties. This book also perfectly captures how a parent always worries about a child. The book is filled with these little perfect scenes of understanding.
So much of the book takes place in Lucy’s head. She grapples with memories of her late husband, her parents, of all the decisions she made in her life.
Most of the characters in this book have appeared in her past books. It could be read as a stand-alone but I don’t recommend it as there are spoilers about previous books in this one.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
The story starts just as Covid hits NYC. Lucy’s first husband, William, convinces her to leave NYC for Crosby, Maine. There, what she initially thinks will be a few week stay turns into a much longer time period. This was a vivid reminder of the initial months of the pandemic, of that sense of otherness, that dreamlike (or should is say nightmare-like) as we all grappled with the new reality. Her life in Maine reminded me so much of our life during the pandemic.
Lucy and William have a complicated past, which comes out as they once again live together. But yet, they are able to move beyond their prior difficulties. This book also perfectly captures how a parent always worries about a child. The book is filled with these little perfect scenes of understanding.
So much of the book takes place in Lucy’s head. She grapples with memories of her late husband, her parents, of all the decisions she made in her life.
Most of the characters in this book have appeared in her past books. It could be read as a stand-alone but I don’t recommend it as there are spoilers about previous books in this one.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
October 6, 2022
OMG. I missed you more than I realized, Lucy.
So glad to have had the chance again to meet and join you in your reflection of life during lockdown. It was a bit of a smack down to go back to that time, but you felt just the way everyone else did. And you had William to take you away from the epicentre early on. Lucky Lucy.
Authentic Yet Naive in so many ways but oh so honest. The challenges faced, the connections made, the disconnections that developed.
Lucy, William & Bob with a mention of Olive. Be still my heart.
The beauty is in the insight Lucy has who has matured in a wise and adoring way.
Strout, you delivered yet again. I’m surprised the ratings aren’t higher for this series. Maybe it’s just geared for a more mature/aging audience?
And that ending?? Hmmm. I wonder if there will be a 5th Lucy? she still has a number of good years ahead of her!
5⭐️
So glad to have had the chance again to meet and join you in your reflection of life during lockdown. It was a bit of a smack down to go back to that time, but you felt just the way everyone else did. And you had William to take you away from the epicentre early on. Lucky Lucy.
Authentic Yet Naive in so many ways but oh so honest. The challenges faced, the connections made, the disconnections that developed.
Lucy, William & Bob with a mention of Olive. Be still my heart.
The beauty is in the insight Lucy has who has matured in a wise and adoring way.
Strout, you delivered yet again. I’m surprised the ratings aren’t higher for this series. Maybe it’s just geared for a more mature/aging audience?
And that ending?? Hmmm. I wonder if there will be a 5th Lucy? she still has a number of good years ahead of her!
5⭐️
July 27, 2022
My devouring of this story was completed last night and I’ve been thinking a lot about Lucy Barton ever since.
After reading this latest instalment of the “Barton” series, I can truly say Lucy and I have been on some incredible journey together. But the thing is, I have no idea what she looks like. She did mention blonde highlights in this book, but that’s a about it. That’s the quality of Strout’s writing – even though I know Lucy so, so, so well and love her to bits and bits. I don’t need to know what she looks like. Skin is, after all just a few layers of protein, carbohydrates, water and gunk that cover each and every one of us – but it’s not who we are, we don’t need to know what Lucy looks like. Strout makes her appearance redundant. The author’s sparse writing – and it is sparse – tells us everything we need to know about this gentle, thoughtful woman.
I feel I know Lucy better than many people I mix with in my own life. Importantly, Strout also allows us, the reader, to fill in the gaps in her characters. She respects us in this way. So, who knows - Maybe my Lucy is different to your Lucy?
It would be a lovely experience to compare each and everyone’s Lucy – you think?
Lucy’s ex-husband, William drags her upstate New York, along with their daughters to get away from the Big Apple during the carnage of the first wave of the COVID pandemic. They all stay at different houses, and all strictly observe requirements of mask mandates, distancing, isolation periods – William (being an obsessive scientist) wouldn’t have it any other way.
I like William too – he’s a funny bugger, funny as in ‘funny’, not funny, funny. There’s certain gaps in his character I can’t fill in. Maybe he’s a typical bloke? Certain scenes – for example when Lucy wants to describe an event that has happened in her day and he looks up from his laptop with impatience, which quickly turns to boredom. This is noticed by Lucy. Because she tells us by saying “I noticed that”. Oh dear – I know what William did there, I know only too well – the need for the women in our lives to tell their stories, the need for blokes to get to the point. Poor Lucy – it’s heartbreaking, but she reflects on these things with such insight and understanding it’s almost superhuman. She will say things like “I understand why he thinks that”, or “I noticed that”.
Lucy doesn’t seem to blame or condone. She just remembers and, says.
How gentle.
There are people they ‘meet’ from a distance, upstate. We get to know their stories too. Also, William’s half-sister comes into his life in a bigger way. We also see relationships change and develop between all the characters, some relationships are created and even lost. The types of variations all of us see and experience everyday of our lives.
Nothing extraordinary, but profound when you think about it.
This is the best. I will remember this story - I want to tell you that.
5 Stars
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advice copy of this wonderful book, in exchange for my review
After reading this latest instalment of the “Barton” series, I can truly say Lucy and I have been on some incredible journey together. But the thing is, I have no idea what she looks like. She did mention blonde highlights in this book, but that’s a about it. That’s the quality of Strout’s writing – even though I know Lucy so, so, so well and love her to bits and bits. I don’t need to know what she looks like. Skin is, after all just a few layers of protein, carbohydrates, water and gunk that cover each and every one of us – but it’s not who we are, we don’t need to know what Lucy looks like. Strout makes her appearance redundant. The author’s sparse writing – and it is sparse – tells us everything we need to know about this gentle, thoughtful woman.
I feel I know Lucy better than many people I mix with in my own life. Importantly, Strout also allows us, the reader, to fill in the gaps in her characters. She respects us in this way. So, who knows - Maybe my Lucy is different to your Lucy?
It would be a lovely experience to compare each and everyone’s Lucy – you think?
Lucy’s ex-husband, William drags her upstate New York, along with their daughters to get away from the Big Apple during the carnage of the first wave of the COVID pandemic. They all stay at different houses, and all strictly observe requirements of mask mandates, distancing, isolation periods – William (being an obsessive scientist) wouldn’t have it any other way.
I like William too – he’s a funny bugger, funny as in ‘funny’, not funny, funny. There’s certain gaps in his character I can’t fill in. Maybe he’s a typical bloke? Certain scenes – for example when Lucy wants to describe an event that has happened in her day and he looks up from his laptop with impatience, which quickly turns to boredom. This is noticed by Lucy. Because she tells us by saying “I noticed that”. Oh dear – I know what William did there, I know only too well – the need for the women in our lives to tell their stories, the need for blokes to get to the point. Poor Lucy – it’s heartbreaking, but she reflects on these things with such insight and understanding it’s almost superhuman. She will say things like “I understand why he thinks that”, or “I noticed that”.
Lucy doesn’t seem to blame or condone. She just remembers and, says.
How gentle.
There are people they ‘meet’ from a distance, upstate. We get to know their stories too. Also, William’s half-sister comes into his life in a bigger way. We also see relationships change and develop between all the characters, some relationships are created and even lost. The types of variations all of us see and experience everyday of our lives.
Nothing extraordinary, but profound when you think about it.
This is the best. I will remember this story - I want to tell you that.
5 Stars
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advice copy of this wonderful book, in exchange for my review
July 17, 2022
From beginning to end, I never wanted to put this novel down….having read it in one sitting.
It’s possibly….heck, most definitely my favorite Elizabeth Strout book.
I can’t imagine a covid-lockdown story being more moving, affecting, relatable, timely, and intimate.
I didn’t fully gel with Lucy’s narrative voice in
in “Oh, William” ….something felt off to me.
But I thoroughly enjoyed her voice in “Lucy By The Sea”. Her vulnerability was raw and and real.
The story, setting, characters, prose …. it all fit beautifully like a finished puzzle.
A couple of sample excerpts:
“We found a puzzle, it looked odd but the pieces were there—for all we knew, The pieces were there—and
it was a self portrait of Van Gogh. I said, ‘I hate this kind of thing’, and he said, ‘Lucy, we’re in lockdown, stop hating every’. And he set it up on a small corner table in the living room. I helped him find the corners and the edges, and then I left it for the most part alone. I have never liked doing puzzles”.
“We talked for hours, William sat up next to me in my bed, and we talked about all the people we had known together, what had become of them. And then we both got tired”.
“Go to sleep”, I said, and William stood up and said, ‘Nice talk, Lucy’”.
“I got to know the tides: I mean I got to understand when they went out and came back in, and they comforted me. I would watch the swirling water as the tide came in, lapping it’s white swirl again and again upon the darken rocks below us, and also against those two islands in front of us, and I would watch on days when the ocean seemed almost— briefly— flat, and I would watch the tide go out, leaving the wet rocks and choppy yellowish seaweed. When I looked straight ahead there was nothing on the horizon past those two small islands, that is how far out the ocean went. I noticed how the sky tended to match the ocean; if the sky was gray— as it frequently was—the ocean seemed gray too, but when the sky was bright blue, the ocean seemed a blue color, or sometimes a deep green if there were clouds and sun. The ocean was a huge comfort to me somehow, and those two islands were always there. The sadness that rose and fell in me was like the tides”.
Memorable!!! Such a gem to treasure!!!
It’s possibly….heck, most definitely my favorite Elizabeth Strout book.
I can’t imagine a covid-lockdown story being more moving, affecting, relatable, timely, and intimate.
I didn’t fully gel with Lucy’s narrative voice in
in “Oh, William” ….something felt off to me.
But I thoroughly enjoyed her voice in “Lucy By The Sea”. Her vulnerability was raw and and real.
The story, setting, characters, prose …. it all fit beautifully like a finished puzzle.
A couple of sample excerpts:
“We found a puzzle, it looked odd but the pieces were there—for all we knew, The pieces were there—and
it was a self portrait of Van Gogh. I said, ‘I hate this kind of thing’, and he said, ‘Lucy, we’re in lockdown, stop hating every’. And he set it up on a small corner table in the living room. I helped him find the corners and the edges, and then I left it for the most part alone. I have never liked doing puzzles”.
“We talked for hours, William sat up next to me in my bed, and we talked about all the people we had known together, what had become of them. And then we both got tired”.
“Go to sleep”, I said, and William stood up and said, ‘Nice talk, Lucy’”.
“I got to know the tides: I mean I got to understand when they went out and came back in, and they comforted me. I would watch the swirling water as the tide came in, lapping it’s white swirl again and again upon the darken rocks below us, and also against those two islands in front of us, and I would watch on days when the ocean seemed almost— briefly— flat, and I would watch the tide go out, leaving the wet rocks and choppy yellowish seaweed. When I looked straight ahead there was nothing on the horizon past those two small islands, that is how far out the ocean went. I noticed how the sky tended to match the ocean; if the sky was gray— as it frequently was—the ocean seemed gray too, but when the sky was bright blue, the ocean seemed a blue color, or sometimes a deep green if there were clouds and sun. The ocean was a huge comfort to me somehow, and those two islands were always there. The sadness that rose and fell in me was like the tides”.
