Elizabeth Strout is a most perceptive author who succeeds in addressing serious concepts in a very accessible way, masqueraded as cosy(ish) tales of (almost) everyday folk in north-eastern USA.

In "Lucy by the Sea'', the reader is reacquainted with familiar characters from Strout's earlier novels, not only Lucy Barton and her family, but also characters from the Burgess Boys and the Olive Kitteridge series. However, this novel stands alone. I like to think that the author had fun involving so many old friends whilst she deftly considered the psychological and social effects of the COVID pandemic and associated lockdown, and the ramifications of far right politics on US society.

This slim volume packs a big punch.

This was my first Elizabeth Strout book but it definitely won’t be my last. I was mesmerised by this story where nothing really happens but it’s so engrossing, and by the sparse writing style that, to me, perfectly conveyed how I felt during the pandemic.
Lucy and her ex-husband, William, leave New York and rent a house in Maine to ride out the lockdown and try to stay safe. What follows is an incredibly personal and profound insight into two people brought together long after their marriage has ended and put back into a close living arrangement. They’re familiar to each other, but also alien - they’ve changed, grown, got their own routines but they have this long history and a wealth of memories. The shorthand of their past is there, a comfort and a restriction at the same time.
Lucy is raw from the death of her second husband and is struggling to deal with what ends up being a much longer period of isolation - from her home (although at times she is grateful to not be surrounded by reminders of what she has lost), from her children (the scenes where they meet up but can’t be physically close were perfectly and painfully written) and from the general normalities of life (so relatable to all of us).
A lot of the book is written from Lucy’s point of view, what her thoughts about things are and that means we don’t get any insight into why William, and other characters, do or say the things they do. This is brilliant because it really shows the loneliness, detachment, and at times confusion that Lucy feels. She’s adrift, and all the usual anchors you’d rely on in times like these are not available to her.
It’s raw and real and vulnerable and brilliant

Lucy Barton will be a familiar character to fans of Elizabeth Strout.

It is March 2020 people are becoming increasingly aware of coronavirus. Lucy's ex-husband William, a retired scientist, realises that things could be about to become very serious indeed and persuades Lucy to leave New York, relocating to a coastal house in Maine. Lucy agrees, somewhat reluctantly and unconvinced that William isn't just worrying unnecessarily. But the weeks turn into months and we witness the pandemic racing across the US through Lucy's eyes; politics also rears its head as Lucy watches the scenes on Capitol Hill on 6th January 2021 with disbelief.

A very well observed beautifully written novel - in my opinion much better than the very recent 'Oh William' which has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

This is a follow up to "Oh William! "

Lucy Barton says
" this is the question that has made me a writer; always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person"

Strout certainly gets under Lucy's "skin" in this book including her idiosyncratic turns of phrase, her character being formed by her upbringing and her ambiguous relationship with her ex- husband ,William.

Everything has been magnified by the pandemic. William , as a scientist has an understanding of what is happening and what steps they need to take to protect themselves, so they go to live in a remote location on the coast of Maine and William institutes a regime to protect them. This involves isolation from their beloved daughters who are dealing with other things besides the pandemic.

However she says to William "my whole childhood was a lockdown. I never saw anyone or went anywhere"

It's interesting to read about the lockdown experience but I wonder if for some people they may need more distance between the lived experience and reading this book.

As always with Strout the book is character-driven, the "plot" arising from the characters.

Because of the claustrophobic feel necessary for the situation, I feel that its predecessor is the stronger book. It felt more nuanced.

However Strout is an amazing writer, I always describe her to customers as an "A grade writer" and this is a beautifully written book. I might have preferred reading about Olive Kitteridge's experience of lockdown in the home.

Having read the other Lucy Barton books again this one did not disappoint.
A great story which keeps you turning the pages and characters that are written so well.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I agree with Maggie O'Farrell about most things and this is no exception - Elizabeth Strout gets better with each book. These characters have now inhabited several of Strout's books and revisiting them is like a warm reassuring hug. Here we have one of the first great pandemic novels as Lucy and William flee New York during the pandemic and navigate the restrictions all told in Strout's inimitable style.

Like Anne Tyler and also set in Maine, this book has that enviable quality of being light and yet exploring great depth. These characters stay with you long after the last chapter and as always it's just a matter of waiting for the next instalment.

