I am a huge fan of the Lucy Barton books by Elizabeth Strout and I’ve been trying to delay this one as I’m worried it might be the last in the series. But I gave in and flew through it in 2 days and it is her best yet, it’s just wonderful.

Lucy leaves New York with her ex-husband William to see out the COViD pandemic in a house on the coast in Maine. Not knowing what will happen or how long they will be there, we watch Lucy navigate a situation that has been a reality for all of us.

I haven’t massively enjoyed books so far that have dealt with the pandemic but Lucy by the Sea truly resonated with me. Elizabeth Strout is so fantastic at delivering her observations of the world. There were moments of this book that took my breath away as memories that I had clearly buried came to the surface.

Strout is openly writing about the pandemic but through this she explores, love, marriage, motherhood, class, fear, friendship and so much more. This book is a real masterclass in character driven story-telling, I was so sad to reach the final page.

Strout's really lowkey storytelling explores family relationships in a touching way. Very deceptively ordinary as Strout presents her readers with deep insights into relationships, life, and more.

Reading Strout is like meeting up with an old friend again , I seem to enjoy each book more than the last and I never want Lucy ‘s life to end .
I’ll admit that I was sceptical about reading a book set in the pandemic while it’s still so fresh in our minds but being familiar with the Strout’s writing I felt that I would be in safe hands . We experience the pandemic through Lucy’s eyes, the lockdown, isolation, social distancing, mask wearing , the disbelief about what was actually happening . Sometimes I had to stop and remind myself that I was reading a work of fiction . There’s also references to George Floyd, the political situation in the US, those who refuse to wear masks , it is like revisiting the year in a way but don’t let this put you off at all. There’s something comforting and reassuring about the way Strout writes and this is only part of the book as we are also following Lucy and her relationship with William and her daughters and also the new friendships she forms in Maine ( also loved the mention of characters from her previous books , Olive!!) .

I’d like to read this again in say 10 years when the pandemic seems more of a hazy memory ( hopefully!) , definitely a book to keep and one to give to future generations . Could be a modern day classic I think….

Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel Lucy by the Sea , starring Lucy Barton, is in my opinion, her best Lucy Barton one yet. What you expect from Elizabeth Strout is a thoughtful and thought-provoking story that carries us at an unrushed pace with wonderful characters that fascinate us.

A writer’s most difficult challenge in using the COVID pandemic as a theme is that many readers want to put it in their rear-view mirror and avoid it permanently. From the outset, I had no intention of reading a book about the virus and picking this book up, I did so to visit one of my favourite characters, Lucy Barton. I can say that the pandemic IS the theme; the isolation, dread and fear, the grief, the division, the profound changes it made to our lives, and the devastation it left in its wake. It dramatically affected families, communities, and work environments, and inspired and guided the value we place in our lives and relationships. Elizabeth Strout does an outstanding job of taking us on a journey with Lucy that resonates with our experiences in an understated and reassuringly descriptive style.

Lucy is convinced by her ex-husband William to abandon her New York apartment and travel with him to Cosby, a seaside town in Maine, just as the pandemic is reaching the United States. Little did she know that would be the last time she would see her apartment. The unassuming and seemingly fragile Lucy Barton continues to enthral with her observations and thoughts on her life and the lives of her daughters as they face upheavals and meaningful life choices. Memories of her late husband, the unpredictability of life to have her living with her first husband, and how Strout’s magnificent writing so carefully exposes her feelings and judgements is an experience I’ve enjoyed.

The relationship between Lucy and William is fascinating and how Strout portrays their personalities is so beautifully authentic. The mixed bag of infidelity and love from William, with a reserved display of vulnerability, adds to the depth and roundness of his character has been developed.

Lucy by the Sea is a profound and enthralling account of one of my favourite characters at one of the world’s most dramatic events that touched every nation on the planet. It is a novel that reminds us of our fragility and needs for each other. I want to thank Penguin UK, Viking and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in return for an honest review.