Memorable!!! Such a gem to treasure!!!
September 14, 2023
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Emani Glee at Random House, and Elizabeth Strout for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 9.20!!**
"...This had often broken my heart, to realize that you never know the last time you pick up a child. Maybe you say "Oh, honey, you're getting too big to be picked up" or something like that. But then you never pick them up again.
And living with this pandemic was like that. You did not know."
The insightful, wise, unique and poignant woman we know and love as Lucy Barton is back in the fourth installment of the Amgash series...and this time, COVID-19 has created one giant knot in the tangled threads of her life. When the pandemic gets serious, Lucy is encouraged by her ex-husband William to leave her cozy NYC apartment behind and join him in a cottage in Maine.
Of course, this is a pandemic...and isolation comes with the territory. And Lucy is now isolated with the ONE man who has troubled her mind for so many years. Add to this her worry about her daughters, interactions with new friends that leave her even more confused about her place in the world, and fears for her own mortality, and her mental plate is BEYOND full. Has the pandemic brought these former flames together for a reason...and when the dust settles, where will their relationship stand? Will Lucy's family and friends all live to breathe just one more day? And WHY does Lucy herself feel so...off?
After a few other experiences hit a LITTLE too close to home (and the pain we all have lived and are living through) during the pandemic, I had essentially sworn off of COVID and pandemic related books...until I was offered the opportunity to read this one. There's something about Lucy that makes you feel as though you've known her forever, and could easily sit in a chair on a porch, listening to her regale you with stories from all different times in her life. She speaks with an air of wisdom, but also with the relentless curiosity that ALL the best writers possess, and her reflections on the pandemic and the cultural climate that ensued were on point. I always enjoy hearing the thoughts that amble gently through Lucy's mind.
My enjoyment of Lucy as a narrator aside, It was still hard to read this book at times because so much of it is TRULY tied to COVID, and other than Lucy's reflections on the past, the pandemic talk and circumstance takes up much of the narrative, so if it's 'too soon' for you to dive in, I would recommend instead jumping into this story in a few years (I hope!) or whenever it feels emotionally accessible for you.
Still late to the Lucy Barton game, I jumped into this series with Oh, William! and feel that that installment gave me sufficient basis for background where William was concerned. However, I felt the lack of background knowledge more keenly in this read, since Strout makes mention of other characters (including some references to Olive Kitteridge, another character I know only by name), so perhaps I would have gotten even more out of this book if I'd read those selections from her back catalog as well as the first two Lucy books (which I sadly still have not gotten to yet!)
I also appreciate that the Lucy books are on the shorter side and Strout inserts lots of breaks and pauses throughout. Why is this important? This structure is essential because it keeps the text from feeling TOO stream-of-consciousness or hard to follow, and it also compels you to read just a little bit more. As sad as the subject matter was overall, I felt Strout handled it with the same honesty and frankness that I adore in Lucy, and the ending was sprinkled with the perfect amount of hope we could all use without feeling too sappy or conclusive.
I'm not sure if the stage is set for a book 5, or if this is Lucy's curtain call...but either way, have your roses ready...and a box of tissues or two. When it comes to Lucy by the Sea, there won't be a dry eye in the house.
4 stars
Now available in paperback as of 9.12!
"...This had often broken my heart, to realize that you never know the last time you pick up a child. Maybe you say "Oh, honey, you're getting too big to be picked up" or something like that. But then you never pick them up again.
And living with this pandemic was like that. You did not know."
The insightful, wise, unique and poignant woman we know and love as Lucy Barton is back in the fourth installment of the Amgash series...and this time, COVID-19 has created one giant knot in the tangled threads of her life. When the pandemic gets serious, Lucy is encouraged by her ex-husband William to leave her cozy NYC apartment behind and join him in a cottage in Maine.
Of course, this is a pandemic...and isolation comes with the territory. And Lucy is now isolated with the ONE man who has troubled her mind for so many years. Add to this her worry about her daughters, interactions with new friends that leave her even more confused about her place in the world, and fears for her own mortality, and her mental plate is BEYOND full. Has the pandemic brought these former flames together for a reason...and when the dust settles, where will their relationship stand? Will Lucy's family and friends all live to breathe just one more day? And WHY does Lucy herself feel so...off?
After a few other experiences hit a LITTLE too close to home (and the pain we all have lived and are living through) during the pandemic, I had essentially sworn off of COVID and pandemic related books...until I was offered the opportunity to read this one. There's something about Lucy that makes you feel as though you've known her forever, and could easily sit in a chair on a porch, listening to her regale you with stories from all different times in her life. She speaks with an air of wisdom, but also with the relentless curiosity that ALL the best writers possess, and her reflections on the pandemic and the cultural climate that ensued were on point. I always enjoy hearing the thoughts that amble gently through Lucy's mind.
My enjoyment of Lucy as a narrator aside, It was still hard to read this book at times because so much of it is TRULY tied to COVID, and other than Lucy's reflections on the past, the pandemic talk and circumstance takes up much of the narrative, so if it's 'too soon' for you to dive in, I would recommend instead jumping into this story in a few years (I hope!) or whenever it feels emotionally accessible for you.
Still late to the Lucy Barton game, I jumped into this series with Oh, William! and feel that that installment gave me sufficient basis for background where William was concerned. However, I felt the lack of background knowledge more keenly in this read, since Strout makes mention of other characters (including some references to Olive Kitteridge, another character I know only by name), so perhaps I would have gotten even more out of this book if I'd read those selections from her back catalog as well as the first two Lucy books (which I sadly still have not gotten to yet!)
I also appreciate that the Lucy books are on the shorter side and Strout inserts lots of breaks and pauses throughout. Why is this important? This structure is essential because it keeps the text from feeling TOO stream-of-consciousness or hard to follow, and it also compels you to read just a little bit more. As sad as the subject matter was overall, I felt Strout handled it with the same honesty and frankness that I adore in Lucy, and the ending was sprinkled with the perfect amount of hope we could all use without feeling too sappy or conclusive.
I'm not sure if the stage is set for a book 5, or if this is Lucy's curtain call...but either way, have your roses ready...and a box of tissues or two. When it comes to Lucy by the Sea, there won't be a dry eye in the house.
4 stars
Now available in paperback as of 9.12!
June 19, 2022
Pogo-stick time in Maine!
OMG OMG OMG! I grabbed my pogo stick for this one, I guarantee you! The terrain is rough because the story takes place in a house on a cliff in Maine, so I have to watch the road here to make sure I don’t go flying off the edge. Speaking of edges, this book is the opposite of edgy. It’s low-key to the nth degree, but I loved it. I always proclaim, rather proudly and loudly, that I don’t like quiet books, and look, here I am, pogo-sticking away!
COVID has just hit New York City, and Lucy’s ex, William, has whisked her off to Maine to hide out with her. They’re both around 70, so getting away from the virus is a good idea. Basically we’re stuck in the house with them, except for short walks, and an occasional socially-distanced visit with local friends and with their two daughters in Connecticut. We’re stuck in the house but we’re also stuck in Lucy’s head, and it’s both comfy and illuminating there. Strout manages to make the mundane so fascinating. Lucy is a keen observer of what’s happening with the people around her, but her real claim to fame is her ability to analyze her own feelings. She is wise and relatable. Strout really knows how to go deep into someone’s psyche.
Strout is one of my favorite authors. The funny thing is, her writing style always takes me a little while to get used to. Her sentences are simple and there’s sort of a monotone going on. The book is pretty damn quiet, but the smothered tone somehow makes the emotions stand out more; it’s a cover for all the feelings that are in the lines and between them.
At first I was antsy to speed up the voice. Spit it out, hurry it up, match the pace of my chatterbox inside me, please! My brain feels animated, Lucy’s seems coated in Valium. But after a while, I was mesmerized. Nevermind that the characters are passive—which I usually can’t stand. I started to settle into the style. I even started to see the world through Lucy’s eyes, and I heard her voice in my head! I mean, I really heard her voice—so much that I realized I was channeling Strout, thinking sentences aloud in my head that sounded just like Lucy’s. Strout has said, as did Lucy, that she always wants to know what it feels like to be another person. Well, she sure made me feel like Lucy! (Of course, I was a little schizo for a while! LOL, no biggie!)
Strout’s secret sauce, I think, is her ability to show Lucy’s feelings instead of telling us about them. And Lucy talks like we’re sitting there with her. She often opens with phrases like, “I will tell you this,” which is cozy and personal. Lucy is so likeable, so smart, so real. There’s always melancholy but at the same time there is zest. She looks at her mistakes and her reasons for choices, and she doesn’t cut herself any slack. Her insight just blows me away. She talks about loneliness, death, regret, and how hard it is to know another human.
It didn’t hurt that I could relate so much to the story. First, there’s COVID, and Strout really has the picture down pat. Lucky for me, I find stories about COVID to be cathartic, not overly depressing. I was constantly nodding my head, saying yes, that’s exactly how it was as COVID began. Second, Lucy is an old fart like I am. And like me, she has two grown daughters, she hangs out with her ex, and she worries a lot about all three of them.
This book, unlike her others, is topical. The backdrop is COVID, and she also makes a few references to current events, like the election and January 6th. Funny coincidence: I ran across her mention of the attack on the Capitol on the same day the hearings started and I began watching. Strange! Another coincidence (oh how I love them): I had just showered and noticed that the water was at my ankles; I fretted, wondering about hiring a plumber. I picked up the book, and Lucy talks about taking a shower with water up to her ankles, and she talks about a baking soda and vinegar solution to fix it. Should I get household DIY advice from a work of fiction, lol? Hm…
This is the third Lucy novel—the first two are My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William!. There’s also a collection of short stories, Anything Is Possible, where Lucy takes the stage a lot. Lucy by the Sea works fine as a stand-alone, but it’s enhanced bigtime if you’ve read about Lucy before. A few characters from past books make appearances, and it’s a kick to see them again.
Well, I think I’ve reached my allotted time for gushing. Bottom line: Strout lovers will be in heaven, and newbies will be awed, I suspect, when they get their hands on this book. Line up for this one!
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
OMG OMG OMG! I grabbed my pogo stick for this one, I guarantee you! The terrain is rough because the story takes place in a house on a cliff in Maine, so I have to watch the road here to make sure I don’t go flying off the edge. Speaking of edges, this book is the opposite of edgy. It’s low-key to the nth degree, but I loved it. I always proclaim, rather proudly and loudly, that I don’t like quiet books, and look, here I am, pogo-sticking away!
COVID has just hit New York City, and Lucy’s ex, William, has whisked her off to Maine to hide out with her. They’re both around 70, so getting away from the virus is a good idea. Basically we’re stuck in the house with them, except for short walks, and an occasional socially-distanced visit with local friends and with their two daughters in Connecticut. We’re stuck in the house but we’re also stuck in Lucy’s head, and it’s both comfy and illuminating there. Strout manages to make the mundane so fascinating. Lucy is a keen observer of what’s happening with the people around her, but her real claim to fame is her ability to analyze her own feelings. She is wise and relatable. Strout really knows how to go deep into someone’s psyche.
