I was so thrilled to get the opportunity to read Tell Me Everything and found it a real comfort to be back in Crosby, Maine with a host of familiar characters. It’s very difficult to do justice to an Elizabeth Strout novel in a review, her style of writing is unique- simple and yet profound and I’m in awe of it every time I read one of her books. She captures so much in a few words and once again I was completely drawn into the world of Lucy, Bob, Olive and others. It is very much a character based novel, focused on relationships with a few very loose plot lines. It’s a very contemplative novel which reflects on issues including childhood trauma and loneliness. Even if you haven’t read the author’s previous novels this works well as a standalone. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
4.5 stars

The story revisits characters we have met in the authors previous novels set in a seaside town in Maine. I had read seven of the previous novels and it was like meeting old friends however I think the book could equally well be read as a standalone novel.
The author has such a unique voice. I would know I was reading one of her books just from picking a random page.
The sections from the pandemic were particularly poignant I liked the way that she didn’t dwell on them, but rather introduced little vignettes in a positive way
I loved the little cameo characters the woman who had seen years ago after a funeral as a child through a car window then met years and years later and hug every time they meet
The book touches on issues such as loneliness in a subtle nuanced way the book is really stories of ordinary mundane life , because of this you instantly identify with the characters. I would recommend this book to those who like a primarily character or relationship based novel if you have enjoyed her previous novels then you will love this one too.

I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 19th of September 2024 by Penguin General UK.

This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK

Last year I was sad to wave goodbye to Elizabeth Strout’s Amgash serious but was fortunate enough to get to meet Olive Kitteridge next.

Here are two fascinating literary characters not easily forgotten and I loved every single book in both series.

Now imagine my glee when I found out that Strout’s upcoming Tell Me Everything marries the two and ta-daaa: we have a book in which Lucy and Olive finally meet. I mean what could possibly be better?

Yes, Olive is still cantankerous Olive and Lucy is also very much the same, but their blossoming friendship is beautiful to witness. And of course, there’s so much more.

If you love Strout’s books, this one won’t disappoint. I’m so grateful to #NetGalleyBooks for my early eARC and so sad, that I now don’t have anything else to look forward to… yep, my love for these books is real.

Another classic from Elizabeth Strout featuring Olive Kitteridge and her eclectic mix of friends and their families. Bob Burgess has landed himself a case defending a man accused of murdering his mother. This brings to the fore his feelings about accidentally killing his own father as a child. Bob and Lucy Barton take walks and tell each other their stories. Lucy also spends afternoons with Olive and they too tell stories. This essentially is what this book is about, the stories of our lives…..”unrecorded lives” as Olive describes them.
These characters are a delight even with or maybe because of all their flaws. A must read.

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I have read and re-read all of Elizabeth Strout's books over last few years. Getting to read this one early was very much like Christmas and birthday rolled together. I was worried about having high expectations and also about all my favourite characters coming together. Completely unnecessarily. Olive, Lucy and Bob were just being themselves, but together. I loved how the book contained multiple short stories within that in some way connected everybody. It was beautifully written. So gentle and just lovely, I'm not sure how as a lot of I was heartbreaking. But that's just life I suppose. I do hope we will get to meet Lucy, Olive and Bob again.

I finally dove into Elizabeth Strout’s lauded world with “Tell Me Everything,” looking forward to the magic so many readers rave about. Unfortunately, the charm I was expecting never materialized.

The novel, set in the familiar town of Crosby, Maine, revolves around lawyer Bob Burgess and his entanglement in a local murder case. Weaving in the narrative of Bob’s burgeoning friendship with writer Lucy Barton offered some initial intrigue. But the story quickly meandered, failing to capture my attention. I didn’t finish the book. The slow pacing and lack of emotional engagement left me unmotivated to continue.

For those seeking a character-driven exploration of small-town life, “Tell Me Everything” might hold some appeal. However, if you’re looking for a captivating plot or a surge of emotions, this might not be for you.

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

We return to the setting of Elizabeth Strout's previous books in Maine, and this time focus on Bob Burgess and Lucy Barton along with a few other well-known characters like Olive Kitteridge.

Wow, what an incredible writer Elizabeth Strout is! Her prose reminds me of Anne Tyler but really she is in a class of her own - absolutely brilliant and I loved every page of it. I want to reread all the previous ones now. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I absolutely adore Elizabeth Strout and was so excited (and grateful) when my ARC request was accepted. Here, the focus is on the many of the old favourites from Strout's stories: The Burgess brothers, Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, and more. The novel focuses, specifically, on Bob Burgess, living up in Maine, and his close friendship with Lucy Barton, well-known writer. Of course, others play a significant role - such as curmudgeon Olive K, living in a residential facility, and in many ways, her depiction is the strongest of all the characters. Strout doesn't have to write much to create a brilliant character. This, I feel, is one of the most important features of good writing.

