Lucy by the Sea: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge comes a “poised and moving” (Vogue) novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.
“Strout’s understanding of the human condition is capacious.”—NPR
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, PopSugar, She Reads
With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton 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 on-again, off-again 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.
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, 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.
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize
“Strout’s understanding of the human condition is capacious.”—NPR
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, PopSugar, She Reads
With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton 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 on-again, off-again 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.
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, 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.
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize
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Readers say *Lucy by the Sea* offers a poignant, deeply introspective look at pandemic life through Elizabeth Strout’s distinctive, honest voice. Many...
thenextgoodbook.com
I am a huge Elizabeth Strout fan and as always I enjoyed this one. Full review on the site.
"And when I found out I had been living a parallel life, a dishonest life, it crushed me. 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."
I am a huge Elizabeth Strout fan and as always I enjoyed this one. Full review on the site.
"And when I found out I had been living a parallel life, a dishonest life, it crushed me. 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."
3.5 stars. Book Club choice and the first book I have read by Elizabeth Strout and in the series about Lucy. The book commences at the onset of COVID in New York and follows Lucy and her ex-husband and to a lesser degree their daughters through the pandemic. Due to the theme I feel this can be read as a stand alone book, however I feel I would have greatly benefited from reading the previous books in this series. It would have given so much more insight and depth into Lucy and her ex husband, her daughters, her childhood and her life. The novel is written in the form of a memoir and although not biographical I couldn't help at times feel that I was reading about Elizabeth Strout and what she may have felt and experienced during COVID. The book was very readable and I felt like I was having a conversation with the author over many many cups of tea! Much of the book is focussed on Lucy's observations, thoughts and memories and although at times it feels a little disjointed, I feel there is authenticity in this given the age/demographic of Lucy and it gives her character a believable honesty (that older readers will relate to). I may be wrong? but feel that younger readers may not relate as well to or enjoy reading about Lucy, in particular her thoughts to systemic issues in the USA. The book made me feel quite melancholy but gave another perspective of what living through the COVID pandemic was like in the USA. Living in NZ, we had a very different experience to other countries and at times it felt surreal watching the pandemic on TV, roll out across the globe. I feel this book will rattle around in my head for some time to come.
I like this authors writing style. After living through the COVID pandemic, it made me really enjoy this book!!
I found this a bit exhausting. Politics, Covid, the challenges of life - it's one thing to read something that gives you a new perspective, it's another to listen to someone whining about these things you have just lived through. It was an incredibly fast book but I think partly I just wanted to finish it.
loved this quartet. also love the touching in characters outside this series even though wasn’t a fan of olive kitteridge. probably wouldn’t have liked this as much if I read it earlier as it talks a lot about being amid covid, but now more distanced from lockdown I was able to appreciate it more. might read her other books now though.
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