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Writer's pictureLisa Harvey

Tell Me Everything

By Elizabeth Strout




Beautiful Descriptive Writing


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


SUMMARY

Lucy Barton is finally introduced to ninety-year-old Olive Kitteridge by Bob Burgess in Tell Me Everything. The setting is Crosby, Maine. Olive is now living by herself in an independent living facility.  Olive thinks she has a few stories to share with Lucy, a well-known author from New York. The two spend time together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories of things they have learned about life and people they have known who felt their lives had no meaning. Olive calls these the stories of unrecorded lives. Their storytelling creates somewhat of a unique bond between the two women.


During the pandemic, Lucy had stayed in Crosby with her ex-husband, William, and they both decided to stay there once the pandemic ended.  Now, Lucy enjoys taking long walks with Bob Burgess, whose attraction to Lucy grows daily. The walks start innocent enough, but feelings soon begin to bubble.  Bob, at 65, is an almost retired attorney who soon becomes embroiled in a murder investigation, defending a reclusive man accused of killing his mother.  Bob had suffered a tragedy as a child, and the remnants of blame for the tragedy still reverberate some sixty years later between Bob and his brother Jim.  We may never know the truth.


REVIEW

Elizabeth Strout finally brings her most beloved characters together in one book. It was a delight to read, and it made me want to go back and reread her earlier books.  Strout fans will adore this book and reuniting with Lucy, Olive, Bob and others.


Strout’s beautiful descriptions of Maine's flora, fauna, and weather make you feel like you are in Maine alongside Lucy while listening to Olive’s stories. Strout explores what a meaningful life looks like and how we don't think the things we have done in our own lives are meaningful.


My favorite part is how Bob helped the young, reclusive man with his legal case. But more than that, he helped the man live a happier life. Bob doesn’t think he did anything special, but it was.


Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher    Random House Publishing Group - Random House

Published   September 10, 2024




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