Lucy by the Sea - Elizabeth Strout

Lucy by the Sea

By Elizabeth Strout

  • Release Date: 2022-09-20
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
4 Score: 4 (From 757 Ratings)

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch-perfect novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.

“Strout’s understanding of the human condition is capacious.”—NPR

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, PopSugar, She Reads


With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton through the early days of the pandemic.

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, 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. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea.

Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we’re apart—the pain of a beloved daughter’s suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love.

Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

Tags in Literary Fiction : Lucy by the Sea Elizabeth Strout ebook , Lucy by the Sea Elizabeth Strout epub , Lucy by the Sea Elizabeth Strout AUDIOBOOK , Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout ePub (.epub) , Lucy by the Sea book review , Literary Fiction

Latest Impressions

  • Lucy by the Sea

    4
    By RSue729
    It didn’t hold my attention like Strouts other books have. I still enjoyed reading it but the flow was different.
  • Forgottrn

    4
    By Imoknow
    I feel the effects of the pandemic every day. I did not remember the lock down and my feelings at the time. This book reminded me of the foreboding. I hope it never happens again, but I’m afraid it will.
  • My friend, Lucy.

    4
    By Ila31
    Strout’s conversational tone draws the reader into her mind so completely that you feel like her character’s most trusted confidante. There is no doubt that the novel reflects many Americans’ fears, frustrations, and loneliness during the dark days of the pandemic, yet Lucy makes it through tough times, and so did we all. “Better, not bitter.”
  • Letting Go

    5
    By Fofefes
    of security during the pandemic, of a dead second husband, as a mother of two adult daughters, and as a woman entering old age is a theme of Lucy by the Sea. This story felt so real I found it heart wrenching at times, particularly when Lucy, who wants so much to understand her loved ones, acknowledges the gaps in her understanding. A beautiful, sad, wise book.
  • Lucy by the Sea

    3
    By Lisagyll
    While I liked the story itself, I was not particularly fond of the style of writing. It felt like I was reading a YA novel.
  • Lucy by theSea

    5
    By kentla1026
    This is me and all the things I have thought about put into words. It will be you, too. From the first day that we learned about lockdown, through the isolation, through the horrible murder of George Floyd, getting a vaccine, and witnessing the attack on the capitol, this story is each of us. The pandemic overturned everything. I went from a middle aged woman to an old woman. My grandchildren became adults. That’s not all. This book is about love and letting go. It’s about reflection and acceptance. And motherhood. A must read!
  • Beautiful

    4
    By carocross
    Strict’s writing is excellent. Recommend highly.
  • Disappointing

    1
    By devoted wordsmith
    Not worth the money to read about the author’s take on COVID and other current events of 2020.
  • Beautifully done

    5
    By Sual Write
    We’ve all had it up to our eyeballs and beyond with pandemic life - this perspective by one of my favorite characters is delightfully whimsical, funny, touching… This is a tale of love, accountability, reconciliation, new beginnings and respecting boundaries (6 feet and beyond).
  • Lucy by the Sea

    1
    By NC774
    Boring …… !