BookBrowse Reviews Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

BookBrowse:

The stories of Olive Kitteridge, Lucy Barton, and Bob Burgess continue, post-pandemic lockdown, in Tell Me Everything.

Elizabeth Strout's Tell Me Everything picks up where her previous book Lucy by the Sea (2022) left off. Author Lucy Barton is now living full-time with her ex-husband, William, in the small town of Crosby, Maine. The 90-year-old Olive Kitteridge lives there as well, and asks their common friend Bob Burgess to send Lucy to her; she has a story to tell that may interest a writer. As Lucy and Olive become friends, they trade tales of "unrecorded lives" — unremarkable people who nevertheless strike the pair as extraordinary.

At the same time, Bob is trying to be the calm eye of the storm as crises whirl around him. His nature is to help people (Lucy calls him a "sin-eater" — see the Beyond the Book), but he's on the verge of being overwhelmed by the problems of others. One of these others is Matt Beach, a strange, solitary man suspected of murdering his mother, who Bob, in his capacity as a lawyer, agrees to represent. Bob's only solace is his weekly walk with Lucy, but as the two become closer even this begins to add to his growing pile of stressors.

In typical Strout fashion, one can't necessarily say the novel has a firm narrative arc. While these varied plotlines sustain the forward momentum, they almost seem like an afterthought, a loose scaffolding on which to build something simultaneously simpler yet somehow grander. But that's what makes each of Strout's books something to celebrate; they draw us in and enrapture us with uncomplicated prose while capturing all the complexities of an ordinary life. For example, the book begins:

"This is the story of Bob Burgess, a tall, heavyset man who lives in the town of Crosby, Maine, and he is sixty-five years old at the time we are speaking of him. Bob has a big heart, but he does not know that about himself; like many of us, he does not know himself as well as he assumes to, and he would never believe he had anything worthy in his life to document. But he does; we all do."

The author's literary style borders on unsophisticated, yet the content is profound.

Those who've enjoyed Strout's previous work will likely be delighted to see her main protagonists finally brought together in Crosby. Each one comes with a family and friends, though, and those connections result in a huge cast. All the characters, major and minor, are exquisitely drawn, and I felt Strout clarified who was who quite effectively. The publisher has, however, helpfully provided a chart in their Book Club Kit outlining the characters' relationships.

Tell Me Everything can be read as a standalone novel; it's not necessary to have read other Strout books to fully appreciate it. Readers meet each one of these characters where they are at this specific point in time, and although it's evident that each has a past, the author carefully includes everything we need to know to appreciate them in the current moment. That said, those who haven't will almost certainly want to read the previous novels once they've encountered these marvelous characters, and it may be a richer reading experience tackling the books in order. Those who've read the earlier books will be treated to uncovering new layers of familiar characters. One of my favorite parts of the novel was finding out more about Bob's wife, Margaret, and his brother, Jim (both originally from 2013's The Burgess Boys).

Most of us live pretty unremarkable lives, but Strout is here to point out that each of us is exceptional in our own way. While Tell Me Everything contains a number of bleak circumstances (death, illness, suicide, parent-child conflict, marital infidelity, etc.), it nevertheless ends up being an uplifting novel, one that left me feeling just a little bit better about life in general. Strout's fans are sure to love this addition to her oeuvre, and it's likely to win the author many new devotees. Its wide range of themes makes it a great choice for book groups as well.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in October 2024, and has been updated for the December 2024 edition. Click here to go to this issue.