Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. Thank you also to my friend Martin, who first recommended Elizabeth Strout’s work to me.

I may have first picked up one of her books out of curiosity, but I soon came to deeply appreciate her precise attention to detail and subtle mastery of characters and voice.

This latest book is no exception — in fact, it feels even richer and more intricate, having built layer upon layer through the preceding books. And it feels so much of our time, post-pandemic and exhausted, yet holding onto love and empathy.

What makes me want to keep reading her work? Why do these stories matter? Because they help make sense of the unrecorded lives and loves all around us.

As her character Lucy puts it: “People and the lives they lead. That is the point.”

Tell me everything by Elizabeth Strout
Pub date: 19th September

Thank you so much to #netgalley and @penguinukbooks for the opportunity to read this early copy of a much anticipated novel.

Last year I got the absolute pleasure to read most of Strout’s work because of @edels_reads Buddy read group. I read both the Olives, two of the Lucy but sadly missed Bob (which I will be catching up on ASAP).

Strout’s new book has a three way cross over with Lucy, Bob and Olive and it’s just as wonderful as it sounds. In fact, all of Strout’s main characters make an appearance in this book with the Caskey’s from Abide with me being present, as well as Amy and Isabelle Goodrow from my favourite Strout, Amy and Isabelle.

Ultimately though I think this is a Bob Burgess book. It is very centred around him and I guess since he hasn’t had as many books as Olive and Lucy it makes total sense. I really enjoyed the talks between Lucy and Olive about unrecorded lives and stories and then discussing what life means.

This one also has a very juicy sub plot. Or maybe just plot? Couple that with Elizabeth Strout’s beautiful and evocative writing and you’ve got a winner.

Now I will admit that there are a LOT of characters which at times can be a little bit overwhelming and I gave up keeping up with everyone’s first and second marriages because clearly, in Maine, everyone has a handful of marriages as standard.

I think it hit the mark for fans, following on these characters stories as they navigate their lives. I also believe it will be appreciated by a first time Strouter.
I will be recommending this one far and wide and will also be finally be picking up The Burgess Boys and finishing up the Lucy quartet ASAP.

What a treat to have a new Elizabeth Strout, and Tell Me Everything doesn't disappoint. Going back to Crosby, Maine, and being among the recurring characters of Strout's novels - Olive Kitteridge, Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess - is like being reunited with old friends.
In Tell Me Everything Strout considers the nature of love: romantic, platonic, familial, and the meaning of life.
Lucy Barton, back with ex husband William, has a touching friendship with the wonderful Bob Burgess. Is it turning into something deeper? Meanwhile Bob, a retired lawyer, has taken on the case of a man accused of killing his mother. Olive Kitteridge, now 90, has a deep friendship with a woman in her nursing home, who may be moving to live with her daughter.
Olive is irascible as ever as she forensically examines author Lucy on her first visit. She and Lucy start meeting occasionally to describe unrecorded lives. Their examples are very rich and varied, certainly better than anything I and my 91 year old mother could muster!
The ending was absolutely perfect with all the loose ends neatly tied.
As always Strout conveys the emotions, the sighs, the unspoken word, with poignancy and empathy. I dreaded seeing the last page. I wanted to stay in Crosby.

We see so many Strout characters here, people us "Stroutists" know intimately. Reading this is like slipping on a warm pair of slippers. It’s magic. We have spent years getting to know these people, and here we go again – they’re all together in some way or another, INCLUDING, yes, INCLUDING Olive Kitteridge!!!!!! What more could we ask for?

My two main points of interest here are Bob Burgess (married to Margaret) and Lucy Barton (used to be married to William but living with him) on their regular walks. Their chats, the routine, the intimacy. The things they talk about. Okay – let’s not deny it, Bob loves her, we think, but he certainly dips his toe into that bubbling pool of HCL. What does Lucy think?

Bob could not wait to tell Lucy about it. He and Margaret don’t have a bad relationship, not in any way. But these, things can happen. Can’t they?

Talking of Lucy Barton (author and ex-wife of William), she meets up with the legendary Olive Kitteridge. Oh man, I love Olive – she is so straight up, some may say rude – but I’m not so sure. Olive and Lucy catch up regularly to talk about “Lives unrecorded.” How’s that? These conversations are fascinating. If you like dropping your book on your chest (……okay you’re lying down here – on your back) and pondering about what was just said. You’ll understand this.

This all happens in Maine, which I must say sounds beautiful.

There are parent/adult children relationships explored – much of this will strike a chord with readers who have adult children. OMFG. Bob’s relationship with his brother Jim is also central – what the hell isn’t central here? Generational grief pops it’s ugly head up too.

One adult child says <i>Dad, I just have to tell you: You sucked as a husband to Mom</i>. What do you do with that?

There’s also a crime here and there's old lies revealed.

Can I just say this? With all of these people, knowing each other for so long, no different to any of us I suppose, including our families and friends – there are unrecorded stories.

