Lucy By The Sea

Elizabeth Strout

Viking £14.99 Booker-shortlisted Strout continues the adventures of her novelist heroine Lucy Barton. As Covid reshapes the world, Lucy, who’s empathetic and introspective, leaves Manhattan with here x-husband, the often exasperating William, and heads to Maine. It’s a musing, melancholy read, awash with reminiscence as Lucy grieves for her late second husband, misses her daughters, and recalls a troubled and troubling past. The novel delicately captures her isolation while quietly celebrating the joys of human connection, and the irresistible pull of hope.