2.5 rounded down

I feel like I’m the only person who didn’t love this… I don't know what it is but after having loved My Name Is Lucy Barton and Anything Is Possible, I've rather struggled with the last two installments in the Amgash series. Perhaps the charm has worn off? I'm yet to enjoy a (fictional) book set during the Covid lockdown, so maybe this had something to do with it. Even William - who I didn't find all that endearing in Oh William! - was more sympathetic as a character than Lucy was here. I get why Lucy is the way she is in this book, but reading about her judgemental behaviour was a real snooze.

I think it's time for me to part ways with Lucy, William and the Amgash world, but I'll still check Strout's other future novels (Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again are fantastic).

My thanks to NetGalley and Viking publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
This was my second Lucy book in a four part series. Ive read book three and this her latest book and wasn't disappointed.
Although it spans the outbreak of Covid, marital break-up and its effects it remained a gentle easy read.
I would highly recommend this book.

I am a great Elizabeth Strout fan but this book is awful. Lucy is a horrible complaining and ungrateful woman and the whole book comprises her moaning about the consequences of the Covid Pandemic. We have all lived through these years the best way we can and don’t need this privileged woman’s self-centred memoir.

By now, I know Lucy Barton so well it is hard to believe she does not exist. The same holds for William. And that is for me the strongest part of these novels: they feel so natural, the objective is not beautiful writing, but conveying her experiences and feelings clearly and consistently. Paragraphs often start with 'And then this happened' or 'And then I had the following thought', and then a little story unfolds that just fits. The series seems to get stronger with every new instalment.

In this latest, fourth episode, William convinces Lucy to escape New York just before Covid arrives and sit out the imminent pandemic in isolated Maine. The atmosphere felt
more like an Olive Kitteridge book (and Olive makes a cameo!), but probably this is due to the remote setting near the sea.

Lucy grapples to make sense of Covid and how it changes her life and the relationships with others, especially her two grown-up daughters. She makes new friendships in Maine
and gradually starts considering spending the remainder of her life away from the city.

The title suggests a bucolic retreat for the titular character Lucy Barton. However, the novel is largely set in 2020 and Lucy and ex-husband, on his behest, move to Maine to avoid the Covid impact on New York City. Within this isolation Lucy experiences the end of the Trump era and the murder of George Floyd. She reflects on this changing world, and her changing relationships with her own immediate family and her remaining family from her childhood. There are fractions in every relationship in this novel, from the hostility from some locals, those putting others at risk of Covid, emerging new friendships and honest revelations from the past. Lucy continues on reassessing and adapting to the changing world as she ages. Due to the subject, at times heart-breaking, but always beautifully written.

Thanks to Penguin UK, Viking Books UK and Netgalley for a review copy.

Elizabeth Strout writes again of Lucy Barton, sixty-odd years old, reflecting on her relationship with scientist William Gerhardt. Lucy has 2 daughters, Chrissy and Becka. With her understated prose, this novel is powerful, compassionate and exceptionally moving. Shot through with gentle humour and wit it is exquisitely written with humanity and wisdom. I adore the author's authentic depiction of multigenerational characters, family, marriage, parenthood and friendships. She captures joy, frustration, fear and pain, trauma, love, loss, grief, loneliness and the impact of our childhoods, so well.

Lucy and William have a supportive relationship and a strong bond despite their parting of ways and are there for each other. It's March 2020 and William, who has a half-sister, persuades Lucy to leave New York and accompany him to Maine where he has rented a coastal house in Crosby. She takes her laptop with her even though she believes she will not need it, at William's insistence (she's only going to be in Maine for a maximum of two weeks, isn't she?) Lucy suffers from PTSD acquired as a result of her family and the isolated childhood of extreme poverty in Amgash, Illinois. The author's understanding of long-standing human relationships, family and marriage are the backbones of this brilliant novel. A riveting read that I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my own request from Penguin via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

You don’t need to read who the author is as the beautiful style of Elizabeth Strout seeps through every delicious line. I was surprised that the pandemic was centre stage and was sadly reminded of lots of things my mind had chosen to forget about the lockdowns. It was interesting to read from an English perspective how the USA managed things.
So much more than the pandemic too though with some sad some happy and some funny moments as you would expect.

