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Title details for Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout - Available

Lucy by the Sea

A Novel

by Elizabeth Strout
Kimberly Farr
Audiobook
4 of 4 copies available
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4 of 4 copies available
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

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 20, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593669471
      • File size: 239824 KB
      • Duration: 08:19:37

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 4, 2022
      Strout follows up Oh William! with a captivating entry in the Lucy Barton series. This time, Lucy decamps to rural Maine during the first year of the Covid lockdown. At the pandemic’s onset in 2020, Lucy’s philandering ex-husband and longtime friend, William, whisks her away from New York City to a rental house in coastal Maine. He may have self-centered ulterior motives beyond his assertion that he’s trying to save her life, but they are not readily transparent for most of the narrative. Personal and public events intrude during the lockdown as the pair develop a “strange compatibility” while attempting to comprehend the new normal. Their two daughters each face a crisis in their marriage; William contacts his once unknown half sister, Lois Bubar, and reveals a life-threatening medical condition; and the country roils from George Floyd’s murder and the insurrection on January 6. Bleak memories of Lucy’s impoverished childhood and of her recently deceased husband surface in shattering flashbacks. Loneliness, grief, longing, and loss pervade intertwined family stories as Lucy and William attempt to create new friendships in an initially hostile town. What emerges is a prime testament to the characters’ resilience. With Lucy Barton, Strout continues to draw from a deep well. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Kimberly Farr, much lauded for her narration of Strout's Amgash series, brings her characteristic blend of introspection and compassion to this next chapter in Lucy Barton's life. As the pandemic begins, Lucy, at the urging of her ex-husband, William, flees New York City for the relative calm of coastal Maine. Farr describes Lucy's initial confusion over William's worries, which morphs into dread as she comes to see the devastation that COVID wreaks on her family and friends. With perfectly modulated tones, Farr depicts Strout's awkward, frail, and flawed characters while allowing listeners to glimpse the powerful emotions that threaten to overwhelm them. Although many of Lucy's recollections tread familiar ground, listeners will be pleased to revisit her world through Farr's exquisite narration. S.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Lucy Barton returns to narrate her life experience as she and her family navigate the challenges of the COVID pandemic. Lucy's ex-husband, William, whisks her away from the city to a seaside cottage in Maine, where they rekindle their relationship and make an unexpected investment in their future. As Lucy's daughters ride out the lockdowns and restrictions, they also face challenges and make decisions, not unlike the ones Lucy has made in her own life. With time on their hands for introspection, Lucy and her daughters come to understand that life is a series of events with multiple outcomes and consequences. Lucy is an author who thinks and acts like one, contemplating each nuance and situational setting she encounters. Readers will recognize some familiar characters from Strout's (Oh William!) other works to help Lucy maneuver through this new phase in her life. Narrator Kimberly Farr's breathy, thoughtful reading perfectly channels Lucy's personality, but listeners may want to speed up the recording to bring up the overly languid pace. VERDICT: A definite listen for fans of Lucy Barton and her family, though new listeners may want to catch up in order to understand the backstories of other characters in the book.--Laura Brosie

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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