Elizabeth Strout is ONE AMAZING WRITER. Starting with her novels, AMY and ISABLE, ABIDE WITH ME, she went on to create OLIVE KITTERIDGE, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009. But even if she had not had that prestigious start, Strout would have forged ahead, a village of her characters constantly speaking to her, enabling her to keep writing one amazing book after another. I have read all of them.
Her most recent award, THE STORY PRIZE, was given for her novel: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE…a collection of interconnected short stories set in Amgash, Illinois—the imagined rural, impoverished hometown of imagined author Lucy Barton from Strout’s, MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON.
The book introduces us to new characters, revealing why Lucy left the town and its confining culture to move to New York, where she created a new life and began to write stories analyzing and revealing the memories of these people and their circumstances. When Strout writes from the point of view of Lucy Barton, there is a sadness and loss of connection that Strout might have experienced in her own life. Those novels include: MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON, and TELL ME EVERYTHING, LUCY BY THE SEA, THE BURGESS BOYS. But with the love of her older characters still fresh and alive, Stout then gave us: OLIVE AGAIN, and OH,WILLIAM.
Now in this latest book, she is exploring and developing characters in a totally different environment, but with the same interior writing. We truly KNOW Strout’s characters, because she slowly peels away the elements they are hiding: their fears, mistakes, longings, and confusions. And so…
THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY
A brief summary: The novel’s main character is Arti Dam, a history teacher, liked and honored by his students, who lives and works in costal Massachusetts, but who secretly fights his personal fears, brought on by feelings of isolation, despair and the occasional desire for suicide. We gradually learn that these events are related to past sorrows in his life. Arti might be named for the “art” of finding one’s way through sorrow and worry, through memories that create confusion. Because what is life? What is MY LIFE? And most particularly, how can Arti get closer to his estranged son, after an accident that caused a death?
And yes, we might admire a character who approaches each day with the desire to communicate with his students. But that cannot heal the worries and the fears that Artie is struggling with. Secrets make people fearful. Secrets make people lonely. Maybe this amazing writer is speaking to many of us….how are you doing in life today? What fears are you forced to hide? What truths are you denying? And if you are denying your individual truths…why are you doing so?
Reading always helps us SEE our own true selves. At least I believe this. Thus, maybe Elizabeth Strout has a message for all of us….because this novel is also set against the backdrop of the 2024 election. Wow!
Let’s ask ourselves…what things do we need to say, do we need to share with those we love? And do we need to share them NOW? A question to consider.
Thanks for reading.