Strout's books deal with real life and real people. In 'Tell Me Everything', there is definitely a more melancholy, sometimes tragic feel compared to in some other books. The whole situation with Matt Beech, and his mother Gloria, for one - plus what happens to Jim Burgess' son, Larry, and Bob's wistfulness. Olive comments how she really liked Jim - 'He was real. Not easy to find someone who is real.' Later, she comments how she will miss '... the way the world is these days...' when she's dead. Bob comments to Mrs Hasselbeck (great name!) have what she tells him (about having an affair) is '... just life...' Strout has a superb knack of doing a lot with very little, which is no mean feat.

I love Strout's books and when I start reading them, I feel the familiar comfort of a nice warm blanket - familiar, cosy - but also, there are some bitter-sweet moments, things happen that can be quite unexpected. My only small criticism is there is slight over-reliance on writing things like 'Bob wanted to tell Olive this, that's what he thought, so he said it' (this is made-up - but Strout does tend to do this quite often). However, aside from this minor irritation, I loved 'Tell Me Everything' and I am already looking forward to the next book months before this one's publication date!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have loved everything that Elizabeth Strout has written…until now. I really tried to enjoy reading this new story but found it to be really bitty and did not hold my attention. I eventually gave up and haven’t finished reading it.
I do hope it’s just me having an attention lapse and everyone else likes it, but sadly not for me.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Strout never fails to utterly captivate me with her writing. Sparse, clean sentences that seem so simple and innocuous but which get under your skin and twist themselves into your mind. The ordinary people who turn out, under the surface, to live extraordinary lives of such vividness, pain and sorrow, great love and kindness. It's all so achingly beautiful and rendered in that way that makes something so incredibly difficult seem so easy. In this book, Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge meet and in telling each other stories, come to love and appreciate each other and to change each other's lives. There is a murder that threads its way through this book, which slips in and out of the narrative in a gorgeously elusive and wholly compelling way. This was brilliant.

Another great instalment in the world of Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge. If you have enjoyed any of this series, you will love this one. I found it the most enjoyable one yet. Lucy and Olive end up trading stories, and the whole book has a theme of getting to know people, opinions of others and trust, underscores by a local accused of murder. Details of his life are slowly revealed, which added a great deal of pace to the story. Very enjoyable!

What a beautiful book. Having a glimpse into the lives of bob and his friends and family. Watching those moments of connection and disconnection unfold through the pages of the book. The book shows the ebb and flow of love fid the people in bobs life. How the past informs the present. Just a really lovely book. Thoroughly enjoyed it

More pearls of wisdom.
How can Elizabeth Stroud keep improving, each book gets better.
Olive Kitteridge is back, older and in some ways wiser, she is friends with the writer Lucy Barton and the two swop stories about people and in some cases moral judgements.
Bob Burgess is married to a Vicar Margaret, he is not sure of her motivations and suspects that she has narcotic tendencies. Bob still sees his ex wife Pam and is her confidente. Lucy and Bob meet for walks and chats and appreciate each others candid opinions, they are gradually falling in love, but avoid the subject.
A murder occurs in the town of a woman who was disliked by most people, her son, the reclusive Matt is a suspect, Bob agreed to take on his case and helps him with his life's challenges.
The above are just a few of the threads in this marvellous book, insights and moral questions occur, all thought provoking
Thank you NetGalley and Elizabeth for this ARC.

Do you remember “The Burgess Boys”?
Elizabeth Strout is known for writing about the same characters in her books. These imaginary people become somehow real in her novels because she gives them a normal, average life. We see these characters across their lifespan, every time at a different point in their life. It makes them familiar, readers feel like they know these characters exceptionally well. Do you remember “The Burgess Boys”? Well, I have to say I read this some years ago and I don´t remember the details, but I do remember Bob. Bob also appeared in “Oh, William!”. And he is back in this novel. Not only him, there are also Olive and Lucy. All my favorites!