But this book touches on meaning. The meaning of life. It really does.

What is the meaning of it all?

This book made me think of all this stuff. It will do it to you too!

Elizabeth Strout, you are a star.

"Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love. If it is love, then it is love."

I was given access to an ARC of Tell Me Everything through Netgalley. I had never read Elizabeth Strout before, but the description seemed interesting and people online usually say her Olive Kitteridge books are readable without following the series, so I decided to give it a go.
Tell Me Everything is a nice read. Strout's prose is very good and there are some quotable moments because she does get into her characters' minds and allows them to reflect and make up their minds, fail and recognize failings while we are reading them. On the other hand, the small regular life plot didn't really excite me as a reader, they we mostly background information to illustrate the characters' reaction and evolution.
I did find a few moments where I felt some ideas were undeserved, but usually guessed those came from following the characters in previous books. Other than that, this seems like a reasonable entry into Strout's universe and I may eventually try another book by her, probably outside of the Kitteridge series.

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

‘Tell Me Everything’ is a new novel by Elizabeth Strout, once again revisiting characters from her previous books. Readers of Ms Strout will know several of the characters from ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’, ‘Anything is Possible’, ‘Oh William !’ and her previous book ‘Lucy By The Sea’. I ended my NetGalley review of that book with the following “I hope Ms Strout continues to revisit her characters as she has in this book. I would love to read more of Bob Burgess, Olive Kitteridge and perhaps Lucy’s deceased husband.”

I’m delighted to say that Ms Strout has generously addressed my hopes in her new book ! Perhaps my favourite of all her books to date ! Bob and Olive feature prominently, Bob in particular drives the main plot line. Lucy’s deceased husband is mentioned briefly. I still hope Ms Strout tells us more about him one day.

‘Tell Me Everything’ continues to recount the relationship between Lucy and her close friend and confident Bob Burgess. Both have remained post-Covid in Crosby, a small town in Maine. Life continues although Ms Strout observes that post-Covid “…things were not the same…no one could agree exactly why”. A feeling perhaps that will be familiar to many readers.

Still, I’m sure that these same readers will take delight in the familiar surroundings and interlinked lives of these characters. As with many of the other characters in Crosby and beyond, they are well past middle age, approaching their twilight years. Reflective, mellowed and becoming aware that the end of life, if not in sight, is not too far over the horizon.

Noting much happens in Crosby, Maine. That is until it does. Ms Strout, via her main characters, tells us about their lives, their hopes and fears, their families and thoughts. Apart from Lucy and Bob, both who feature prominently, we revisit with the now elderly Olive Kitteridge. Olive, I am pleased to report, has not mellowed over the years and spends time with Lucy, an author, exchanging small stories of people and their lives. Reflective stories; sometimes trivial, other-times consequential and life-changing. These are the everyday and extraordinary stories of friends, families, and strangers in small towns and large cities.

Ms Strout eloquently captures the atmosphere of these quiet conversations, the meanings from small movements, pauses, thoughts and silences. Indeed it is these nuanced observations and in particular the silences and thoughts which tell us so much. The author's presentation of these familiar characters and scenes is done meticulously, economically in a few words, often alluding to situations and events in previous books. It is such a delight and also comforting to be reminded of books enjoyed long ago.

Events in small-town Crosby move slowly, if they move at all. Seasons change. As with Ms Strout’s previous books, the settings may often be idilic but an undercurrent of darkness is often present. Human frailty and the encroachment of urban woes on small-town, rural America continues. Frailties and woes that have perhaps been present in one form or other for generations.

Families in Ms Strout’s stories, including this one, grow up and grow distant. Friends and acquaintances quietly, slowly gravitate towards kindred spirits, becoming closer, warmer, wiser and more complete individuals as they age.

Ms Strout populates her books with ordinary people who are also surprising, remarkable, warm and generous. There are some tender moments in this book. Heartwarming thoughts and events, often associated with friendship found or maintained over the years. These may cause the reader to smile as great pleasure is derived from small events or stories recounted to someone close. There is also sadness in unexpected places.

One main plot line, a violent crime, is present throughout the book. Multiple side-stories often linked to Bob or Lucy are recounted directly or indirectly. Friends, families, events and incidents are sometime recalled and presented from different perspectives. Some stories are happy, others sad, others are just life happening, perhaps not as planned, but nevertheless, satisfying stories worthy of recalling, retelling and quietly considering.

Few authors capture modern-day lives as well as Ms Strout. The joys and sorrows, the strengths and weaknesses of people, the good, the bad, and the everyday events that make up life. ‘Tell Me Everything’ is a wonderful addition to her body of work. A real treat for anyone who has enjoyed her previous books and especially for anyone who has missed Olive Kitteridge in recent years. I’ll certainly miss Olive if this is her last appearance in Crosby. But I’ll look forward to more from Ms Strout as her characters in Crosby, Maine enter advanced years. Perhaps some reminiscences about Lucy’s deceased husband might be forthcoming. We can but hope. I wish the author and publishers all the very best for this new book.

