Elizabeth Strout’s new novel, Lucy by the Sea, reunites us with characters from her previous books: Lucy Barton and William Gerhardt; Bob Burgess has a role; even Olive Kitteridge makes a cameo appearance. Lucy and William—divorced years ago—live in New York City, have two grown daughters, have both remarried though they are on their own again, and are headed to Maine.
The novel opens in March 2020, a time of fear, confusion, and upheaval due to the arrival of Covid-19. I was not sure I was ready to relive that not-so-distant period, but in the skillful hands of a writer like Strout, I found new perspectives on what our world experienced, in cities and rural areas, as individuals and as a society.
Strout subtly yet powerfully portrays how we all reacted to the news as if stumbling in the dark: afraid for our loved ones, angry at the virus, and isolated from each other. She exposes the hearts and minds of a diverse range of people, from anti-vaxxers to healthcare workers; cheating spouses to grieving children. She explores the challenges and changes many of us faced during those months—temporary and long term—and the reader comes out wiser for her perspectives.
I am drawn to Strout’s novels because they are populated with familiar places and people. Her characters could be family, friends, or neighbors. As a counterbalance to the traumatic two-and-a-half years just past, the next book I'll read is a mystery set in the late 1990s, with flip phones, easy airport access, and no facemasks!
Liza Bernard is a voracious reader who enjoys both printed volumes and audiobooks. Formerly co-owner of the Norwich Bookstore, she maintains her connections with readers and writers as the Programming and Marketing Librarian at the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock, Vermont.