Strout is one of my favorite authors. The funny thing is, her writing style always takes me a little while to get used to. Her sentences are simple and there’s sort of a monotone going on. The book is pretty damn quiet, but the smothered tone somehow makes the emotions stand out more; it’s a cover for all the feelings that are in the lines and between them.
At first I was antsy to speed up the voice. Spit it out, hurry it up, match the pace of my chatterbox inside me, please! My brain feels animated, Lucy’s seems coated in Valium. But after a while, I was mesmerized. Nevermind that the characters are passive—which I usually can’t stand. I started to settle into the style. I even started to see the world through Lucy’s eyes, and I heard her voice in my head! I mean, I really heard her voice—so much that I realized I was channeling Strout, thinking sentences aloud in my head that sounded just like Lucy’s. Strout has said, as did Lucy, that she always wants to know what it feels like to be another person. Well, she sure made me feel like Lucy! (Of course, I was a little schizo for a while! LOL, no biggie!)
Strout’s secret sauce, I think, is her ability to show Lucy’s feelings instead of telling us about them. And Lucy talks like we’re sitting there with her. She often opens with phrases like, “I will tell you this,” which is cozy and personal. Lucy is so likeable, so smart, so real. There’s always melancholy but at the same time there is zest. She looks at her mistakes and her reasons for choices, and she doesn’t cut herself any slack. Her insight just blows me away. She talks about loneliness, death, regret, and how hard it is to know another human.
It didn’t hurt that I could relate so much to the story. First, there’s COVID, and Strout really has the picture down pat. Lucky for me, I find stories about COVID to be cathartic, not overly depressing. I was constantly nodding my head, saying yes, that’s exactly how it was as COVID began. Second, Lucy is an old fart like I am. And like me, she has two grown daughters, she hangs out with her ex, and she worries a lot about all three of them.
This book, unlike her others, is topical. The backdrop is COVID, and she also makes a few references to current events, like the election and January 6th. Funny coincidence: I ran across her mention of the attack on the Capitol on the same day the hearings started and I began watching. Strange! Another coincidence (oh how I love them): I had just showered and noticed that the water was at my ankles; I fretted, wondering about hiring a plumber. I picked up the book, and Lucy talks about taking a shower with water up to her ankles, and she talks about a baking soda and vinegar solution to fix it. Should I get household DIY advice from a work of fiction, lol? Hm…
This is the third Lucy novel—the first two are My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William!. There’s also a collection of short stories, Anything Is Possible, where Lucy takes the stage a lot. Lucy by the Sea works fine as a stand-alone, but it’s enhanced bigtime if you’ve read about Lucy before. A few characters from past books make appearances, and it’s a kick to see them again.
Well, I think I’ve reached my allotted time for gushing. Bottom line: Strout lovers will be in heaven, and newbies will be awed, I suspect, when they get their hands on this book. Line up for this one!
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
June 27, 2022
Oh…. I ❤️ Lucy
Those who have read the Lucy Barton books, know the history of Lucy and William’s relationship.
In this story, Lucy who is quite recently widowed from her second husband’s death… is ushered away from New York to Maine by her first husband..William to keep her safe at the start of the Covid pandemic.
They go stay at William’s friends vacant house right by the ocean in a secluded area.
They are both now in their 70’s and become quite companionable while they worry about their two adult daughters and other family members, take their solitary walks, have a few “safe distancing” visits outdoors with a couple friends they meet.
Loneliness, loss, and grief about some of their circumstances and the state of the world are themes. Also resilience in navigating tough times!
Another winner for me from a favorite author!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Random House for the ARC!
Those who have read the Lucy Barton books, know the history of Lucy and William’s relationship.
In this story, Lucy who is quite recently widowed from her second husband’s death… is ushered away from New York to Maine by her first husband..William to keep her safe at the start of the Covid pandemic.
They go stay at William’s friends vacant house right by the ocean in a secluded area.
They are both now in their 70’s and become quite companionable while they worry about their two adult daughters and other family members, take their solitary walks, have a few “safe distancing” visits outdoors with a couple friends they meet.
Loneliness, loss, and grief about some of their circumstances and the state of the world are themes. Also resilience in navigating tough times!
Another winner for me from a favorite author!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Random House for the ARC!
November 17, 2023
LE COSE PEGGIORERANNO PRIMA DI MIGLIORARE
Si ritrova tutta la comitiva che già conosciamo dagli ultimi romanzi della Strout. A cominciare da Lucy Barton, la narratrice in prima persona – la quale si rivolge spesso e volentieri in modo secondo me alquanto civettuolo ai suoi lettori. Lucy è una scrittrice, ha avuto un’orrida infanzia e giovinezza nella squallida campagna dell’Illinois, lo sappiamo:
My childhood was one of tremendous deprivation, and I was always cold when I was young; I stayed after school each day just to be warm.
E poi il suo ex marito William, al quale era dedicato il titolo del precedente romanzo, Oh William!: sono stati sposati per vent’anni, e più o meno da un tempo uguale sono separati. Hanno due figlie che vivono a Brooklyn, Chrissy e Becka, entrambe sposate.
Lucy si è risposata, ma un anno fa ha sepolto il marito David, e non si può dire che abbia ancora smaltito la perdita.
Anche William si è risposato, con una donna molto più giovane, che l’ha lasciato portandosi dietro la loro figlioletta.
E poi i “ragazzi” Burgess, Bob sopra tutti, e la cittadina del Maine, Crosby (ma si nomina più volte anche l’altra, Shirley Falls), dove Lucy e William vanno ad affrontare il primo lockdown (marzo 2020) e finiscono col restare a lungo: è proprio Bob Burgess che gli trova la casa sul mare dove la coppia di ex coniugi, e ora grandi amici, e poi di nuovo coppia, si ritira in quarantena.
La descrizione della casa fa venire in mente quella di Olive Kitteridge, che vive da quelle parti. O almeno ricorda quella della serie televisiva tratta da quel romanzo.
È William che comprende presto la situazione, che comincia a notare i morti dell’epidemia, che trascina Lucy lontano da New York tutto a sue spese, che sprona le figlie a fare altrettanto (una si trasferisce in campagna nel Connecticut, l’altra, Becka, resta in città, ma poi sceglie di raggiungere la sorella). D’altronde William (il diminutivo è Pillie che Lucy adotta spesso, oh Pillie e oh William!) è un parassitologo, capisce subito che il virus è cosa seria.
La pandemia spinge a convivenze forzate, prolungate: si finisce a curiosare sul cellulare del partner. E così Becka scopre che il marito ha una storia, chiama la mamma, è isterica. Sul fondo della telefonata, i suoni delle sirene delle ambulanze.
Strout dimostra un raro talento nel creare “eroine”, protagoniste poco simpatiche: come già Olive Kitteridge, anche Lucy Barton è facilmente indisponente. La prima per una tendenza a impicciarsi e a essere giudicante – ma poi, lo sappiamo, aveva un cuore grosso almeno quanto il suo girovita; Lucy Barton dà l’idea d’essere persona ripiegata su se stessa (perché è una scrittrice?) e con uno spiccato bisogno di accudimento (sua sorella la definisce egoista). Devo dire che neppure la creatrice di questi due personaggi sprizza simpatia durante le interviste.
E forse siccome William è il coprotagonista anche di questo romanzo, o forse perché ormai Strout non può farne a meno, è tutto un fiorire di esclamazioni ed esclamativi, il numero di Oh, con o senza punto esclamativo, è esorbitante. Alquanto fastidioso.
Un altro talento che qui Strout dispiega in larga misura è quello di voler far passare alcune banalità per grandi verità: tipo che di fronte al virus le differenze sociali non contano. Quando poi la sua stessa storia dimostra esattamente il contrario: chi ha agio economico può permettersi di non lavorare, di trasferirsi in campagna, in residenze gradevoli e piacevoli e costose, ecc.
Ho voluto leggerlo subito, in lingua originale, non tanto perché non mi fidi delle traduzioni, quanto perché avevo capito che avrebbe affrontato il covid come finora non mi è successo di leggere o vedere. Questo aspetto mi ha incuriosito molto.
Ho trovato un altro aspetto potenzialmente interessante: la fine della presidenza trumpiana e l’inizio di quella democratica. Ma anche su questo fronte Strout non accende luce.
A me sembra che Elizabeth Strout stia perdendo la sua voce e la sua vena: mescola e rimescola la stessa minestrina da troppo tempo ormai - Lucy Barton non le fa bene – la sua mano è diventata logora. Spesso la sensazione è di un tè di vecchie signore che si scambiano convenevoli, ma con ciglio umido e occhio appannato, forse dal tè caldo, o forse dalla facilità alla lacrima.
It seemed strange to me that the world of New Yrok would remain so beautiful as all those people were dying.
Si ritrova tutta la comitiva che già conosciamo dagli ultimi romanzi della Strout. A cominciare da Lucy Barton, la narratrice in prima persona – la quale si rivolge spesso e volentieri in modo secondo me alquanto civettuolo ai suoi lettori. Lucy è una scrittrice, ha avuto un’orrida infanzia e giovinezza nella squallida campagna dell’Illinois, lo sappiamo:
My childhood was one of tremendous deprivation, and I was always cold when I was young; I stayed after school each day just to be warm.
E poi il suo ex marito William, al quale era dedicato il titolo del precedente romanzo, Oh William!: sono stati sposati per vent’anni, e più o meno da un tempo uguale sono separati. Hanno due figlie che vivono a Brooklyn, Chrissy e Becka, entrambe sposate.
Lucy si è risposata, ma un anno fa ha sepolto il marito David, e non si può dire che abbia ancora smaltito la perdita.
Anche William si è risposato, con una donna molto più giovane, che l’ha lasciato portandosi dietro la loro figlioletta.
E poi i “ragazzi” Burgess, Bob sopra tutti, e la cittadina del Maine, Crosby (ma si nomina più volte anche l’altra, Shirley Falls), dove Lucy e William vanno ad affrontare il primo lockdown (marzo 2020) e finiscono col restare a lungo: è proprio Bob Burgess che gli trova la casa sul mare dove la coppia di ex coniugi, e ora grandi amici, e poi di nuovo coppia, si ritira in quarantena.
La descrizione della casa fa venire in mente quella di Olive Kitteridge, che vive da quelle parti. O almeno ricorda quella della serie televisiva tratta da quel romanzo.
È William che comprende presto la situazione, che comincia a notare i morti dell’epidemia, che trascina Lucy lontano da New York tutto a sue spese, che sprona le figlie a fare altrettanto (una si trasferisce in campagna nel Connecticut, l’altra, Becka, resta in città, ma poi sceglie di raggiungere la sorella). D’altronde William (il diminutivo è Pillie che Lucy adotta spesso, oh Pillie e oh William!) è un parassitologo, capisce subito che il virus è cosa seria.
