As Lucy and William are forced to live
together, they re-examine their past history and are able to find more clarity
and understanding on how their marriage unravelled. (Review by Fiona De Goede)
Elizabeth Strout is an American author of several acclaimed novels, including Olive Kitteridge, which was made into a TV series featuring the talented Frances McDormand. Strout was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this novel.
My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh, William are two novels that precede this one. However, if one has not read these two, it will not distract from the enjoyment of Lucy by the Sea.
The story is a very apt reflection of the life we all had to face in 2020 – yes, it’s about Covid, about one woman’s first-hand experience of lockdown and the subsequent adjustments that we all had to deal with. Several of the situations that she encounters are the very same issues that we were all faced with during this time: isolation, missing loved ones, learning of the death of a friend or acquaintance and having to adjust to the new normal.
William, Lucy’s ex-husband, persuades her to accompany him to Maine and live there with him in a small cottage on the coast. He has rented the cottage as a stopgap measure to stay safe and escape the virus in New York. She literally leaves the dishes in the sink, fully expecting to be back in a couple of weeks’ time to continue with her life in New York. Of course, we all know what happened and those weeks turned into months and even longer…
As Lucy and William are forced to live together, they re-examine their past history and are able to find more clarity and understanding on how their marriage unravelled. Their two daughters, both married and with their lives in New York, are the glue that keeps Lucy and William firmly bonded. Personal drama, heartache, loss and grief are part of the journey that they all, as a family, need to endure.
This is not a bleak story despite the very serious subject matter. Strout has an economical way with words and her story-telling technique leans towards a minimalist style of prose. She is masterful at capturing a mood, a situation, an emotion, in a couple of deft brush strokes by implementing the absolute correct choice of words.
I enjoyed this novel as I found that the author was able to capture many of the emotions that I experienced during the pandemic. Although the character’s experience was very specific to her circumstances, there was a universal thread that rang true and that, I suspect, most readers will be able to identify with. - Fiona de Goede
Lucy by the Sea is published by Penguin - ISBN 978-0-241-60699-5
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