Tell Me Everything: Oprah's Book Club: A Novel

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What’s it about?

Elizabeth Strout returns to Crosby, Maine to tell another story. This novel revolves around Lucy Barton and her special friendship with Bob Burgess. We see many of Elizabeth Strout’s old cast of characters in this story- including Olive Kitteridge.

What did it make me think about?

The importance of being heard- and the importance of truly listening. Bob Burgess understands that, “People did not care, except for maybe one minute. It was not their fault, most just could not really care past their own experiences.”

Should I read it?

As many of you know, I LOVE Elizabeth Strout’s novels! I was so excited to pick this one up. And I also know that many of you don’t. Elizabeth Strout writes about the beauty in the small moments of life. Some have told me that these books don’t have enough action. I get this, but I think that may be the whole point. SO I HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO PERSUADE YOU! If you did not like her novels before- you will not like this one. If, like me, she is one of your favorite writers- you will savor every page.

Quote-

“People suffer. They live, they have hope, they even have love, and they still suffer. Everyone does. Those who think they’ve not suffered are lying to themselves.”

This is a very gentle novel full of simple stories about the inhabitants of Crosby, Maine, and their friends and relatives. Elizabeth Strout has visited this territory many times before in previous works, and in some ways, it is reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith where nothing happens, charmingly. It doubtless helps to be in the right frame of mind when approaching it as a reader. Like meditation, it is best to let it flow merrily by; the fact that nothing happens can induce feelings of connection or frustration. At the centre of this novel, and all of Elizabeth Stout’s novels, is Olive Kitteridge, an old lady who sits in her chair and, like a friendly spider (I was reminded of Charlotte’s Web), spins her web, weaving and collecting stories of ‘unrecorded lives’. She shares this task with Lucy Barton, the local writer who is living back with her ex-husband William but in love with Bob who is married to Margaret but in love with Lucy too – they don’t consummate this feeling, but they walk together and tell each other everything. Lucy tells Bob, “Olive and I have been telling each other all these stories of unrecorded lives, but what do they mean?... I keep thinking these days about all these people, and people we don’t even know, and their lives are unrecorded. But what does anyone’s life mean?” It is a good question. What is the point? Of a story; of a life? Do they help us to understand our own; recognise similarities and lead to tolerance and understanding? Bob, who visits an old lady and does her shopping, tells her, “It’s just life. That’s all it is. Life.” Olive says she thinks about, “People and the lives they lead. That’s the point.” Do these senior citizens feel less alone when they have someone to talk to? Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” And this novel is all about people. When an event does happen – an abused woman kills her mother and fakes her own death – it is covered with the same light brush strokes, as the author chooses where to direct us: “A week later the new leaves shone in the early afternoon bright sunlight.” The authorial intrusion in a nineteenth-century novel sort of a way (think Charlotte Brontë; George Elliot; Jane Austen; Daphne du Maurier) could be considered comforting or self-aggrandising. She uses the word ‘Oh’ with peculiar emphasis – “Oh Jim Burgess! What are we to do with you?” The word is homely and caring, reflective of a particular dialect, but also epic poetry. One of the novels was Oh William! with echoes of ‘Oh for a muse of fire’ or ‘Oh Fortuna” that may be considered sentimental or pompous. One could see the novel as one of tender consideration that calls for us all to stay connected. “People suffer. They live, they have hope, they even have love, and they still suffer. Everyone does. Those who think they’ve not suffered are lying to themselves.” Or one could see it as a little mawkish and trite, as the final page asserts, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love. If it is love, then it is love.” The choice depends entirely on the reader’s current state of mind and time of life.

The writing style was that of a children's book but with life as an adult content. Characters were drab. The mini-plots were meh and not well developed. Boring read.

Tricia has read

I struggled to get into Tell Me Everything. The writing is good, but the stories felt slow and didn’t hold my attention. The characters were hard to connect with, and the book never really grabbed me.