La pandemia spinge a convivenze forzate, prolungate: si finisce a curiosare sul cellulare del partner. E così Becka scopre che il marito ha una storia, chiama la mamma, è isterica. Sul fondo della telefonata, i suoni delle sirene delle ambulanze.
Strout dimostra un raro talento nel creare “eroine”, protagoniste poco simpatiche: come già Olive Kitteridge, anche Lucy Barton è facilmente indisponente. La prima per una tendenza a impicciarsi e a essere giudicante – ma poi, lo sappiamo, aveva un cuore grosso almeno quanto il suo girovita; Lucy Barton dà l’idea d’essere persona ripiegata su se stessa (perché è una scrittrice?) e con uno spiccato bisogno di accudimento (sua sorella la definisce egoista). Devo dire che neppure la creatrice di questi due personaggi sprizza simpatia durante le interviste.
E forse siccome William è il coprotagonista anche di questo romanzo, o forse perché ormai Strout non può farne a meno, è tutto un fiorire di esclamazioni ed esclamativi, il numero di Oh, con o senza punto esclamativo, è esorbitante. Alquanto fastidioso.
Un altro talento che qui Strout dispiega in larga misura è quello di voler far passare alcune banalità per grandi verità: tipo che di fronte al virus le differenze sociali non contano. Quando poi la sua stessa storia dimostra esattamente il contrario: chi ha agio economico può permettersi di non lavorare, di trasferirsi in campagna, in residenze gradevoli e piacevoli e costose, ecc.
Ho voluto leggerlo subito, in lingua originale, non tanto perché non mi fidi delle traduzioni, quanto perché avevo capito che avrebbe affrontato il covid come finora non mi è successo di leggere o vedere. Questo aspetto mi ha incuriosito molto.
Ho trovato un altro aspetto potenzialmente interessante: la fine della presidenza trumpiana e l’inizio di quella democratica. Ma anche su questo fronte Strout non accende luce.
A me sembra che Elizabeth Strout stia perdendo la sua voce e la sua vena: mescola e rimescola la stessa minestrina da troppo tempo ormai - Lucy Barton non le fa bene – la sua mano è diventata logora. Spesso la sensazione è di un tè di vecchie signore che si scambiano convenevoli, ma con ciglio umido e occhio appannato, forse dal tè caldo, o forse dalla facilità alla lacrima.
It seemed strange to me that the world of New Yrok would remain so beautiful as all those people were dying.
February 1, 2023
Shortlisted for the 2022 Folio Prize
Re-read as part of a back to back re-read of the four Amgash series books: “My Name is Lucy Barton”, “Anything is Possible”, “Oh, William” (whose 2022 Booker shortlisting prompted this re-read) and this book “Lucy By The Sea” (due to be published October 2022).
I think the best way to regard this series is as a series of three novels – which are ideally read as back to back due to the way they strongly complement each other; with the short story collection “Anything Is Possible” seen as more of an optional companion volume.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
This is Elizabeth Strout’s ninth book (all of which take place in the same fictional world) after: her 1998 debut “Amy and Isabelle”; her second novel “Abide With Me” (2006); her first interlinked short-story collection about the eponymous “Oliver Kitteridge” (2008) which won the Pulitzer Prize she later followed up with “Olive, Again” (2019); “The Burgess Boys” (2013); her Booker longlisted “My Name is Lucy Barton” (2016) which introduced perhaps her most popular and successful character (a successful but insecure novelist from an extremely hard and poor upbringing) which was then followed up in the “Amgash” series by the interlinked short stories “Anything Is Possible” (2017), and the novel “Oh William” (2021) about Lucy’s first husband - and which features on the 2022 Booker.
This book is ostensibly the fourth in the Amgash series and a pretty direct sequel to “Oh, William” but is (as the opening quote to my review shows) best seen as having two other key aspects.
The first aspects is an explicit attempt to engage with “these times” – this is very explicitly a COVID/lockdown novel (albeit I would say with mixed success) and to a lesser extent a nuanced (and for me more successful) attempt to engage with other National events during lockdown.
Starting with COVID - the ostensible plot of the novel is that William who, using his scientific background realises early on the threat of “the virus” (even if like most scientists he largely misunderstands the modes of transmission) insists on taking Lucy away from New York to Maine in March 2020, where the two of them then live, try to deal with recent trauma (Lucy being widowed; William being left by his third wife and having discovered some shocking truths about his mother’s origins) and past decisions), re-explore their relationship, and worry about the marriages as well as the safety of their two grown up daughters while navigating the reality of lockdown.
Lucy’s own insecurity alongside her novelistic drive to try to understand and empathise not just with other but with herself and her past, is given greater space during lockdown and the novel conveys really well the sense of uncertainty and reflection that lockdown bought to many people
The actual treatment of COVID (or as the book insists on calling it “the virus”) I found less successful. William manages to capture a rather annoying mix of complete COVID paranoia with extreme privilege – he for example goes completely mad when his daughter’s in-laws say they are moving back from Florida which will contaminate his asthmatic son-in-law, while at the same time happily moving to a handy spare home in Maine (and even switching number plates to hide that he has come from out-of-state). Now Strout is entitled to write unlikeable or arrogant characters (albeit I have a feeling we are meant to empathise with him more than I did) but I think more damningly from a novelistic viewpoint the book suffers from what I call the Literary Fecundity Fallacy – in the same way that characters in novels traditionally fall pregnant every time they have unplanned sex, every character in the novel who takes the slightest risk with COVID in spite of William’s paranoia tests positive within a week, often ends up in hospital and frequently dies (which only increases and seems to justify his irrationality).
Moving on to the wider political aspects – Lucy watches (or in many cases is unable to watch – her guilty willingness to turn away from unpleasant situations is key theme) the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests and then the Capitol Riots and while at one stage horrified at what she sees/can’t watch is also able to remember how she was made to feel at times in her childhood and the resentment it produced in her and at least have some empathy with what might drive them (in a way which is refreshing in a literary fiction culture that seems to take pleasure in demonising Trump or Brexit supporters) – even if she ultimately feels drawn to correctly condemn their excesses.
The second aspect is an attempt, even more explicitly than in her previous books to interweave her all of her previous books together. Characters from literally all of her previous books appear and incidents (often the key incidents) from them are recounted and remembered.
In a recent Guardian interview the author describes her writing style as that of “an embroiderer” – “I will pick it up and embroider a little green line, and come back later and embroider a leaf or something” – and her novels, intricately and painstakingly crafted, overlap and intertwine to create an instantly recognisable fictional landscape. “I did not set out to have a career peopled with the same characters,” she says. “But these people are so real to me that I keep wanting to write about them in their new situations or where they might be now, so I just keep going back to them.”
In terms of returning characters:
Most obviously Bob Burgess from the 2013 novel plays an absolutely key role in the novel – allowing William and Lucy to stay in a seaside Maine house that he manages for a client and forming an unexpectedly deep friendship with Lucy.
The infamous Olive makes a heavily signposted off-camera appearance as Lucy forms a relationship with a woman Charlene she meets when the both volunteer at a food pantry (I think that is a food bank) – Charlene cleaning in the care home where Olive lives together with Isabelle from Strout’s debut (as explained in “The Friend” from “Olive Again”).
Less obviously though Katherine – Tyler Caskey’s daughter from “Abide With Me” appears as a friend of Bob’s and she and Bob suddenly realise a huge childhood link between them – a link which having not read either book I am not sure was already known (and like so much of this novel the recounting here function as something of a Wiki guide to Strout’s oeuvre) or whether it has been cleverly inserted here.
Charlene is a Trump-voting, anti-vaxxer and brings us back to the idea of Lucy understanding something of what drives those different to her, something which comes to her even more sharply when she spots a white policeman and writes a short story imagining his life “This is the question that has made me a writer; always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person. And I could not stop feeling a fascination for this man, who seemed to be in his fifties, with a decent face and strong-looking arms. In a way that is not uncommon for me as a writer, I sort of began to feel what it was like to be inside his skin. It sounds very strange, but it is almost as though I could feel my molecules go into him and his come into me.”
And later ………….
I am glad Elizabeth Strout has more trust in her readers and herself – for this overall, and despite my behavioural and fecundity reservations, is an excellent addition to an increasingly impressive canon and one which ultimately in addition to all of the above is a moving exploration of being a parent of adult children who you see making the same mistakes you made (something which largely drives the plot and thoughts in the second half of this enjoyable novel).
My thanks to Penguin General UK -Viking for an ARC via NetGalley
Re-read as part of a back to back re-read of the four Amgash series books: “My Name is Lucy Barton”, “Anything is Possible”, “Oh, William” (whose 2022 Booker shortlisting prompted this re-read) and this book “Lucy By The Sea” (due to be published October 2022).
I think the best way to regard this series is as a series of three novels – which are ideally read as back to back due to the way they strongly complement each other; with the short story collection “Anything Is Possible” seen as more of an optional companion volume.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
So there was that kind of thing that happened. There were these times, is what I am saying, where the people I met were interesting. And their stories interwove!
This is Elizabeth Strout’s ninth book (all of which take place in the same fictional world) after: her 1998 debut “Amy and Isabelle”; her second novel “Abide With Me” (2006); her first interlinked short-story collection about the eponymous “Oliver Kitteridge” (2008) which won the Pulitzer Prize she later followed up with “Olive, Again” (2019); “The Burgess Boys” (2013); her Booker longlisted “My Name is Lucy Barton” (2016) which introduced perhaps her most popular and successful character (a successful but insecure novelist from an extremely hard and poor upbringing) which was then followed up in the “Amgash” series by the interlinked short stories “Anything Is Possible” (2017), and the novel “Oh William” (2021) about Lucy’s first husband - and which features on the 2022 Booker.
This book is ostensibly the fourth in the Amgash series and a pretty direct sequel to “Oh, William” but is (as the opening quote to my review shows) best seen as having two other key aspects.
The first aspects is an explicit attempt to engage with “these times” – this is very explicitly a COVID/lockdown novel (albeit I would say with mixed success) and to a lesser extent a nuanced (and for me more successful) attempt to engage with other National events during lockdown.
Starting with COVID - the ostensible plot of the novel is that William who, using his scientific background realises early on the threat of “the virus” (even if like most scientists he largely misunderstands the modes of transmission) insists on taking Lucy away from New York to Maine in March 2020, where the two of them then live, try to deal with recent trauma (Lucy being widowed; William being left by his third wife and having discovered some shocking truths about his mother’s origins) and past decisions), re-explore their relationship, and worry about the marriages as well as the safety of their two grown up daughters while navigating the reality of lockdown.
Lucy’s own insecurity alongside her novelistic drive to try to understand and empathise not just with other but with herself and her past, is given greater space during lockdown and the novel conveys really well the sense of uncertainty and reflection that lockdown bought to many people
I need to say: Even as all of this went on, even with the knowledge that my doctor had said it would be a year, I still did not . . . I don’t know how to say it, but my mind was having trouble taking things in. It was as though each day was like a huge stretch of ice I had to walk over. And in the ice were small trees stuck there and twigs, this is the only way I can describe it, as though the world had become a different landscape and I had to make it through each day without knowing when it would stop, and it seemed it would not stop, and so I felt a great uneasiness. Often I woke in the night and would lie there perfectly still; I would take off my sleep mask and not move; it seemed hours I would lie there, but I do not know. As I lay there, different parts of my life would come to me.
