Lucy Barton is living in Crosby, Maine with her ex-husband William having relocated from Manhattan during the pandemic. She has become close friends with Bob Burgess, a semi-retired lawyer married to the local minister. They spend hours walking and talking about life. When Gloria Beach, an 86-year-old woman from a nearby town is found dead, her son Matthew quickly becomes the prime suspect. Bob is asked to represent Matthew, who has devoted his life to the care of his very difficult mother. Lucy makes frequent visits to the Maple Tree Apartments retirement community to share stories with ninety-year-old Olive Kitteridge. Some of the stories are gossipy and some have no real point. They are stories of ordinary, unrecorded lives. And that's the point of the book.
Elizabeth Strout is a master of telling stories about the human condition. Tell Me Everything is the fifth book in the "Amgash" series, centered on Lucy Barton, a writer raised in Amgash, Illinois. There is both joy and sorrow in the many stories weaved throughout the novel. At sixty-six, Lucy's children have lives of their own and she's trying to be happy and make sense of it all. Big-hearted Bob Burgess, now sixty-five, and Lucy, are at the stage in life where illness and death are commonplace. Strout has created a cast of wonderful characters who are caring, flawed, and vulnerable, all seeking love and human connections. I love spending time in Strout's thought-provoking world.
Many thanks to Random House for the opportunity to read this wonderful book in advance of its release. It's no surprise that it was chosen as Oprah's latest Book Club Pick.
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Literary Fiction.
Publication Date: September 10, 2024.
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