A book filled with empathy on every page
A novel that shows the different forms of love, the power of friendships, healing, and the desire to leave a legacy
By : Neil Pate
Update: 2024-09-17 19:15 GMT
There is a kind of cosiness around the gentle characters etched by Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker-shortlisted author Elizabeth Strout in her latest novel, Tell Me Everything. Small-town lawyer Bob Burgess lives a lonely life in Crosby, Maine. He is studying a murder case and defending a man who has been accused of killing his mother. Two older women Lucy Barton, an acclaimed writer who lives near the sea and Olive Kitteridge, who lives in a retirement home, set the stories in motion in this novel.
Bob is friends with Lucy. They share stories of their lives, and worst fears and often go down for long walks along the sea. They are extremely fond of each other but you can’t put a finger on the pulse and tell if they are just close pals or are on the verge of having a roaring love affair. The author keeps you guessing. There is a sense of calm and empathy in Strout’s writing. The two women go back and forth reminiscing about their lives and the different people they came across. Bob has his share of troubles and doubts, but he comes across someone who often goes out of his way to help people. There are few twists and turns in this character-driven book which does not have a very strong racy plotline. There is community gossip and bonhomie. The focus of the book is on people and the complicated stories of their day-to-day lives. The readers resonate with the characters as they all come across as real.
At one point, you have one of the characters asking Lucy, what’s the point of her story. Lucy’s replay is epic, “People and the lives they lead. That’s the point.” It is precisely through these routine happenings that the award-winner author manages to weave in love, loneliness, grief, human bonds and the power of friends and friendships.