Lucy by the Sea

I really, really, really hope that this won’t be the last we see of Lucy Barton!
This is the fourth book of the Amgash series, featuring Lucy Barton, her ex husband William, their daughters and a whole raft of characters who have featured in Elizabeth Strout’s other books.
Lucy and William head to Maine from New York to sit out the pandemic lock down. (And yes, I was happy to see that the ‘out-of-towner’ camping out in rural communities during Covid was addressed). You’d think that not a lot can happen in a book that’s written about a prolonged period of solitary confinement, but this book is full of the typical Lucy observations that I love. And best of all, the mentions and intertwining of other characters from Strout’s books were plentiful. Olive Kitteridge is mentioned several times!!! (Although Olive and Lucy never actually meet each other).
Lots of real-life situations are addressed alongside the Covid pandemic and people’s reactions to it. George Floyd’s murder by the police, the proceeding protests, the ‘current president’ (who Lucy, interestingly and perhaps rather pointedly, doesn’t give a name to), the Capitol Riots, the Covid deniers and anti-Vaxxers.
I would imagine that in many years to come, this book will capture the zetgeist of this period pretty accurately.
Another five stars for Elizabeth Strout. Perfection!

Oh Lucy


With this the fourth installment in the Amhash/ Lucy Barton collection, Strout skillfully and exquisitely reminded me of just how much I love her writing and I think this is my favourite novel in the series. There are few writers that I can think of that match Strout's ability to capture emotion, wisdom and empathy in their writing.

Lucy by The Sea is set during the first lockdown of 2020. As Covid envelopes New York, William, Lucy's ex-husband insists they need to leave the city quickly. Leaving dishes in the sink and with little to no planning believing she will be back in a couple of weeks, Lucy acquiesces. They drive to rural Maine where William has arranged for them to stay in a house by the sea. The weeks turn to months and Strout writes with her, trademark aching pared back beauty of that time. The daily walks, the inability to read or concentrate, the conversations, the silences, the unknown and uncertainty. The feeling of being in a safe bubble and then the hearing of someone you know, or someone connected to you being badly affected by the virus and your bubble not feeling as safe anymore. In the novel, Lucy's adult daughters are spending lockdown in another state and the writing about Lucy's daughters was one of the high points of this book for me. Lucy's fears, hopes for her daughters and the exploration of their relationship when separated by hundreds of miles was written with great poignancy. As was Lucy and William's relationship and the new friendships Lucy forges in Maine. There are mentions of several characters from Strout's previous novels including my favourite, Olive Kitteridge, which were a treat to read even if their mentions are brief.

Strout encapsulates 2020 with this book, not just with the pandemic but in capturing all that happened in the US that year. The death of George Flyod and the resulting worldwide BLM protests, the political chaos. If Covid becomes a distant memory in the future, this is the book I will press on future people in my family to read to get an idea of life that year.

Wise, accessibly profound, Elizabeth Strout is top of the game. A wonderful writer.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book. I’d enjoyed the first two books in the ‘Lucy’ series but wasn’t a fan of the Booker shortlisted Oh William!. Lucy by the Sea follows Lucy’s experiences as she and her ex-husband William leave New York behind for Maine due to the fear of the pandemic. Again, do I want to read about that time when I’ve only recently lived it but from the UK.

Lucy by the Sea was to be a very pleasant surprise and I think it may be my favourite of the series. I did find the BLM section to be a bit clunky but other than that I could finally understand why some people rave about Strout as having this insight into modern America. I liked how she differentiated between people who vote a certain way because for them that has become the hope candidate, and we need to think and reflect on why that is rather than mock and look down on them, and those that are just on a dangerously extreme end of the political spectrum.

Also, I completely fell in love with Bob Burgess which means I’m now going to have to read The Burgess Boys so that I can learn even more about that character.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me this copy, the book was published this week.

Oh, hello my friend. It was lovely to catch up with Lucy Barton even though it was during a pandemic. The whole book was very relatable. I understood what she and the other characters were feeling because we had gone through a shared experience. Beautifully written as always and I love the stories within the story. The glimpses into other characters lives. I couldn't stop reading. This will be fantastic for book groups. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

With Strout it´s very simple: you either love her or hate her.
It´s obvious where I stand, right?
Excellent, as always.