The actual treatment of COVID (or as the book insists on calling it “the virus”) I found less successful. William manages to capture a rather annoying mix of complete COVID paranoia with extreme privilege – he for example goes completely mad when his daughter’s in-laws say they are moving back from Florida which will contaminate his asthmatic son-in-law, while at the same time happily moving to a handy spare home in Maine (and even switching number plates to hide that he has come from out-of-state). Now Strout is entitled to write unlikeable or arrogant characters (albeit I have a feeling we are meant to empathise with him more than I did) but I think more damningly from a novelistic viewpoint the book suffers from what I call the Literary Fecundity Fallacy – in the same way that characters in novels traditionally fall pregnant every time they have unplanned sex, every character in the novel who takes the slightest risk with COVID in spite of William’s paranoia tests positive within a week, often ends up in hospital and frequently dies (which only increases and seems to justify his irrationality).
Moving on to the wider political aspects – Lucy watches (or in many cases is unable to watch – her guilty willingness to turn away from unpleasant situations is key theme) the George Floyd murder and subsequent protests and then the Capitol Riots and while at one stage horrified at what she sees/can’t watch is also able to remember how she was made to feel at times in her childhood and the resentment it produced in her and at least have some empathy with what might drive them (in a way which is refreshing in a literary fiction culture that seems to take pleasure in demonising Trump or Brexit supporters) – even if she ultimately feels drawn to correctly condemn their excesses.
I had felt my childhood humiliation so deeply again. And what if I had continued to feel that my entire life, what if all the jobs I had taken in my life were not enough to really make a living, what if I felt looked down upon all the time by the wealthier people in this country, who made fun of my religion and my guns. I did not have religion and I did not have guns, but I suddenly felt that I saw what these people were feeling; they were like my sister, Vicky, and I understood them. They had been made to feel poorly about themselves, they were looked at with disdain, and they could no longer stand it. I sat for a long time on the couch in the dark; there was a half moon that shone over the ocean. And then I thought, No, those were Nazis and racists at the Capitol. And so my understanding—my imagining of the breaking of the windows—stopped there.
The second aspect is an attempt, even more explicitly than in her previous books to interweave her all of her previous books together. Characters from literally all of her previous books appear and incidents (often the key incidents) from them are recounted and remembered.
In a recent Guardian interview the author describes her writing style as that of “an embroiderer” – “I will pick it up and embroider a little green line, and come back later and embroider a leaf or something” – and her novels, intricately and painstakingly crafted, overlap and intertwine to create an instantly recognisable fictional landscape. “I did not set out to have a career peopled with the same characters,” she says. “But these people are so real to me that I keep wanting to write about them in their new situations or where they might be now, so I just keep going back to them.”
In terms of returning characters:
Most obviously Bob Burgess from the 2013 novel plays an absolutely key role in the novel – allowing William and Lucy to stay in a seaside Maine house that he manages for a client and forming an unexpectedly deep friendship with Lucy.
The infamous Olive makes a heavily signposted off-camera appearance as Lucy forms a relationship with a woman Charlene she meets when the both volunteer at a food pantry (I think that is a food bank) – Charlene cleaning in the care home where Olive lives together with Isabelle from Strout’s debut (as explained in “The Friend” from “Olive Again”).
Less obviously though Katherine – Tyler Caskey’s daughter from “Abide With Me” appears as a friend of Bob’s and she and Bob suddenly realise a huge childhood link between them – a link which having not read either book I am not sure was already known (and like so much of this novel the recounting here function as something of a Wiki guide to Strout’s oeuvre) or whether it has been cleverly inserted here.
Charlene is a Trump-voting, anti-vaxxer and brings us back to the idea of Lucy understanding something of what drives those different to her, something which comes to her even more sharply when she spots a white policeman and writes a short story imagining his life “This is the question that has made me a writer; always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person. And I could not stop feeling a fascination for this man, who seemed to be in his fifties, with a decent face and strong-looking arms. In a way that is not uncommon for me as a writer, I sort of began to feel what it was like to be inside his skin. It sounds very strange, but it is almost as though I could feel my molecules go into him and his come into me.”
And later ………….
That night I said to William, who was reading a book, “My Arms Emory story is sympathetic toward a white cop who liked the old president and who does an act of violence and gets away with it. Maybe I shouldn’t publish it right now.” William looked up and said, “Well, it might help people understand each other. Just publish it, Lucy.” I was quiet for a long time. Then I said, “I used to tell my students to write against the grain. Meaning: Try to go outside your comfort level, because that’s where interesting things will happen on the page.” William kept reading his book. He said, “Just put the story out there.” But I knew I could not trust myself—or other people. But mostly I could not trust myself: to know what to do these days.
I am glad Elizabeth Strout has more trust in her readers and herself – for this overall, and despite my behavioural and fecundity reservations, is an excellent addition to an increasingly impressive canon and one which ultimately in addition to all of the above is a moving exploration of being a parent of adult children who you see making the same mistakes you made (something which largely drives the plot and thoughts in the second half of this enjoyable novel).
My thanks to Penguin General UK -Viking for an ARC via NetGalley
June 19, 2023
Fragility
Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel Lucy by the Sea is, in my opinion, her best Lucy Barton one yet. What you expect from Elizabeth Strout is a thoughtful and thought-provoking story that carries us at an unrushed pace with fascinating characters that are carefully observed. Done!
A writer’s most difficult challenge using the COVID pandemic as a theme is that many readers want to put it in their rear-view mirror. From the outset, I had no intention of reading a book about the virus and picked this book up so I could visit one of my favourite characters, Lucy Barton. I can say that the pandemic IS the theme; the isolation, dread and fear, the grief, the division, the profound changes it made to our lives, and the devastation it left in its wake. It dramatically affected families, communities, and work environments and inspired and guided the value we place on our lives and relationships. Elizabeth Strout does an outstanding job of taking us on a journey with Lucy that resonates with our experiences in an understated and reassuringly descriptive style without wallowing in the factual destruction of the pandemic itself.
Lucy is convinced by her ex-husband William to abandon her New York apartment and travel with him to Cosby, a seaside town in Maine, just as the pandemic is reaching the United States. Little did she know that would be the last time she would see her apartment. The unassuming and seemingly fragile Lucy Barton continues to enthral with her keen observations and thoughts on her life and her daughters' lives as they face upheavals and meaningful life choices. Memories of her late husband, the unpredictability of life, now living with her first husband, and how Strout’s magnificent writing so carefully exposes her feelings and judgements is an experience I’ve always enjoyed.
The relationship between Lucy and William is fascinating and how Strout portrays their personalities is so beautifully authentic. The mixed bag of infidelity and love from William, with a reserved display of vulnerability, adds to the depth and roundness of his character.
Lucy by the Sea is a profound and enthralling account of one of my favourite characters at one of the world’s most dramatic events that touched every nation on the planet. This novel reminds us of our fragility and need for each other. I want to thank Penguin UK, Viking and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in return for an honest review.
Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel Lucy by the Sea is, in my opinion, her best Lucy Barton one yet. What you expect from Elizabeth Strout is a thoughtful and thought-provoking story that carries us at an unrushed pace with fascinating characters that are carefully observed. Done!
A writer’s most difficult challenge using the COVID pandemic as a theme is that many readers want to put it in their rear-view mirror. From the outset, I had no intention of reading a book about the virus and picked this book up so I could visit one of my favourite characters, Lucy Barton. I can say that the pandemic IS the theme; the isolation, dread and fear, the grief, the division, the profound changes it made to our lives, and the devastation it left in its wake. It dramatically affected families, communities, and work environments and inspired and guided the value we place on our lives and relationships. Elizabeth Strout does an outstanding job of taking us on a journey with Lucy that resonates with our experiences in an understated and reassuringly descriptive style without wallowing in the factual destruction of the pandemic itself.
Lucy is convinced by her ex-husband William to abandon her New York apartment and travel with him to Cosby, a seaside town in Maine, just as the pandemic is reaching the United States. Little did she know that would be the last time she would see her apartment. The unassuming and seemingly fragile Lucy Barton continues to enthral with her keen observations and thoughts on her life and her daughters' lives as they face upheavals and meaningful life choices. Memories of her late husband, the unpredictability of life, now living with her first husband, and how Strout’s magnificent writing so carefully exposes her feelings and judgements is an experience I’ve always enjoyed.
The relationship between Lucy and William is fascinating and how Strout portrays their personalities is so beautifully authentic. The mixed bag of infidelity and love from William, with a reserved display of vulnerability, adds to the depth and roundness of his character.
Lucy by the Sea is a profound and enthralling account of one of my favourite characters at one of the world’s most dramatic events that touched every nation on the planet. This novel reminds us of our fragility and need for each other. I want to thank Penguin UK, Viking and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in return for an honest review.
October 1, 2022
Lucy by the Sea is the fourth book in Elizabeth Strout’s Amgash series. The story begins when the reader’s dear friend, Lucy Barton, leaves New York City in March 2020 at the behest of her ex-husband, Dr. William Gerhardt. William, a parasitologist, wants to save Lucy from the impending pandemic by having them live together in a small town on the coast of Maine for a few weeks. Of course, as Covid cases surge, their self-imposed lock-down in Maine goes from weeks to months to over a year.
Lucy’s fear, concern, and bewilderment over the pandemic are palatable throughout the story. We follow her as she navigates living with the man who cheated on her during their marriage, problems with her two daughters, the loss of her life in New York, and the stressful political climate around the 2020 presidential election, the January 6th attack, and the riots after the death of George Floyd. Lucy reminds us that “We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all. But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.”
I do not recommend this book as a stand-alone. The series is best read in order to understand the characters’ development.
4.5-stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel was published on September 20, 2022.
Lucy’s fear, concern, and bewilderment over the pandemic are palatable throughout the story. We follow her as she navigates living with the man who cheated on her during their marriage, problems with her two daughters, the loss of her life in New York, and the stressful political climate around the 2020 presidential election, the January 6th attack, and the riots after the death of George Floyd. Lucy reminds us that “We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all. But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.”
I do not recommend this book as a stand-alone. The series is best read in order to understand the characters’ development.
4.5-stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel was published on September 20, 2022.
August 16, 2023
Coming out in paperback 9/12/23
Lockdown With Lucy
Elizabeth Strout’s last novel, “Oh, William!,” was recently longlisted for the prestigious Booker Award… and I enjoyed this year’s “Lucy by the Sea” so much more. Both books feature the title character first arriving in “My Name is Lucy Barton.” In “Oh, William!” Lucy constantly referred back to previous events and characters and followed up with “...but I’m not going to go into that now…” asides. The book was enjoyable and made sense as a stand-alone, but I had the sense of missing out by not being privy to the source of these references.
Now, in “Lucy by the Sea,” The Pandemic. She is having trouble grasping what is happening to her world, the whole world, during the opening days of the outbreak. We were all thrown for a loop and it is hard to choose to revisit the panic we felt during the height of the disaster. Many editors counseled their authors to shy away from the topic, that readers were looking for escape.
