Book Review: Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (Amgash #4)

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us.”

At the onset of the novel, we see our protagonist Lucy Barton being whisked away to a “house on a small cliff on the coast of Maine” by her ex-husband and friend Dr. William Gerhardt. William, a parasitologist by profession, is concerned for Lucy’s well-being. Her history of asthma renders her vulnerable, as the coronavirus that has already ravaged Europe is making its way into the United States. William also urges their daughters and their husbands to leave New York for the time being. While Chrissy and her husband take his advice and leave New York before the shelter-in-place orders take effect, Becka and her husband do not. Though it takes a while for Lucy and William to adjust to their new surroundings in Crosby, Maine , they gradually settle in, make friends and reorganize their lives in keeping with the rules and restrictions imposed during these challenging times.

As the narrative progresses we get to know more about Lucy’s daughters and their respective lives- their childhood, professional and personal lives and their bond with their parents. While Lucy still grieves for her late second husband David, she finds herself comforted by William’s presence and remains concerned for the well-being of her daughters both of whom are experiencing rough patches in their relationships. Lucy's thoughts often take her back to her childhood and memories of her impoverished upbringing in Amgash, Illinois and her dysfunctional family. We see moments in which she drowns herself in memories and regrets over all that has gone wrong in her life, doubting her self worth and her role in the lives of others but we also witness how she picks herself up with the help of new friends, William and her daughters bringing her back to her present-day reality. Not everything or everyone is perfect, but life never is and Lucy is doing the best she can just like the rest of us.

“I had made up everything in my life, I thought! Except for my girls, and maybe even them I had made up, I mean their graciousness to me and to each other, how did I know?”

It is easy to relate to Lucy’s feelings of disconnect and isolation during lockdown , the questioning of her life and her relationships, dealing with the loss of acquaintances, friends and family members from Covid and her efforts to embrace the new normal as a way of life. Her struggles are real and often so relatable that at times you need to take a pause and breathe and remind yourself that Lucy is a fictional character. But Elizabeth Strout's thought-provoking, simple yet elegant narrative makes readers feel as if they have become a part of her story, and in a way, we are, every one of us having been impacted by the pandemic in one way or another! As the story takes us through 2020 - both the pandemic and other real-world events that impacted the social and political landscape of the country-the author’s tone while dealing with sensitive issues remains respectful, restrained and most importantly, compassionate. While some of Strout’s characters from her previous novels are referenced in this story, we also get to meet a few familiar characters when their paths cross with Lucy’s.

Introspective, insightful and so beautifully real, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout is an exquisite novel that I would not hesitate to recommend. However, I feel reading the preceding books in the Amgash series prior to this one would enable the reader to fully appreciate and feel invested in the character and her story.

“And then this thought went through my mind: We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don’t know it, that’s all. But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through.”

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for approving my request for a digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.