Lucy by the Sea

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Strout

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge comes a “poised and moving” (Vogue) 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

A BEST BOOK 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

©2022 Elizabeth Strout (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Graceful, deceptively light . . . Lucy’s done the hard work of transformation. May we do the same.”—The New York Times

“Lucy by the Sea has an anecdotal surface that belies a firm underlying structure. It is meant to feel like life—random, surprising, occasionally lit with flashes of larger meaning—but it is art.”—The New Yorker

“No novelist working today has Strout’s extraordinary capacity for radical empathy, for seeing the essence of people beyond reductive categories, for uniting us without sentimentality. I didn’t just love Lucy by the Sea; I needed it. May droves of readers come to feel enlarged, comforted, and genuinely uplifted by Lucy’s story.”—The Boston Globe

Brilliant and thought provoking

I made peace with Olive K but it was easy to love Lucy. It was a wonderful way to relive the last three years through the eyes of so gifted a writer.

Maybe it’s just that I’m the same age but

I have always loved Elizabeth Stout books. I felt like I was losing an dear old friend when the book was finished.

Ambivalent..

I didn’t read any reviews prior to reading the book since this often colors my perception prematurely, but came to the same conclusion: I was dumbfounded by how Kimberly Farr could have been chosen as the narrator for this eagerly awaited new release by one of my favorite authors. I too needed to speed up the narration to a minimum of 1.2 speed to avoid feeling like I was in a kindergarten class, with the weird inflections and pauses. It was like listening to someone read a script— very unnaturally. So many times I wanted to put down the book, but out of respect for the author and faith that things would pick up, I kept with it until the end.
Now, the story itself: it definitely was not my favorite novel by ES, as it was more like I was listening to a journal reading, rather than being given the opportunity to be drawn into the characters inner lives. The subject matter and setting revolving around one woman’s experience in the pandemic and her relationships never quite delved into the depth of character development or even perspective from the other character’s that would have made this book shine. I couldn’t get away from the simplistic writing style and tonal inflection by the narrator which proved a challenge the entire way through, but I did persevere and enjoyed parts of it, but it just left me feeling disappointed and wanting more. I’d recommend it in book form- but likely not audio.

As good as all the others

I loved this book. Elizabeth Strout has a deep understanding of grief, motherhood, and little moments in life that are so mundane and deep simultaneously.. I’m going back to re- read all the other books. I felt as if I was sitting in the kitchen at the table with Elizabeth Strout. wonderful narration also

Full of gems in spite of the narrator

The book brought me back to what life was like during the pandemic and that alone made it worthwhile. Plus, it's full of wonderful gems of described experiences and wise conclusions. Unfortunately, these gems are surrounded by a slow plot and lots of repeated phrases, such as "I remember this" and "So this happened." The narrator is wrong for this book, and too slow. And I agree with the critics that say that a published author who travels the country doing book readings, especially a New Yorker, would not speak the way Lucy speaks, even given her impoverished background. Yet I'm glad I listened to it and look forward to Strout's next book. I do wish she could bring back Olive Kitteridge.

Almost Gave Up

I'm glad I stuck with it because it's a wonderful story but the performance is off putting. it's monotonous. Don't listen to this when you're in bed. You'll fall asleep.

Brilliant narration; Good story

Told from Lucy Barton’s perspective, the novel was like a long-time neighborhood friend describing her experience during and after the worst of the pandemic. The narration was brilliant in capturing the feeling and expressiveness of Lucy’s vernacular.

Good read for older adults

This was a great story but may not be interesting for the under 50 crowd unless they want a perspective of how their parents or older friends lives are going. Liked the timeliness of covid and how it really impacted people

Real

Fine review of our pandemic experience, step by step, with a good example of a personal affect.

Moving and real

Just what a novel should be—an engaging story with deeper meaning expressed through unfolding relationships. It grew on us (my wife and I listened together) as it went along. Highly recommend.