Once again Strout talks about life and its cycle. She explores love, marriage, and loneliness. Aging and grief are part of life, and the author is not afraid to talk about these topics. It`s one of these slow novels, there's almost no action, yet underneath the surface, everything is simmering. Yes, we also have here a murder, but it's not a murder mystery book. We observe dynamics between characters, Bob and Lucy are just fantastic to watch, but I find Lucy and Olive particularly interesting. There is so much to tell about these people, this book, and the writing. But I won´t, because instead of a quick review, you would get a book about a book.
So let me just say this: five stars.

An absolutely lovely book with the most wonderful characters. Elizabeth Strout's insights into people and their thoughts and behaviours in unparalleled. This book was like a warm bath and I cannot wait to read more. Highly recommended.

I was looking forward to reading a new Elizabeth Strout so much that I 'saved' it to read on a transatlantic flight. It did not disappoint - the book that is, not the flight. Which was long and tedious and would have been almost unbearable without Lucy and Olive and Bob (Bob! Bob Burgess!) and all the other glorious characters we know so well and love so much from previous books. Olive, now 90, is as sharp and quick tongued as ever. Lucy is still in Crosby following the pandemic, and still living (sharing a house) with William, her ex. Oh, it was so good to be back with them all in small town Maine, as they explore the meaning of life, mostly through the stories of other peoples' lives as narrated by mostly Olive and sometimes Lucy - who actually spend some time together doing this. And Bob! Lovely Bob who probably loves Lucy but is happily married to a Unitarian minister (she was the one person I did't warm to, I'm not sure why). Some of my favourite quotes from the book:


"Lucy Barton, the stories you told me, for all that I could tell--had very little point to them. Okay, okay, maybe they had subtle points to them. I don't know what the point is to this story!"
"People," Lucy said quietly, leaning back, "People and the lives they lead, That's the point.'
"Exactly," Olive nodded.


"What was that about?" Bob asked Olive, looking over at her.
"That was about the same thing that every story Lucy and I have shared is about. 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."

"Love is love ...... Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love. If it is love, then it is love."

Throughout the book, we learn about people, their lives, their loves, their understanding (or not) of life. There is a murder case, marriage ups and downs, the connections people make. And through it all, Elizabeth Strout deftly keeps our attention and leads us on. A book to savour and re-read. And hopefully there story will be continued .....

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I’ve collected most of the Lucy Barton books but, unfortunately, I only had time to re-read one, Oh William!, to reacquaint myself with some of Lucy’s story before reviewing Tell Me Everything.

In Tell Me Everything, Lucy is sharing a house with William, her ex-husband, and has a loving friendship with Bob Burgess. She has begun meeting regularly with Olive Ketteridge for the purpose of hearing Olive’s stories, and in turn telling Olive some of hers. In this way it’s good to find out what is happening with Olive now.

Lucy and Bob meet frequently for walks and Lucy is privy to Bob’s guilty secret of smoking the occasional half a cigarette. In their conversations they discover things about each other and, on reflection, about themselves. I’ve read a few books lately which focus on the lifelong effects of parent/child relationships and I’m nearly at the point of having heart-to-hearts with my own children and asking them how good, or bad, a mother I was/am. Then again, is anybody ever ready for that talk?

As you can see, Elizabeth Strout brings out my inner philosopher, which I’m sure happens with all of her readers. I would love to read all of her books again but, you know, so many books, so little time.

It was an absolute treat to catch up with Lucy Barton again!

Published by Random House

Wonderful as ever. Manages to avoid sentimentality and tweeness and retains a steeliness which makes her writing so additctive.

A classic Elizabeth Trout, catching up with Olive again is as always bitter sweet.
I will continue to dip into the lives of Olive and her friends when I can.

Oh the wonder of Elizabeth Strout. Two of the big themes in this novel are loyalty and the fear of loneliness as drivers of actions and behaviour.

It is a wonderful novel and one describing and challenging the way people see themselves and how others see and feel them. Someohow Elizabeth Strouts has a way with words that bring behaviour to life in ways that are incredibly fresh and cut to the heart of a matter.

It is ncredfible skillful, beautiful and humane writing. Descriptions of the humanity and friendship that bind people together that really resonate. The misunderstandings and doubts that trouble individuals and relationships.

What joy to read her latest novel and so thought provoking. To get to the end and start again and realise the fiendish complexity with which it is plotted. The way clues and trails are laid before you - all in a novel which reads seamlessly and seems effortless. A perfect example of where less is more. Then, all is brought together. Superb.

If you have not read any of the previous novels that is fine. You will still enjoy and appreciate this. What you will miss is the delight of coming upon characters you have met before and catching up with them.

I believe I am a wiser and more tolerant person haveing read this novel - so thank you Elizabeth Strout.