I WILL be reading more by Elizabeth Strout, however Lucy by the Sea just did not capture my attention. Perhaps it was the setting of lockdown due to Covid, but I just could not stay with this story,
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I wish I'd seen that I was approved for this one, I really wanted to read it! It is no longer available for download.

A novel set during the pandemic is just not a great idea right now, if you ask me. None of us want to re-live the last three years, we were all there. No, we didn’t all have the same experience, but social media made it so that we knew all these different versions. Despite this, I just adore Elizabeth Strout’s writing so much. I can’t just give it two stars, which is what I would do if it weren’t for her recognizable voice in the book.

Lucy again, with William, going through the COVID-19 pandemic together. I love how they can be more themselves and independent than they were during their marriage. They are still each other’s person, and that security enables them to explore their lives in new directions. Lucy ends up in Maine, living with William, who somewhat manipulatively chooses the location for them. Lucy and William are each able to address old wounds and find new friends and interests along the way. Their daughters play a larger part in this book than in other “Lucy’ books, and their adult lives and struggles were interesting to learn about. We see how they have grown up with the support that Lucy didn’t have, and she recognizes that there are things she can do, and things she cannot. The most important thing is just to be there, through the awkwardness and discomfort. We get through life the best we can, and that’s enough. Thank you, Lucy, for having the strength to be you. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very emotional read set in the pandemic. This book conveyed the pandemic and how it affected the world perfectly. The characters were brilliant and I loved the writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Strout , does it again

I mean, did we expect anything else?

I completely fan-girled out last year after reading "Olive, Again", last year and fell in love with Elizabeth Strout’s writing style. Right then, after concluding, I knew that Strout, would join my list of "auto buy authors" .

I love the way Strout throws us right into the chaos. The suspense is present early on. The character development is on point and each one of the characters come to life between the pages. The twist will get everyones pulse racing and left me in pure shock.

This is a MUST READ for everyone, no matter your preferred genre.

Lucy by the Sea, is out now, so there is no need to wait! Head on over to your favorite bookstore and buy the book!

Teaser:

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.

I liked My Name is Lucy Barton, but Lucy by the Sea is fantastic.

As the pandemic begins, Lucy and her ex-husband William flee NYC for a cabin in Maine. Strout manages to tell a Covid-era story in a way that helps us see the complexities of our fellow humans and choices we each had to make. She doesn’t shy away from the social and political issues we lived through, but also presents the reader with additional perspectives we may not have considered.

I loved listening to Lucy ‘s thoughts on grief, motherhood, and love. Strout doesn’t miss with her Amgash tales.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lucy's stories are written in such a unique perspective. The author has the skill to write this is a journal and she has captured so many emotions from the Pandemic (2020-2022). Reading it in 2023, I was surprised by all the strangeness that I have already cast aside from that time period.
I greatly enjoyed the book and was glad I had read her prior novels to know Lucy's background.

I respect Elizabeth Strout greatly. This is another very strongly written piece of literary fiction. This just ultimately isn't what I want to read right now, but this absolutely has strong appeal for libraries.

What is there to say about this book? Strout's writing is tremendously smooth and compelling, pulling the reader along into Lucy and William's lives. I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book set during the pandemic, but I found it quite comforting to escape the city for the sea alongside the characters. I definitely cried throughout the book and had big feelings along with Lucy and William! I'm sure I'll return to this one again in the future.

This book takes place during a pandemic and Lucy represents the regular people and how the events of that time affected us. This would be a fantastic piece of literature to read decades from now, to understand how it all happened and how people felt. I liked that the book was character and plot driven but the dialogue felt simplistic and somewhat repetitive.
Overall, if the events of 2020-2021 are not triggering to you, try this book but be aware that it might be too close to painful memories for many readers.

I love Elizabeth Strout. Usually. This book was a big miss for me.
I was able to get through it, but it felt very "off" to me the entire way. There were SO many topics covered during a pandemic, it was just too much and felt scattered.
It seemed to want to address every hot button issue and agenda all at once. I'm fine with subtle agenda mentions and references, but it was a LOT.
Thankful for the ARc, even though I did not love it.

