Elizabeth Strout crafts novels that delve into the complexities of human experience with profound empathy and sharp insight. Her work is celebrated for its intimate portrayals of ordinary lives, exploring the subtle nuances of memory, identity, and the search for meaning. Strout's distinctive narrative voice and psychological depth resonate deeply, offering readers a powerful exploration of the human condition.
As a panicked world goes into lockdown in March 2020, 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. She expected to be back in a week or two. Weeks turn into moths, and it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea
Set against the backdrop of autumn in Maine, a town lawyer finds himself intertwined in a murder case while forging a deep friendship with acclaimed writer Lucy Barton. As they share walks and discuss their fears and regrets, Lucy connects with the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now in a retirement community. Their afternoons together are filled with storytelling, exploring the lives of those around them, which Olive refers to as "unrecorded lives," ultimately giving new meaning to their experiences and relationships.
"Olive Kitteridge has returned, as indomitable as ever, this time as a person getting older, navigating her next decade as she comes to terms with the changes--sometimes welcome, sometimes not--in her own life. Here is Olive, strangely content in her second marriage, still in an evolving relationship with her son and his family, encountering a cast of memorable characters in the seaside town of Crosby, Maine. Whether it's a young girl coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth at a baby shower, or a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, the irascible Olive improbably touches the lives of others."--Provided by publisher
From the author of Tell Me Everything, My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge: Elizabeth Strout's celebrated fourth novel The Burgess Boys Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown for New York as soon as they could. Jim, a successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, something that Bob, a legal aid attorney who idolises Jim, has always taken in his stride. But when their sister desperately calls them back home to Shirley Falls to help her teenage son out of trouble, long-buried tensions begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever. A stunning story about the tragedies and triumphs of two brothers, from the bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge. Exploring the ties that bind us to family and home, this novel will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Praise for Elizabeth Strout ‘Astonishingly good’ Evening Standard 'So good it gave me goosebumps’ Sunday Times ‘Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force’ The New Yorker 'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own' Hilary Mantel
Presents twenty of the best works of short fiction of the past year from a variety of acclaimed sources.
From the Orange Prize-shortlisted author of AMY & ISABELLE, a deeply moving story of love, abandonment, and the peril of family secrets...
Lucy Barton is a writer, but her ex-husband, William, remains a hard man to read. So Lucy is both surprised and not surprised when William asks her to join him on a trip to investigate a recently uncovered family secret
From the Man Booker Prize longlisted author of My Name is Lucy Barton Isabelle Goodrow has been living in self-imposed exile with her daughter Amy for 15 years. Shamed by her past and her affair with Amy's father she has submerged herself in the routine of her dead-end job and her unrequited love for her boss. But when Amy, frustrated by her quiet and unemotional mother, embarks on an illicit affair with her maths teacher, the disgrace intensifies the shame Isabelle feels about her own past. Throughout one long, sweltering summer as the events of the small town ebb and flow around them Amy and Isabelle exist in silent conflict until a final act leads ultimately to the understanding they both crave.
Acclaimed author Elizabeth Strout gives us thirteen rich, luminous narratives centred on a singular and formidable heroine, Olive Kitteridge.
An exquisite story of mothers and daughters from the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of her life: her impoverished childhood in Amgash, Illinois, her escape to New York and her desire to become a writer, her faltering marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable. In My Name Is Lucy Barton, one of America's finest writers shows how a simple hospital visit illuminates the most tender relationship of all-the one between mother and daughter.
