Set in the small town of Crosby, Maine, many of Elizabeth Strout’s previous (and distinctly different) characters populate the town and novel.
Bob Burgess, a semi-retired lawyer, takes on a case involving a lonely, isolated man accused of murdering his mother.
Bob has a long-standing relationship with Lucy Barton and reluctantly finds himself falling in love with her, despite being married. Lucy is divorced, but lives with her ex-husband William. Still, Lucy and Bob regularly walk together talking about the many aspects of their lives. There are many things they reveal only to each other.
Olive Kitteridge is another familiar character known for her cantankerous, usually, insensitive, dealings with others. Olive lives in a retirement home; she and Lucy often spend time together sharing stories about people they’ve known or situations they’ve experienced. The women attempt to give these stories meanings, but often they are simply glimpses of life’s ups, downs and unknowns.
Strout imbues the novel with empathy and intrigue. There are Bob’s emotions, not just his love for Lucy, but the emptiness he feels following his sister-in-law’s death and concern for his client charged with murder. Interestingly, even Olive has more empathy than disdain for those around her (although in limited doses). Lucy is in more of a recipient; her feelings for Bob are never fully disclosed, although suggestions are inferred.
Descriptions of small-town life, changes in seasons and day-to-day routines of the characters are, in Strout’s hands, much more interesting than they might otherwise be.
Tell Me Everything
Four Bookmarks
Random House, 2024
326 pages
The Blue Page Special 