Thank you for a copy of this book. This tells the story of Lucy at the beginning of Covid lockdown, fleeing her busy Manhattan life for a quiet cabin by the sea with her ex and friend. I loved the setting...didnt we all dream of escaping to a beautiful house by the sea in lockdown, but what if it wasn't all it was cracked up to be? The author makes the setting a character, and has great character development as we get to know these characters during this stressful time. I enjoyed this and empathized with Lucy.

I enjoyed my time with Lucy again, seeing how she made it through the pandemic with William. A nice slow, cozy read.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC!
.
Unfortunately I DNFed this, it just didn’t catch my attention and maybe I’ll get into it again when I’m in the perfect headspace to give this another try! But I would buy and recommend this to others definitely!

Although I typically would not be interested in any sort of story covering the pandemic, this was lovely. It was a very unique method of storytelling to me, but thoroughly enjoyable. I actually went into this story rather blind, without having read any of the three preceding novels, but that did not hinder my enjoyment in the slightest! This was a story about a woman named Lucy as she navigates life during the pandemic, but with a focus on family and friends. She is strangely close to her ex-husband, William, but he is kind and caring, always guiding her. This story explores her friendships throughout such trying times and her relationship with her children. This would be a really nice beach or weekend read. The characters felt so real and the pacing was perfect. Slow, yet easy, so not boring.

After a reread of O William, I settled in with this book. It was nice to check in with the characters again and I did think that it was logical and inevitable that Lucy and William ended up together again. What I find frustrating though is how little the characters exhibit any real curiosity about the world or each other. Sometimes that can feel a bit claustrophobic while reading the book.

Listened to the audiobook. Narrator was excellent. Hard to listen to at times as Strout’s words were so close to my own feelings about these terrible times. At once funny and sad, Strout’s words are perfect as usual in her narrative set during the pandemic.

Beautiful writing. Poignant. Heartfelt. Moving, as always. Elizabeth Strout never fails to write a story full of emotional depth that tugs at my heartstrings.

“One proof of Elizabeth Strout’s greatness is the sleight of hand with which she injects sneaky subterranean power into seemingly transparent prose. Strout works in the realm of everyday speech, conjuring repetitions, gaps and awkwardness with plain language and forthright diction, yet at the same time unleashing a tidal urgency that seems to come out of nowhere even as it operates in plain sight.”—The New York Times Book Review
If you've been around any time at all here, you already know that I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Strout's work. I was introduced to her with Olive Kitteridge, thirteen years ago; and I've since read five more of her books between that one and this one. You wouldn't' have to have read those same six books before reading this one; but it does make reading it that much more fun, as Strout routinely references characters from previous books in her current books. Here the Burgess brothers(The Burgess Boys), Olive Kitteridge (also from Olive Again) and several other characters from those books reappear, as well as the characters from the three Lucy Barton books that proceeded this one. It's one of the things I so enjoy about Strout's books. It's like catching up with old friends when you come upon them in other books, old friends it is clear that Strout isn't ready to say goodbye to just yet. Rightly so - they are marvelous, nuanced, relatable characters.

But what I most love about Strout's books is her completely unique writing style, a style that, as the quote above says, incorporates everyday speech, repetitions, gaps, awkwardness. There is nothing flowery about Strout's writing and yet it manages to paint every bit as vivid a picture of her characters and settings as books twice as long.

Just when I thought that I was beginning to agree with Kirkus Reviews on the regular, I, once again, find myself completely disagreeing with them about this one. They called this book a "disappointment" and said Strout's voice was "positively worn out." To be fair, at this point we know these characters - that initial spark that readers feel when they find new characters they grow fond of is gone. Which feels a little bit like the point to me.

William and Lucy have known each other for decades, they've been married and divorced and they're girls are grown adults. The spark of new love is gone. But there is a comfort, when they find themselves isolated together, with being with someone you know so well. Especially when there are, in fact, some new things to learn about that person. I learned new things about these characters in Lucy By The Sea, while being comforted by meeting these old friends again. There was nothing disappointing about this book for me.