At best, Lucy Barton's relationship with her ex-husband William is complex. When he insists on taking her away from Manhattan because of Covid-19 she is puzzled. But, William knows things and she agrees to accompany him to a house he has rented by the sea in Maine. Expecting to be there only two weeks, Lucy thinks she can adapt to the sharp differences between Maine and New York. As the weeks turn into months, Lucy comes to terms with her new reality.
LUCY BY THE SEA, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout, is told in Lucy's distinct voice. Her manner is conversational and it is as though the reader is in the same room with her. She doesn't mince words and she tells us exactly what she is feeling. She is a woman who has overcome a great deal and has accomplished much, but she can be fragile and vulnerable, too. We follow along as she faces the reality and tragedy the pandemic has brought upon us. Family plays an important role in the narrative. Relationships change and unexpected new friendships developed. Not for the first time in her life, Lucy finds herself adapting.
I found Elizabeth Strout's LUCY BY THE SEA to be timely, poignant, and engrossing. It is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
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.
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