Lucy by the Sea: From the Booker-shortlisted author of Oh William!

I'd read the Olive Kitteridge books and the previous Lucy Barton's so was looking forward to this one. Elizabeth Strout has a beautiful way of writing that is always sensitive but never ignores reality. Lucy has a complicated back story and I was curious to see where it would go next.There are 288 pages split into 8 chapters which are then subdivided further. The book was first published in 2022.This is a small book with a large font. I had high expectations and started it cautiously as I did not want it to end quickly.Lockdown effected people in many different ways and, reading this book, many of the emotions were reignited. To begin with, Lucy has no idea about what is happening so cannot be prepared. It's first person narrative allows her to look back and reflect - through that process she tells us about her total sense of bewilderment as the world started to close around her.Whilst maintaining a personal sense of confusion, ES shows that Lucy becomes more aware of her immediate surroundings - appreciating small details of nature that she had never noticed before. This allows the reader's memories to resurface and compare themselves to Lucy.Lucy is created in a way that any reader will be able to empathise on some level - whilst at the same time knowing that Lucy would not value this understanding.ES fills the book with contradictions - anger/contentment, frustration/calm, avoidance/involvement - many of which will familiar from the lockdowns. Lucy shows a rollercoaster of emotions all made more poignant during the pandemic.Lucy thinks hard about her life - she is respectful and humble. Any advice she gives is worth listening to and there is much that she says in this book that I wanted to remember so I could pass it onto friends/family when they are having crises of their own.Lucy is written to have elements of everyone and is a reflection of us all.

The novel takes the form of a monologue or stream of consciousness. As a result, the pace is slow and repetitive, as the narrator struggles to come to terms with her fears, hopes, and memories. In a very real-life way, she keeps coming back to her worries about her children who are now grown up. Her isolation in a remote New England house on a promontory in Maine is palpable. Her ex-husband who seems to have kidnapped her turns out to be a complex character who hides his emotions and even his state of health. He is all too human, neither all good nor all bad. He can be forgiven. The various characters who float in and out of the narrative are all so very human. The strength of the novel is the quiet, accurate, and sometimes witty observation of human nature. That is why in the end it is worth reading.

Really good book-very well written. The story is about a couple living through the start of the pandemic and how it affects their family and friends. Have read several books by this author. All different but very enjoyable.

It is so full of north american neurosis that it does not speak to a more universal 'life struggle'.

The book was as described and arrived earlier than estimated.

The last page said so much. Well, who do we trust? We trust ourselves.Reminders of covid, our convoluted thoughts, our relationships. Where we were when it started and how we got through it. Resilience and contemplation.

I have enjoyed the other Lucy Barton books This one is no exception. A reminder of how difficult covid was for all of us, wherever we were.

The best book I have read in 2023

This book was just what I needed. I suffer from severe anxiety, and sometimes depression and this book helped me to let go of some of that. It made me understand that older people can have this and for some of us it'ta normal part of aging. I feel less shamed for being old and not being as wise and well adjusted as I thought I would be. Change isn't as scary as it was.

It was strange reading a novel about living through the pandemic. It somehow made something very recent, seem long ago, and something that has, for various reasons, so quickly been pushed into the past, as strangely present again.

Mir hat besonders gefallen, dass das Buch in der Originalsprache so schnell lieferbar war. Strout- Fan war ich schon vorher, und dieser neueRoman, der in den USA währed der Corona- Pandemie spielt, hat mir gut gefallen!

Don't buy it it is just normal writing during pandemic anyone could have written

Oh William! が素晴らしかったので、本作の出版を心待ちにしていました。パンデミックが広がり始める時期から物語が始まります。数年前に自分達が経験した混乱と不安の中に物語の主人公がいるという不思議な感覚で、たった3年前のことなのに、あぁ、そうだったと思い出しながら読みました。普通の人々の生活の中にある切実な痛みや、寂しさ、過去を見つめる気持ちを、これでもかとありのままに、でも共感を持って描かれています。丁寧に描かれているのに、繊細という形容詞があまり似合わない、人生をそのままに見つめる強さを感じる筆致でした。オリーブキタリッジなど、著者の別作品の登場人物が時々チラリと出てきて、人生が交錯する様子にも感慨を感じます。今はこの作品で出てきたBobが主人公になっているThe Burgess Boys (バージェス家の人々）を読んでいますが、とても面白いです。