The Burgess Boys was the first Strout book I read and it was lovely to see them revisited here, maybe we need to hear more about the Burgess dynasty.

Thanks you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC

I love Lucy Barton. And of course I love Elizabeth Strout even more.
How satisfying to learn how (Oh!) William and Lucy dealt with the flipping Covid pandemic when I couldn’t just call her to find out how the Barton-Gerhard clan and the good people of Crosby & Shirley Falls got through the awful year that was 2020. I may need to re-read the entire Lucy Barton series because it is simply SO GOOD.
Please don’t tell me that these people aren’t real because to me they are. 💙💚

Wonderful stuff. Has all the hallmarks of Elizabeth Strout: rounded characters, even those you don't particularly like, difficult conversations deftly handled and a nagging sense that things may just about be okay. My only small gripe: wish she didn't keep saying 'Oh William'.

Almost three years after the start of the pandemic, reading this latest adventure by Lucy Barton created a strong cognitive dissonance for me, both because what happened in New York is very different from what was happening in Berlin at the same time, and because it is amazing how easily I forgot the worst moments: the lines at the stores, the lack of toilet paper, and especially the constant fear for me and for the people I love.
Elizabeth Strout writes as usual beautifully and her words fly across the page despite the heaviness of most of the topics covered, it almost makes you believe that it is so easy to be that good.

A quasi tre anni dall'inizio della pandemia, leggere questa ultima avventura di Lucy Barton mi creato una forte dissonanza cognitiva, sia perché quello che é successo a New York é molto diverso da quanto succedeva a Berlino contemporaneamente, sia perché é incredibile con quanta facilità mi sono scordata i momenti peggiori: le file ai negozi, la mancanza di carta igienica e soprattutto la paura costante per me e per le persone che amo.
Elizabeth Strout scrive come al solito benissimo e le sue parole volano sulla pagina nonostante la pesantezza della maggior parte degli argomenti trattati, ti fa quasi credere che sia facilissimo essere cosí bravi.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

This was my first Lucy Barton story and it seems I may need to read the rest as this was so easily devoured and very enjoyable.

I enjoyed this story about a divorced couple, Lucy & William, who are stuck together during lockdown. It’s full of marriage, divorce, love, loss, isolation, despair, fear & hope. This is the first book l have read by Elizabeth Strout and look forward to reading more. Her writing is just so beautiful. I didn’t realise Lucy by the Sea was part of a series, it feels like a standalone book. The characters are all well developed. I loved the character of Lucy, who is brave & honest and you see her character grow and change throughout. It’s a quick but insightful easy read, you get pulled into the book. Definitely recommend.
Thanks to NetGallery, Penguin General UK for an arc of Lucy by the Sea in exchange for an honest review.

Another great book by Elizabeth Strout, I truly love the way she writes, sparse but authentic. Here we catch up again with recently widowed Lucy Barton in the middle of the covid pandemic. For her safety Lucy’s ex husband William encourages her to leave New York to stay with him in a house he has rented by the sea in Maine. Here they go into lockdown and we follow Lucy’s journey from her initial incomprehension, through her concern for her two daughters and her friends, and then her acceptance that her life may not ever be the same again. Lucy as a narrator perfectly captures all the fears and feelings we had when the pandemic first hit. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to read a book about the pandemic but I was in safe hands with Elizabeth Strout, she has such insight into the human condition. This book can be read as a stand alone as there’s enough past detail to fill you in along the way. She’s fast become one of my favourite authors!

Lucy By the Sea
By Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout's writing is a balm for my soul. I just love her quiet but exquisitely observed characters. She has created an entire world and has populated it with some of the most memorable people I have ever met in literature. My journey with her began with Amy & Isabelle, back in Shirley Falls and continued with Olive in all her quirky glory, and although Lucy Barton didn't start out being one of my favourites, she has grown on me more and more throughout this Amgash series. As is her custom, Strout refers back to characters we have met throughout her previous works and it was such a lovely surprise to be reacquainted with Bob Burgess, and there was a huge smile on my face when another, my favourite, got a mention or two.