If you’ve been following along with Elizabeth Strout as she shares across novels (My Name Is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, and Oh, William!) the deep life story and relationships of Lucy Barton, then you will love this book. It embodies short snippets of Lucy’s reflections as recently bereaved and at a crossroads in her life she escapes NYC with her ex-husband William and heads to a reclusive rural house in Maine on the ocean to escape the pandemic . But this time, she is not alone in her crisis: the book is set - initially in New York – as Lucy is preparing for an author tour after the release of her most recent book.

After the death of her second husband, she has formed a pleasant, nostalgic alliance with her first husband William; and when her tour is suddenly cancelled due to the pandemic, he begs her to leave New York to stay with him for an indefinite time in Maine. She is intrigued but not yet convinced of the severity of the Coronavirus epidemic, which is just beginning to unfold in New York.

Lucy’s overwhelmed with the strangeness of suddenly becoming reclusive, of the almost unbearable length of pandemic isolation with no end in sight, and deepening worries about her two daughters living far away. The book captures moments of her disbelief, confusion, flashback memories, and being forced to reflect on what makes a life worth living. Lucy also has a reckoning about her relationship to William, with newfound closeness catching her by surprise, especially as she’s still processing grief over the death of her second husband. Her daughters both have their own ongoing traumas in their marriages unraveling, in addition to being appalled at their Mom’s growing feelings about William. There’s also a savvy capturing of the hostility of some of the Maine locals, who fervently wish that all the displaced city folk just leave their small town alone.

Many of Lucy’s reflections hit home – from moments such as having outside drinks with neighbors while social distancing to her deep dismay over the political divides with Trump in office, George Floyd’s murder, and the rise of the “Black Lives Matter” movement during the heart of the pandemic. It’s the first book I’ve read that emotionally captures the turmoil of lockdown as well as the tension consuming the nation. We also get the thrill of appearances in the novel of Olive Kitteridge and the Burgess boys from other of Strout’s novels.

All in all, a poignant read that leaves you wanting more Lucy and how she’ll rebuild her life post-pandemic.. Sadly Strout has stated that this will probably be the last time she revisits Lucy's story and I for one will find it incredibly difficult to say farewell.

A superb lockdown novel and a brilliant evocation of what it felt like during those first months of the pandemic when everything seemed so frightening and bewildering. Here we meet Lucy Barton again, as she is persuaded by her ex-husband William to leave New York and retreat to safety in Maine. Reluctant and uncomprehending at first, whereas William is far more attuned to the unfolding catastrophe, she gradually learns to adapt and learn once gain to live with William. Elizabeth Strout is at her insightful best in this latest Lucy novel and I found it a marvellous read.

This book gave me a lot of surprises. First of all, I didn’t actually know that this was the fourth book in a series. I decided to proceed anyway, because I was intrigued. Secondly, I hadn’t expected the entire book to be so tightly wrapped around the pandemic and lockdown. I had expected some, but not to the extent that it did. Going through the book brought back so many lockdown memories, even though I didn’t live in New York at the time. Thirdly, and the biggest surprise of all, I hadn’t expected to enjoy this book as much as I did.

Lucy Barton, our sixty-plus-year old heroine, was living in New York when pandemic started. She was forced to leave everything behind to go into lockdown in Maine with her ex-husband, William. What she thought would be a temporary measure turned out to be life changing.

Lucy was such a nice character; she was friendly to everyone and all heart. She talked to a made-up ‘mum’ in her head when needing advice, and brought up snappy retorts from her real, deceased mum to stay grounded. I loved her conversations with William - when you’re sixty and seventy plus, you’d have a very different view of the world and different set of concerns.

This wasn’t going to be the last Lucy Barton story I read, for sure!

This is the fourth book in the Amgash series. Lucy is back and so is Willian, Oh William. In this book William is getting Lucy out of New York as he becomes aware of the impact the pandemic may have on the community. They move together to a small cottage in Maine by the sea. Lucy deals with masks, isolation and missing her daughters. It delves into all the doubts and frustrations we have experienced over the last few years.
Happy to recommend this story and series. Thank you Netgalley and Penguin UK for the opportunity to review this digital ARC.