Lucy by the Sea

Reviews

“No novelist working today has [Elizabeth] Strout’s extraordinary capacity for radical empathy, for seeing the essence of people beyond reductive categories, for uniting us without sentimentality. I didn’t just love Lucy by the Sea; I needed it. May droves of readers come to feel enlarged, comforted, and genuinely uplifted by Lucy’s story.”—The Boston Globe

“Heartwarming as well as somber . . . Although simple on the surface, Strout’s new novel manages, like her others, to encompass love and friendship, joy and anxiety, grief and grievances, loneliness and shame—and a troubling sense of growing unrest and division in America. . . . Strout’s understanding of the human condition is capacious.”—NPR

“Rendered in Strout’s graceful, deceptively light prose . . . Lucy’s done the hard work of transformation. May we do the same.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Like all of Strout’s novels, Lucy by the Sea has an anecdotal surface that belies a firm underlying structure. It is meant to feel like life—random, surprising, occasionally lit with flashes of larger meaning—but it is art.”—The New Yorker

“The novel inhabits an emotionally rich terrain, where past failures shine light on future possibilities, where strength comes from vulnerability and where chance challenges choices. . . . Strout is a natural and generous writer, letting feeling and intuition lead her craft.”—Associated Press

“Deeply moving and quietly funny.”—The New York Times (100 Notable Books of 2022)

“Strout fans will delight in the appearance of beloved characters from previous novels, including Olive Kitteridge and Isabelle . . . as they struggle and hope—together but in isolation.”—The Washington Post (50 Notable Works of Fiction)

“Through her empathetic hand, Strout reveals what was lost in this turbulent time, but also—via her discoveries about marriage, family, and love—what Lucy gained.”—Time

“Poised and moving . . . It is only in the steady hands of Strout, whose prose has an uncanny, plainspoken elegance, that you will want to relive those early months of wiping down groceries and social isolation. . . . This is a slim, beautifully controlled book that bursts with emotion.”—Vogue

“The Pulitzer Prize–winning Portland author reprises her Lucy Barton character to convert the grimmest period in our recent past into something triumphant and hopeful.”—Portland Press Herald

“A quietly profound book about grief and loss—oh, so much loss!—but also kindness, generosity and resilience.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Strout excels at distilling complex human emotions—fear of failure, regret that we never measured up— into something familiar and understandable.”—BookTrib

“Strout follows up Oh William! with a captivating entry in the Lucy Barton series. . . . What emerges is a prime testament to the characters’ resilience. With Lucy Barton, Strout continues to draw from a deep well.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) Expand reviews