Set during the period of the Covid pandemic, from the eerie confusion of the early days when nobody really knew how long it would drag on, and cheerily hunkered down for a week or two, through the civil unrest when the novelty started wearing off, and beyond into breaks in lockdown when heads were tentatively emerging from shells, we relive all the fear and uncertainty, the reality of our vulnerabilities, the walks and the social distancing, the back to nature feeling we embraced, the polarity as we divide into judgers and judged.

I love Lucy's voice, her simple, no frills syntax, her little catchphrases, her qualifiers.. She encapsulates everything I think about when I imagine a 60 something lady who has lived most of her adult life in NYC. For some reason I hear Rhoda's sister Brenda, remember her?

I am almost afraid to wish for Amgash #5 in case anything awful happens to Lucy, but all the same, I really, really want to know what happens next. Really. But only if it's good.

Don't pick this up unless you have read at least one previous title in the series.

Publication Date: 6th October 2022
Thanks so much to #netgalley and #penguingeneraluk for the egalley

Writing about any pandemic is not easy, but Elizabeth Strout's graceful writing makes it look that way! I was a little sceptical of the plot of this novel at first but I'm glad I persevered.

Lucy Barton escapes from locked-down New York to Maine. The novel follows emotional family reunions from lockdowns, disputes over mask-wearing and etiquette and death.

Would definitely recommend.

This is my favourite Lucy Barton book by a long way. Yes, it‘s a pandemic novel but I think that Lucy‘s introspective, permanently perplexed and (dare I say it) rather self-absorbed viewpoint works really well to portray how we were all feeling from March 2020 onwards. It felt like a validation rather than anything too scary.

We also got to know Lucy a bit better, as well as her daughters and William. I took a bit of a dislike to William in the last book (Oh, William!) but he redeemed himself for me here. I really enjoyed learning more about their daughters, including how they were affected by the pandemic, as well as all of the different reactions from other characters in the novel.

Lucy Barton is an acclaimed novelist. Her second husband, David, has died and her first husband, William, has taken her out of New York to Maine at the beginning of the pandemic. This novel is the story of what happens to them during the first year or so of Covid19. As you might expect, not much happens

Barton is of course one of the recurring characters in Strout's books. She came from a very impoverished background to go on to live in comparative wealth and much of the novel is spent reflecting on her life and relationships. This book covers many themes including - but not limited to - grief, loss, love and social injustice,

I love Strout's writing. It is accessible and she presents characters as they are, warts and all. I especially like the way we get glimpses into the lives of characters from her other books. Here we once again come across the wonderful Olive Kitteridge and Bob Burgess as well as Isabelle from Amy and Isabelle. This book may not be for some as it is so firmly set in the pandemic. I loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

Coming soon!

Released October 6th, I read this latest book from Elizabeth Strout last month, thanks to an ARC from Netgalley.

Lucy By the Sea takes place during the recent pandemic, when she is persuaded by her ex husband William to flee New York and move to a small, coastal town which he believes will provide greater safety in which to wait it out. This has all the trademarks of Elizabeth's other books, detailing the ordinary lives of ordinary people, but in such an immersive style that you truly lose yourself in their lives, and grow to care for each of the characters (even if you sometimes want to shake them and wish they'd grow some backbone!)

I have read six of Elizabeth Strout's books so far, and really enjoyed each one of them, so I was genuinely excited to be approved for an ARC of this,and it did not disappoint. If you have read and enjoyed any of her other books then I think you will love this too, once the memory of the pandemic and all the associated misery has passed enough for you to be able to read about it all over again! A solid 4/4.5* read for me, I will be buying this when it is released to add to my collection ( I do still have a bit more of a soft spot for Olive Kitteridge though I must confess!)

Strout has come through with the pandemic novel I didn’t know I needed. There’s enough distance between the worst of the lockdowns now to be able to appreciate the cosiness of Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William retreating to Maine to shelter. It’s not all a happy weathering of the storm though, and Strout forces Lucy to go through much of the sadness and worry and grief we all experienced during the height of the pandemic. Obviously the guest appearance of Olive Kitteridge was the highlight for me.

In 'Lucy by the Sea' Elizabeth Strout revisits her titular character, and combines fiction with reality, to explore how Lucy Barton would make sense of the COVID pandemic. Saved from New York isolation by William, Lucy and her ex-husband rent a house in Maine. There, characters from Strout's previous novels are reintroduced and the author explores real world events in addition to COVID, including the impact of the Trump administration on the country and the horrific death of George Floyd.

