Lucy by the Sea

Lucy by the Sea

From the Booker-shortlisted author of Oh William!

Summary

'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own' Hilary Mantel

FROM THE BOOKER-SHORTLISTED, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR

'It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us'

In March 2020 Lucy Barton's ex-husband William pleads with her to leave New York and escape to a coastal house he has rented in Maine. Lucy reluctantly agrees, leaving the washing-up in the sink, expecting to be back in a week or two. Weeks turn into months, and it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the sea.

Rich with empathy and a searing clarity, Lucy by the Sea evokes the fragility and uncertainty of the recent past, as well as the possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this miraculous novel are the deep human connections that sustain us, even as the world seems to be falling apart.

'A terrific writer' Zadie Smith

'I cannot get Lucy Barton out of my head' The Times

'She gets better with each book' Maggie O'Farrell


Sunday Times bestseller, October 2022
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2022
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 2009

Reviews

  • Stunningly universal . . . with brilliant acuity, Strout has seized on the parallels between Lucy Barton's pervasive sense of alienation and the way the recent global crisis has exposed the helplessness felt by ordinary people everywhere
    Daily Telegraph, 5 stars

About the author

Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.
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