Too soon? Reading “Lucy by the Sea” I felt I could trust Elizabeth Strout with my post-covid fears. Lucy is not smarter than us in the way she reacts to the crisis, she is a real and ordinary and flawed human being. Viewing her response in hindsight we can sympathize with her bewilderment, the effects this is having on her. She worries about her memory and mental capacity at times. One of her friends reassures her that she is not alone, she could chalk it up as “Covid mind.” Nothing in that time was easy to digest.
While set in the Covid era, this is Elizabeth Strout and we are not limited to social disaster. Interpersonal relationships are at the core. Lucy has fled New York with her first husband, William, and is now isolated from her daughters, her brother, and her sister. Life went on during the pandemic, including friends dying at long distance, family breakups, troubled pregnancies– all the life altering events hard enough to cope with when families are there to support one another. When the shocking attack on the Capital happens on January 6, she is so overloaded she can not watch the coverage, bolting from the room.
Lucy has had a lot of loss and it seems magnified now. People do come to the rescue and provide hope. William confesses that hers is the life he wanted to save. Neighbors reach out to offset the initial hostilities the couple experienced moving into the small seaport village. The imaginary “nice” mother she has conjured is there to encourage her. This counters the negative messages of her real, much colder mother from a childhood she views as a lockdown of its own.
“Lucy by the Sea” reexamines the impact the isolation had on us and the repercussions felt in our relationships. Lucy is such a riveting character– emotional and confused at times, reeling from grief, but always resilient. It is intriguing to rerun this period through her eyes.
Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #LucybytheSea #NetGalley
Lockdown With Lucy
Elizabeth Strout’s last novel, “Oh, William!,” was recently longlisted for the prestigious Booker Award… and I enjoyed this year’s “Lucy by the Sea” so much more. Both books feature the title character first arriving in “My Name is Lucy Barton.” In “Oh, William!” Lucy constantly referred back to previous events and characters and followed up with “...but I’m not going to go into that now…” asides. The book was enjoyable and made sense as a stand-alone, but I had the sense of missing out by not being privy to the source of these references.
Now, in “Lucy by the Sea,” The Pandemic. She is having trouble grasping what is happening to her world, the whole world, during the opening days of the outbreak. We were all thrown for a loop and it is hard to choose to revisit the panic we felt during the height of the disaster. Many editors counseled their authors to shy away from the topic, that readers were looking for escape.
Too soon? Reading “Lucy by the Sea” I felt I could trust Elizabeth Strout with my post-covid fears. Lucy is not smarter than us in the way she reacts to the crisis, she is a real and ordinary and flawed human being. Viewing her response in hindsight we can sympathize with her bewilderment, the effects this is having on her. She worries about her memory and mental capacity at times. One of her friends reassures her that she is not alone, she could chalk it up as “Covid mind.” Nothing in that time was easy to digest.
While set in the Covid era, this is Elizabeth Strout and we are not limited to social disaster. Interpersonal relationships are at the core. Lucy has fled New York with her first husband, William, and is now isolated from her daughters, her brother, and her sister. Life went on during the pandemic, including friends dying at long distance, family breakups, troubled pregnancies– all the life altering events hard enough to cope with when families are there to support one another. When the shocking attack on the Capital happens on January 6, she is so overloaded she can not watch the coverage, bolting from the room.
Lucy has had a lot of loss and it seems magnified now. People do come to the rescue and provide hope. William confesses that hers is the life he wanted to save. Neighbors reach out to offset the initial hostilities the couple experienced moving into the small seaport village. The imaginary “nice” mother she has conjured is there to encourage her. This counters the negative messages of her real, much colder mother from a childhood she views as a lockdown of its own.
“Lucy by the Sea” reexamines the impact the isolation had on us and the repercussions felt in our relationships. Lucy is such a riveting character– emotional and confused at times, reeling from grief, but always resilient. It is intriguing to rerun this period through her eyes.
Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #LucybytheSea #NetGalley
September 29, 2022
This book ticked me off. The main character is constantly complaining about how the pandemic is affecting her. She has a safe place to live, fairly secluded, with a companion to keep her company. She doesn’t have to worry about money. So many people had it so much worse. I came away from this book thinking “What an entitled whiny woman”
October 8, 2022
Elizabeth Strout returns with her sparse but beautiful prose in Lucy by the Sea, book four in the Amgash series.
It’s the early days of 2020 when COVID-19 was making its way around the world. Lucy watches it with feelings of detachment while her ex-husband William whisks her away from NYC to a small town in Maine. Initially, she believes it’ll only be for a few weeks but eventually realizes she will never return to her apartment.
While Lucy is in lockdown with William, she reflects on their shared history, her relationship with her grown children, her traumatic childhood, and all the turmoil and tension since 2020.
Memory, loneliness, and grief are themes touched on throughout this novel.
I think I read a review where someone likened Lucy’s story to sitting down with your grandmother and listening to her chat with you. It does have that sort of intimate feeling.
I highly recommend this series if you haven’t started it already. Each book is on the shorter side, but all are impactful and thought-provoking.
Thank you to Random House for providing me with a widget via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
It’s the early days of 2020 when COVID-19 was making its way around the world. Lucy watches it with feelings of detachment while her ex-husband William whisks her away from NYC to a small town in Maine. Initially, she believes it’ll only be for a few weeks but eventually realizes she will never return to her apartment.
While Lucy is in lockdown with William, she reflects on their shared history, her relationship with her grown children, her traumatic childhood, and all the turmoil and tension since 2020.
Memory, loneliness, and grief are themes touched on throughout this novel.
I think I read a review where someone likened Lucy’s story to sitting down with your grandmother and listening to her chat with you. It does have that sort of intimate feeling.
I highly recommend this series if you haven’t started it already. Each book is on the shorter side, but all are impactful and thought-provoking.
Thank you to Random House for providing me with a widget via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 16, 2022
It's so nice to visit Lucy again! Plus, I loved the mention of Olive Kitteridge!
It is during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, that William, Lucy's first husband, has whisked her away to a cabin in Maine. There they spend their days walking on the beach, getting to slowly know residents in the town, and talking about their lives and marriage. Readers also get to learn more about their daughters, their lives, and their relationships.
This book is a look at family, relationships, and the loneliness and uncertainty felt during the early days of the pandemic. Both will feel the loss of those who passed away. As they look at the past they had together, they also look to the future.
I read this book in one sitting as I did not want to put it down. I have enjoyed the previous books in the series and enjoyed being able to revisit Lucy once again. She is an interesting character who makes interesting observations. Plus, it was nice seeing her interact with her daughters.
This book may resonate with some who felt similar things as the characters in this book during the beginning of the pandemic. The uncertainty, the anxiety, the doubt, the loneliness, the feeling of being powerless, the difficulty finding essentials such as toilet paper, the loss of loved ones, and the hope for a return to normal.
As with all of Elizabeth Stout's books, I found this to be beautifully written and hard to put down. I wanted to stay with Lucy a little longer when the book ended. This is a testament to Stout's writing and the characters she has created.
#LucybytheSea #NetGalley
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
It is during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, that William, Lucy's first husband, has whisked her away to a cabin in Maine. There they spend their days walking on the beach, getting to slowly know residents in the town, and talking about their lives and marriage. Readers also get to learn more about their daughters, their lives, and their relationships.
This book is a look at family, relationships, and the loneliness and uncertainty felt during the early days of the pandemic. Both will feel the loss of those who passed away. As they look at the past they had together, they also look to the future.
I read this book in one sitting as I did not want to put it down. I have enjoyed the previous books in the series and enjoyed being able to revisit Lucy once again. She is an interesting character who makes interesting observations. Plus, it was nice seeing her interact with her daughters.
This book may resonate with some who felt similar things as the characters in this book during the beginning of the pandemic. The uncertainty, the anxiety, the doubt, the loneliness, the feeling of being powerless, the difficulty finding essentials such as toilet paper, the loss of loved ones, and the hope for a return to normal.
As with all of Elizabeth Stout's books, I found this to be beautifully written and hard to put down. I wanted to stay with Lucy a little longer when the book ended. This is a testament to Stout's writing and the characters she has created.
#LucybytheSea #NetGalley
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
May 14, 2024
I LOVE LUCY!!!
My Name is Lucy Barton was the very first Elizabeth Strout novel that I ever read, and I completely fell in love with that character. I identified with so many parts of that bashful but talented ingenue.
Now, Lucy and William are die-hard New Yorkers, forced to flee New York City because of the looming pandemic. William all but abducts Lucy and brings her to a cliff-top house in rural Maine, of all places.
I agree with Bob Burgess (0ne of the many characters from Strout's other novels who keep popping in and out of this story) that Lucy, for all her protestations that she always feels frightened, is indeed a very brave woman. She literally "came from nothing" as her mother-in-law used to proclaim to her dinner guests as she would introduce her new daughter-in-law.
Lucy surpassed even her own limited expectations (she never felt that she was special in any way.) Lucy found love not once, but twice, and, as her daughters pointed out to her: her second husband, David, had adored her - and she him. Her first husband remained her loyal, steadfast friend and confessed that a world without her in it would be unendurable. This confession finally convinced Lucy to heed William's fear-mongering and remain in isolation with him in Maine.
As you may have gathered by now, this new installment of the times and trials of Lucy Barton takes place during COVID isolation/lockdown. Lucy makes an interesting observation that in many ways, because of her childhood, she had always lived in some form of social or personal lockdown. Lucy is so incredibly wise - and kind. No wonder we all love to spend time with her.
Olive Kitteridge is another character who is frequently mentioned in this story. In usual Olive style, she managed to make me laugh at her off the page antics: Olive is such a curmudgeon!
Politics and the tension of the last election - as well as the insurrection - were mentioned in some detail. It was interesting to me that Lucy and William decided to have compassion for the people that they labeled "the unheard Have Nots." I, personally, had no sympathy for the rioters, but if the French Revolution taught us anything, it is that the downtrodden, along with the opportunistic/greedy sycophants and those who covet other people's status and money - will only stand by for so long before taking up arms - as partly happened in the U.S. capitol. (Didn't help that you had an unscrupulous Rabble-Rouser of the first degree feeding his rabid, and downright frenzied, followers treasonous propaganda and lies. History will forever record his personal and political infamy!)
Although I tend to stay away from COVID-themed novels, I would have read Elizabeth Strout's shopping list if necessary! (Come to think of it, there WAS a shopping list,or two, compiled or mentioned here and there! Quite engrossing, too!)
And that cliff-hanger of an ending!!!! I do hope that this means there is yet ANOTHER installment in the making! I can just hear the crowds roaring: Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!......
My rating: All the Stars! My thanks to the author, Elizabeth Strout, her publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review! I loved it!
(Release date: September 20, 2022.)
My Name is Lucy Barton was the very first Elizabeth Strout novel that I ever read, and I completely fell in love with that character. I identified with so many parts of that bashful but talented ingenue.