This is a very clever novel, which is both beautifully written and incredibly moving. Strout brought back to me the feelings I experienced during the first year or so of the pandemic, and my horror at the different event around me. However, she has also created a novel that is filled with love and warmth. Therefore, whilst at times I found it a hard read, it was a book I was keen to read all the way through, and I am sure I will re-read. I can also see this book being used to explain to people in the future what the experience was like. I would highly recommend.

5★
“I walked around and around the house. I did not know where to put my mind.”

March 2020, Maine, USA
Lucy is by the sea in a big, older house that her ex-husband William has rented to whisk her away to escape the ravages of the coronavirus in New York City. I use the overworked phrase “whisk her away” because that is what it feels like.

He tells her to pack a bag, they are to leave immediately, and then he sweeps her out of her apartment, her home for the last many years that she shared with her adored late husband, David.

She and William, once married for twenty years, have two adult daughters whom William has already told of his plans. He advised them and their husbands to do the same, get out of the city.

“ ‘And don’t tell your mother yet, but please do this. I will deal with her.’ And so they hadn’t told me. Which is interesting because I feel that I am close to our girls, I would have said closer to them than William is.”

Lucy agrees to go. In the first few pages she says:

“Here is what I did not know that morning in March: I did not know that I would never see my apartment again. I did not know that one of my friends and a family member would die of this virus. I did not know that my relationship with my daughters would change in ways I could never have anticipated. I did not know that my entire life would become something new.”

She has said previously that William is the one who introduced her to the world (from her extremely poor background), and he has always made her feel safe. This is how she opens the book.

“Like many others, I did not see it coming.

But William is a scientist, and he saw it coming; he saw it sooner than I did, is what I mean.”

She had also accompanied him on a trip to Maine to follow up an ancestry search William had done about his mother, whom Lucy knew.

Lucy’s own horrific childhood was the subject of My Name Is Lucy Barton, with more family stories in Anything Is Possible. The story of the trip to Maine is told in Oh William!

You don’t need to have read these, but this will be more meaningful if you do. William is still bossy and irritating, while Lucy stays outwardly calm. Outwardly.

“Sometimes I would have to leave the house in the dark and walk down by the water, swearing out loud.”

When she feels overwhelmed, as I imagine we all have, she appeals in her mind to her ‘mother’, not her real, abusive, late mother.

“ ‘Mom,’ I cried inside myself to the nice mother I had made up, ‘Mom, I can’t do this’! And the nice mother I had made up said, You are really doing so well, honey. ‘But, Mom, I hate this!’ And she said, I know, honey. Just hang in there and it will end.

But it did not seem like it would end.”

[Note – Strout uses italics, but I added the single quotation marks around Lucy’s own internal speech because not all reviews recognise html formatting. Remarks from Lucy’s invented mother are not italicised in the original.]

Lucy notes the growing division in America, the masked and the unmasked, the protests and the police. This suggestion of civil war worries her. Waiting in the car in Maine while William is in a shop, she looks at the police cruiser parked next to them.

“I watched him so carefully.

So carefully I watched him.

I wondered, What is it like to be a policeman, especially now, these days? What is it like to be you?
. . .
In a way that is not uncommon for me as a writer, I sort of began to feel what it was like to be inside his skin. It sounds very strange, but it is almost as though I could feel my molecules go into him and his come into me.”

Lucy is speaking about molecules, of course, but it could just as well be Strout, I think, who so deftly puts us into Lucy’s mind. Seeing the Capitol riots on TV, Lucy remembers being humiliated and bullied in her childhood because she was dirty and smelly. She wonders, if this had continued all her life, what might have become of her?

“I suddenly felt that I saw what these people were feeling; they were like my sister, Vicky, and I understood them. They had been made to feel poorly about themselves, they were looked at with disdain, and they could no longer stand it.”

It’s no wonder that Lucy is an acclaimed writer. She understands people better than most and has genuine concern for them.

“Who knows why people are different? We are born with a certain nature, I think. And then the world takes its swings at us.”

Thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winner, Elizabeth Strout, we see how Lucy deals with the swings. I should add that it was nice to see Bob Burgess (from The Burgess Boys become good friends with Lucy and William. Other characters from other books get a mention, too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the preview copy from which I have quoted, so quotations may have changed.