After seeing Elizabeth Strout live at Eckerd College and hearing Andre Dubus interview her, I gained greater insight into her writing process in formulating her latest great novel, Lucy By the Sea. I have read almost everything Strout has written and love the Lucy Barton character. She is thoughtful, reflective, and so relatable. Strout emphasized in her interview that she loves to write about ordinary people and does that masterfully.
In this novel, Lucy lockdowns with her ex-husband William in 2020. William insists that she leave New York City, and his friend Bob Burgess, a character from another Stout novel, arranges for them to stay in a house in Maine so that they would be safe. Of course, in Maine, they face some anti-New York sentiments from neighbors, but they also connect with old friends and meet some new ones. Connecting with people during this time of isolation was an essential theme of this pandemic novel. Connections included adult children and other relatives, including William’s half-sister whom readers met in Strout’s previous book, Oh William.
Elizabeth Strout includes much darkness, grief, and loss as Lucy experiences myriad emotions while watching terrifying pandemic newscasts about her home, New York City, during her sojourn in Maine. Strout says that she illuminates life’s truth through her characters, and she certainly does that skillfully. It was so realistic to engage in the marital and other personal problems that Lucy’s adult children experienced during the lockdown. Lucy’s desire to protect them as a mother and still let them make adult decisions without her interference is palpable to a reader. Through the annals of daily life, Lucy’s friendship with her ex-husband grows exponentially, and acceptance of each other’s habits and quibbles dominate much of the story.
I loved the way Lucy and William’s conversations mimicked the conversations we were all having during the first months of the COVID pandemic. Fear of the unknown was a prevalent topic. The political unrest that overtook the USA during this time is covered realistically. The conflicting feelings, sadness, and mercurial feelings I experienced while reading this book provided a reliving of the angst discussed on nightly newscasts and Zoom calls with friends.