Now, Lucy and William are die-hard New Yorkers, forced to flee New York City because of the looming pandemic. William all but abducts Lucy and brings her to a cliff-top house in rural Maine, of all places.
I agree with Bob Burgess (0ne of the many characters from Strout's other novels who keep popping in and out of this story) that Lucy, for all her protestations that she always feels frightened, is indeed a very brave woman. She literally "came from nothing" as her mother-in-law used to proclaim to her dinner guests as she would introduce her new daughter-in-law.
Lucy surpassed even her own limited expectations (she never felt that she was special in any way.) Lucy found love not once, but twice, and, as her daughters pointed out to her: her second husband, David, had adored her - and she him. Her first husband remained her loyal, steadfast friend and confessed that a world without her in it would be unendurable. This confession finally convinced Lucy to heed William's fear-mongering and remain in isolation with him in Maine.
As you may have gathered by now, this new installment of the times and trials of Lucy Barton takes place during COVID isolation/lockdown. Lucy makes an interesting observation that in many ways, because of her childhood, she had always lived in some form of social or personal lockdown. Lucy is so incredibly wise - and kind. No wonder we all love to spend time with her.
Olive Kitteridge is another character who is frequently mentioned in this story. In usual Olive style, she managed to make me laugh at her off the page antics: Olive is such a curmudgeon!
Politics and the tension of the last election - as well as the insurrection - were mentioned in some detail. It was interesting to me that Lucy and William decided to have compassion for the people that they labeled "the unheard Have Nots." I, personally, had no sympathy for the rioters, but if the French Revolution taught us anything, it is that the downtrodden, along with the opportunistic/greedy sycophants and those who covet other people's status and money - will only stand by for so long before taking up arms - as partly happened in the U.S. capitol. (Didn't help that you had an unscrupulous Rabble-Rouser of the first degree feeding his rabid, and downright frenzied, followers treasonous propaganda and lies. History will forever record his personal and political infamy!)
Although I tend to stay away from COVID-themed novels, I would have read Elizabeth Strout's shopping list if necessary! (Come to think of it, there WAS a shopping list,or two, compiled or mentioned here and there! Quite engrossing, too!)
And that cliff-hanger of an ending!!!! I do hope that this means there is yet ANOTHER installment in the making! I can just hear the crowds roaring: Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!......
My rating: All the Stars! My thanks to the author, Elizabeth Strout, her publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review! I loved it!
(Release date: September 20, 2022.)
September 27, 2022
Oh Lucy! Already I miss Lucy and William... and Bob. And her daughters. This morning when I woke up I found myself wondering how Chrissy and Becca are faring. These characters are so real to me because of Strout's magic. Lucy is curious, anxious, loving, prescient, open, scared, caring, beautiful, so human - she shimmers off the page. For me, going through the pandemic with her was a healing process. I loved this novel!
September 25, 2022
This took me right back to the first days of COVID-19. How quickly it entrenched itself and spread. Disbelief at the beginning. The lock-downs, the isolation, the concern morphing into fear. The masks, the gloves, the social distancing. The differences in opinion as to how this virus should be addressed and attacked.
Strout hit all the right notes here. She is a virtuoso when speaking of the human heart. What we tell ourselves in order to face certain challenges. How grief is personal and unique to each of us. And the fact that we will all be gone someday. We may not like it, but we know it is true. In the meantime, more than two years into this pandemic, I am struck by how much we had taken for granted, and how even the smallest of things have great value now.
Strout hit all the right notes here. She is a virtuoso when speaking of the human heart. What we tell ourselves in order to face certain challenges. How grief is personal and unique to each of us. And the fact that we will all be gone someday. We may not like it, but we know it is true. In the meantime, more than two years into this pandemic, I am struck by how much we had taken for granted, and how even the smallest of things have great value now.
November 17, 2022
Very accomplished characterizations and the conversational style make this book a joy to read. The plot is not very special, but the humanity the author imbues her main character with elevates the installment
And then this thought went through my mind.
We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all.
But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.
Lucy Barton is a great main character, who imbues everyday life during the pandemic (sounding much more exciting than it actually was while living through Covid-19 lockdowns, as Elizabeth Strout shows) with realism, full of doubts, worries and small flickers of appreciation for nature and life.
It is interesting how people endure things Lucy thinks at the start of the pandemic. She is whisked away by her ex, one of the main characters of previous instalment Oh William!, to a small seaside village.
There was for me during this time a sense of being dazed. As though, in a way, I was not capable of taking in everything that was happening in this world.
A lot happens in the outside world, but the inner world that Lucy by the Sea inhabits is quite limited in terms of interactions. She misses her kids, who go through some struggles of their own, but overall there is little tension in their affluent, quite normal lives.
There are some links to the Olive Kitteridge books, and reminiscence on childhood shaping the adult:
My mother, because she was my mother, had great gravity in my young life. In my whole life. I did not know who she was, and I did not like who she had been. But she was my mother, and so some part of me had continued to believe things she had said.
Some people die, some turn out to be Trump supporters and the personal life and mental health of some of the kids are not as great as they should be, but overall I found the book rather light on plot, maybe captured well in the following quote:
We all live with people - and places - and things- that we have given great weight to. But we are weightless in the end.
Is it particular insightful in 21st century life? No
Is the plot or language especially nuanced or original? No
Are the narrator and all her family affluent white people? Yes
But still this book works very well, even following the slowed down pacing in the middle of the pandemic. The writing of Strout is effective and in the end you feel for Lucy and her ageing, her distractedness and all the concerns she has. Quite a feat for a fictional character.
Quotes
I am in mourning for my life - Chekhov
We are alone in these things that we suffer
Oh Lucy, don’t you sometimes just feel sorry for everyone in this whole wide world?
I mean, praise seems unable to enter me
And I thought: We are only doing what we can to get through.
But I have often thought that it made me a nicer person, I really do. When you are truly humbled, that can happen. I have come to notice this in life. You can become bigger or bitter, this is what I think. And as a result of that pain, I became bigger.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
He and I are not young, we’re not going to be young again.
And then this thought went through my mind.
We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all.
But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.
Lucy Barton is a great main character, who imbues everyday life during the pandemic (sounding much more exciting than it actually was while living through Covid-19 lockdowns, as Elizabeth Strout shows) with realism, full of doubts, worries and small flickers of appreciation for nature and life.
It is interesting how people endure things Lucy thinks at the start of the pandemic. She is whisked away by her ex, one of the main characters of previous instalment Oh William!, to a small seaside village.
There was for me during this time a sense of being dazed. As though, in a way, I was not capable of taking in everything that was happening in this world.
A lot happens in the outside world, but the inner world that Lucy by the Sea inhabits is quite limited in terms of interactions. She misses her kids, who go through some struggles of their own, but overall there is little tension in their affluent, quite normal lives.
There are some links to the Olive Kitteridge books, and reminiscence on childhood shaping the adult:
My mother, because she was my mother, had great gravity in my young life. In my whole life. I did not know who she was, and I did not like who she had been. But she was my mother, and so some part of me had continued to believe things she had said.
Some people die, some turn out to be Trump supporters and the personal life and mental health of some of the kids are not as great as they should be, but overall I found the book rather light on plot, maybe captured well in the following quote:
We all live with people - and places - and things- that we have given great weight to. But we are weightless in the end.
Is it particular insightful in 21st century life? No
Is the plot or language especially nuanced or original? No
Are the narrator and all her family affluent white people? Yes
But still this book works very well, even following the slowed down pacing in the middle of the pandemic. The writing of Strout is effective and in the end you feel for Lucy and her ageing, her distractedness and all the concerns she has. Quite a feat for a fictional character.
Quotes
I am in mourning for my life - Chekhov
We are alone in these things that we suffer
Oh Lucy, don’t you sometimes just feel sorry for everyone in this whole wide world?
I mean, praise seems unable to enter me
And I thought: We are only doing what we can to get through.
But I have often thought that it made me a nicer person, I really do. When you are truly humbled, that can happen. I have come to notice this in life. You can become bigger or bitter, this is what I think. And as a result of that pain, I became bigger.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
He and I are not young, we’re not going to be young again.
January 6, 2024
Lucy by the Sea. Isn't that a great title? And in this book (Amgash#4), Lucy Barton is indeed by the sea, living in a small house on the Maine coast, whisked there by ex-husband William at the beginning of the Covid outbreak. As a scientist William is ahead of the game and knows it will be wise to be out of New York when the virus starts to gather speed.
I thought I would not enjoy a book set in Covid times but Strout is a masterful writer and Lucy is an admirable character. Put the two of them together and of course we have a beautiful history of the times, including the human experience of how we survived lockdown and all its consequences. Lucy has friends and family who get sick, who are suffering in different ways, and who are not able to get together at the most stressful times. Just like we all did.
I wondered what William's real reason was for choosing Lucy as the one person he wanted to save and protect. He has not always been the best person towards her even though their friendship has been enduring. At one point it is suggested he manipulates her - maybe he is making sure he has company in his final years. I wonder if there will be a fifth book for us to find out! I certainly hope so.
I highly recommend this book but if you are new to Lucy Barton start with My Name Is Lucy Barton. It is a series which grows on you.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I thought I would not enjoy a book set in Covid times but Strout is a masterful writer and Lucy is an admirable character. Put the two of them together and of course we have a beautiful history of the times, including the human experience of how we survived lockdown and all its consequences. Lucy has friends and family who get sick, who are suffering in different ways, and who are not able to get together at the most stressful times. Just like we all did.
I wondered what William's real reason was for choosing Lucy as the one person he wanted to save and protect. He has not always been the best person towards her even though their friendship has been enduring. At one point it is suggested he manipulates her - maybe he is making sure he has company in his final years. I wonder if there will be a fifth book for us to find out! I certainly hope so.
I highly recommend this book but if you are new to Lucy Barton start with My Name Is Lucy Barton. It is a series which grows on you.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
July 27, 2022
If you were to quote sentences or paragraphs, you wouldn't be wowed, Strout's writing is unadorned and simple, yet she conveys people's complexities, contradictions, flaws and virtues like no one else.
This is the fourth book featuring Lucy Barton, a writer, divorced and widowed, now in her sixties. When the Coronavirus makes its way to New York, William, Lucy's former husband and the father of her two daughters, convinces her to "escape" with him to Maine. They rent a house on the coast. It's a small community, it's quiet, and nothing much happens. Of course, the pandemic affects them mentally, things happen to friends and family members. Remember the ups and downs of that strange period? Lucy experiences worries, panic attacks, grief, and memory loss. Most of us will find those elements familiar, we've experienced them in different ways. Of course, while we were all in the same boat when it came to the pandemic, some were travelling in little boats, while others were facing the storm in luxury, well-built and equipped boats - but that's not the point - this is Lucy's story.
I appreciated reacquainting myself with some "old friends" whom Strout brought back in more or less significant ways. Obviously, she knows that she's got her faithful readers. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels invested in Lucy's story.
So, have you met Lucy yet?
I've received this novel from the publishers, in exchange for an honest review. My gratitude to Penguin UK for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
This is the fourth book featuring Lucy Barton, a writer, divorced and widowed, now in her sixties. When the Coronavirus makes its way to New York, William, Lucy's former husband and the father of her two daughters, convinces her to "escape" with him to Maine. They rent a house on the coast. It's a small community, it's quiet, and nothing much happens. Of course, the pandemic affects them mentally, things happen to friends and family members. Remember the ups and downs of that strange period? Lucy experiences worries, panic attacks, grief, and memory loss. Most of us will find those elements familiar, we've experienced them in different ways. Of course, while we were all in the same boat when it came to the pandemic, some were travelling in little boats, while others were facing the storm in luxury, well-built and equipped boats - but that's not the point - this is Lucy's story.
I appreciated reacquainting myself with some "old friends" whom Strout brought back in more or less significant ways. Obviously, she knows that she's got her faithful readers. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels invested in Lucy's story.
So, have you met Lucy yet?
I've received this novel from the publishers, in exchange for an honest review. My gratitude to Penguin UK for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
June 6, 2023
This is the best Covid novel I've read so far - in 50 years' time, if people wonder what it must have been like to live through the pandemic, this book will tell them. As this is #4 of the Amgash series, our narrator and protagonist is once more Lucy Barton, now a widowed writer. When the pandemic starts, her ex-husband William takes her from Manhattan to Maine to save her life: As an elderly woman, she is particularly at risk. The ex-couple quarantines together, and we learn how the situation affects not only them, but also their grown-up children, other family, friends, and neighbors.
While plot-wise, one might maintain that not much happens, this introspective text is all about trying to empathize in a time that requires people to stay physically apart. Lucy's mind drifts back and forth between her past and the present, and more and more, she experiences the effects of aging. The world is out of control, and the conversational tone of the book also reveals how Lucy is arguing with herself, trying to gain a degree of control by looking for insights via stories, her own and that of others.
Also, there's a cameo of Olive Kitteridge, so that's probably my sign to finally tackle this one. Strout just knows her psychological writing, she feels with her characters and never judges them for their flaws, but sees them as signs of their humanity. While in most cases, I would find this kind of straightforward writing simplistic and conservative, Strout (not unlike Jonathan Franzen) is a master of the more classical approach to storytelling, and her texts are moving and captivating.
While plot-wise, one might maintain that not much happens, this introspective text is all about trying to empathize in a time that requires people to stay physically apart. Lucy's mind drifts back and forth between her past and the present, and more and more, she experiences the effects of aging. The world is out of control, and the conversational tone of the book also reveals how Lucy is arguing with herself, trying to gain a degree of control by looking for insights via stories, her own and that of others.
Also, there's a cameo of Olive Kitteridge, so that's probably my sign to finally tackle this one. Strout just knows her psychological writing, she feels with her characters and never judges them for their flaws, but sees them as signs of their humanity. While in most cases, I would find this kind of straightforward writing simplistic and conservative, Strout (not unlike Jonathan Franzen) is a master of the more classical approach to storytelling, and her texts are moving and captivating.
November 13, 2022
Let me first explain why I’m going straight down the middle with my rating on this book, because in all actuality I shouldn’t even be rating this book (or any other book right now). First of all, this is my first book by Elizabeth Strout. I see she is a well loved author, but I don’t have any other books to compare this one to.
Secondly, I just had my fourth knee surgery on Friday, and the pain I am in is unbearable 😭. So you see, this may be a five star book, but my pain will not like anything right now…
I don’t want to make this review about my knee injury, because if I did- it would be a super long review! Long story short, I fell and shattered my kneecap in five pieces. Here I am four surgeries later, hoping to get it right 🤞. In the meantime, I have zero pain tolerance, and focusing on a book has been quite a task…
I will say that I did enjoy the format of this book. Nice, short chapters… I really liked the character of Lucy Barton. I felt she was very relatable. In fact, there was a strong character development for all the characters.
This book took place during the Covid-19 lockdowns, and how everyone was social distancing and trying to relate to their new way of life. It seems so weird to me that the Covid lockdowns were only two years ago, because it sure feels like so much longer. The author also reminded us of the protests, and other issues that went on during that time.
I do recommend reading this book, and I just wish I felt better. I do plan on going back and reading Strout’s previous novels, because I do think I would enjoy them all.
Secondly, I just had my fourth knee surgery on Friday, and the pain I am in is unbearable 😭. So you see, this may be a five star book, but my pain will not like anything right now…
I don’t want to make this review about my knee injury, because if I did- it would be a super long review! Long story short, I fell and shattered my kneecap in five pieces. Here I am four surgeries later, hoping to get it right 🤞. In the meantime, I have zero pain tolerance, and focusing on a book has been quite a task…
I will say that I did enjoy the format of this book. Nice, short chapters… I really liked the character of Lucy Barton. I felt she was very relatable. In fact, there was a strong character development for all the characters.
This book took place during the Covid-19 lockdowns, and how everyone was social distancing and trying to relate to their new way of life. It seems so weird to me that the Covid lockdowns were only two years ago, because it sure feels like so much longer. The author also reminded us of the protests, and other issues that went on during that time.
I do recommend reading this book, and I just wish I felt better. I do plan on going back and reading Strout’s previous novels, because I do think I would enjoy them all.
December 10, 2022
EXCERPT: I am a novelist and I had a book coming out that fall, and so after our trip to Grand Cayman I had a great deal of travelling to do around the country and I did it; this was in late October. I was also scheduled to go to Italy and Germany in the beginning of March, but in early December - it was kind of odd - I just decided I was not going to go to those places. I never cancel book tours and the publishers were not happy, but I was not going to go. As March approached someone said, 'Good thing you didn't go to Italy, they're having that virus.' And that's when I noticed it. I think that was the first time. I did not really think about it ever coming to New York.
But William did.
ABOUT 'LUCY BY THE SEA': Lucy is uprooted from her life in New York City and reluctantly goes into lockdown with her ex-husband William in a house on the coast of Maine.
MY THOUGHTS: Not everyone is going to want to read about living through the first wave of the pandemic and the lockdown. I'm not going to say that this is Elizabeth Strout's best book, because I don't believe it is, but it certainly has merit. There are lots of things written within that gave me pause for thought.
Lucy by the Sea made me realise that we all coped with the isolation of the pandemic in our own ways. My experience was vastly different to Lucy's.
While I wouldn't describe reading Lucy By the Sea as an uplifting experience, there were a few moments of pure, unadulterated joy such as when Lucy sees the first dandelion flowering after winter. Who would have thought that the humble dandelion would bring such pleasure?
As always, Elizabeth Strout made me think, and remember.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.1
#LucybytheSea #NetGalley
I: #elizabethstrout @penguinukbooks
T: @LizStrout @PenguinUKBooks
#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #sliceoflife
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.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Waitomo District Library for the loan of Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
But William did.
ABOUT 'LUCY BY THE SEA': Lucy is uprooted from her life in New York City and reluctantly goes into lockdown with her ex-husband William in a house on the coast of Maine.
MY THOUGHTS: Not everyone is going to want to read about living through the first wave of the pandemic and the lockdown. I'm not going to say that this is Elizabeth Strout's best book, because I don't believe it is, but it certainly has merit. There are lots of things written within that gave me pause for thought.
Lucy by the Sea made me realise that we all coped with the isolation of the pandemic in our own ways. My experience was vastly different to Lucy's.
While I wouldn't describe reading Lucy By the Sea as an uplifting experience, there were a few moments of pure, unadulterated joy such as when Lucy sees the first dandelion flowering after winter. Who would have thought that the humble dandelion would bring such pleasure?
As always, Elizabeth Strout made me think, and remember.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.1
#LucybytheSea #NetGalley
I: #elizabethstrout @penguinukbooks
T: @LizStrout @PenguinUKBooks
#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #sliceoflife
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.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Waitomo District Library for the loan of Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
November 2, 2022
The next time someone asks me who my favorite fictional character is, I might just say Lucy Barton. She has gotten me, every. single. time. She is honest, raw, and has lived a life.
Writing about current events is never easy. Writing about current events with fictional characters is even harder. Yet, Elizabeth Strout does it seamlessly, you would think she was born to write realistic stories.
I've always wondered how much of Lucy lives within Strout. Lucy is such a rich, wonderful character--she deserves to be heard!
Lucy is in a frantic state, or moreover, William is beyond anxious. The COVID pandemic has just hit, he needs to get Lucy out of New York. When William asks Lucy to come to Main, to get away from the virus, she agrees.
Lucy is still grieving the loss of her beloved husband, David. While William and her (from previous books) have come into a friendship, living with her ex-husband wasn't exactly the plan.
Lucy by the Sea tackles not only the pandemic, but the BLM movement, and the insurrection. This book takes you back in time, a time many of us want to forget. Personally, when I think back to that time, it feels like one long day. However, Strout gives a somewhat palpable experience within difficult moments that are unique and interesting. Not only do we delve into current affairs, but also the stressors her daughters endure. Love, loss, grief--this book has it all.
There was something warm and cozy about Lucy By the Sea. Unraveling the relationship of Lucy and William, their story, was inspiring. The idea that old age is not the end, but a new revolution in time was powerful.
Interestingly, Lucy creates a fictional mother. A coping mechanism to turn in times of need. A coping mechanism reminding the reader of Lucy’s turbulent background. Lucy remains cognizant of her childhood, shielding and loving her girls.
I can't say enough wonderful things about Lucy By the Sea, a definite re-read on the horizon.
5/5 shining stars!
See my other reviews of books by Elizabeth Strout
Oh William
My Name is Lucy Barton
Oliver Kitteridge
Writing about current events is never easy. Writing about current events with fictional characters is even harder. Yet, Elizabeth Strout does it seamlessly, you would think she was born to write realistic stories.
I've always wondered how much of Lucy lives within Strout. Lucy is such a rich, wonderful character--she deserves to be heard!
Lucy is in a frantic state, or moreover, William is beyond anxious. The COVID pandemic has just hit, he needs to get Lucy out of New York. When William asks Lucy to come to Main, to get away from the virus, she agrees.
Lucy is still grieving the loss of her beloved husband, David. While William and her (from previous books) have come into a friendship, living with her ex-husband wasn't exactly the plan.
Lucy by the Sea tackles not only the pandemic, but the BLM movement, and the insurrection. This book takes you back in time, a time many of us want to forget. Personally, when I think back to that time, it feels like one long day. However, Strout gives a somewhat palpable experience within difficult moments that are unique and interesting. Not only do we delve into current affairs, but also the stressors her daughters endure. Love, loss, grief--this book has it all.
There was something warm and cozy about Lucy By the Sea. Unraveling the relationship of Lucy and William, their story, was inspiring. The idea that old age is not the end, but a new revolution in time was powerful.
Interestingly, Lucy creates a fictional mother. A coping mechanism to turn in times of need. A coping mechanism reminding the reader of Lucy’s turbulent background. Lucy remains cognizant of her childhood, shielding and loving her girls.
I can't say enough wonderful things about Lucy By the Sea, a definite re-read on the horizon.
5/5 shining stars!
See my other reviews of books by Elizabeth Strout
Oh William
My Name is Lucy Barton
Oliver Kitteridge
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