I felt filled with joy when within a few pages I was back with so many of Strout's past characters. She, as ever, nimbly fits them into her narrative, using past novels to inform the situations and motivations of this book's cast. Even Isabelle (from Amy & Isabelle) has an off the page role. Just perfect for the readers who have devoured Strout's whole backlist.

I just adore how her characters combine colour, mundanity and the everyday yet are swept into individual life dramas. Does he/she feel the same about a relationship? true feelings about blended families, small town sensibilities with visitors, petty recriminations....it is all there. We also see the many connections with New York with the comings and goings.

Bob Burgess acts as lawyer when a long missing woman is found drowned and her son is charged with murder. Whilst these investigations could be seen as the spine of the story, I enjoyed how it was treated as one component of community life. Gossip, to an extent played an equal part for piecing together the mystery.

I love the ageing Olive, snarky and opinionated as ever telling and hearing snippets of lives lived. My least favourite character William, who featured so largely in Lucy By the Sea was a bit player in this book. I find him so irritating, I expect that is why Strout uses him or it may be my intolerance! These are very real people to me. I only withheld one star because of William, which is perhaps unfair!

With thanks to @NetGalley and @penguinuk for the opportunity to read and review

Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything, Penguin General UK (Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business, Viking) September 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Elizabeth Strout brings magic to her work and Tell Me Everything is no different. Bob Burgess and Margaret Estaver live in Maine. The enchantment of Maine’s autumn colours interspersed with prosaic and sometimes graphic detail is the setting for their marriage, their large house in which they cook together, and the security this couple, a lawyer and a Unitarian minister, provide the community. Olive Kitterage, ninety, knows the couple, sympathises with Bob’s sad past, is not fond of Margaret and has suffered through the pandemic. Lucy Barton, also from previous novels, is an important character, although mostly inconspicuous in the larger community apart for walking with Bob along the river. As autumn breaks into splendour, Olive decides to tell her story to Lucy.

Here Lucy Barton becomes a character whose relationship with Bob Burgess and Margaret Estaver meanders through the story told by Olive Kitterage. There is delicious detail in their meetings, from their surrounds, appearance and the stories that are shared through their relationship. Love is the overwhelming theme, and aspects of love permeate the conversations and interactions. At the same time as Olive Kitterage tells her story to Lucy Barton, each is observing and understanding more about the relationships around them. Bob Burgess and Margaret Estaver are also thinking about their understandings of love.

Elizabeth Strout has such an alive way of writing. Lively is not the right word, that her narrative is alive, so alive, immediate and fascinating is the overwhelming feeling I have from reading her work. I read her novels for that as well as the stories she weaves that concurrently engage, compel and dance away from any prosaic understanding. Strout’s work is a joy to read, and I always look forward to enjoining with her conversations on the page.

I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Strout. When a review copy of her latest novel appeared on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. There’s nothing easier than giving an honest review of a book you love.

This did not disappoint. It features Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge, but Bob Burgess takes centre stage in Tell me everything. He is a lawyer, and takes on the case of a man suspected of murder. However, this is not a thriller. 

It is a novel about the stories that we tell, and the stories of unremarkable people who have remarkable life stories. These are not related in a sensational manner, but told to (and sometimes by) Lucy, who  is a novelist of some acclaim. As she listens to these stories we glimpse moments that hint at how we make meaning from our lives and how we tell other people about ourselves. Lucy is a listener, and as Strout writes, “ who, who in this entire world, does not want to be heard?” 

A gentle read, with characters who tell tales that will charm, puzzle and entertain. It’s another winner from Elizabeth Strout.

I am never sure why I enjoy these books by Elizabeth Strout so much as I usually read much faster paced books but I love reading them. This brings together the characters from previous books with the wonderful Olive Kitteridge at the centre. It is untold stories of normal people trying to feel their way through life. It is so insightful and just beautifully written . I loved it .

4+ 🌟

I'm not saying I was in a reading slump, but I definitely wasn't loving any books recently.
But then along comes Elizabeth Strout.
She brought Olive Kitteridge AND Lucy Barton, and others that were familiar too.
I felt SO happy to be reunited with them.
Strout tells a story in such a simple way but I can't help but love her characters and the way she lays out their lives.
If you've read the previous books, this feels like the icing on the cake..
Bravo for another excellent book.

In this novel, Strout brings together a number of her (and our) beloved characters: Bob Burgess, Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge and examines the small town life they live - the 'unrecorded lives' as Olive puts it. Strout is a highly accomplished writer, and it was an utter joy to read this novel and to feel like you're walking alongside these characters - but, I say that as someone who has read the other novels, and who is familiar with the characters. I suspect if you don't know the characters, it might feel differently. From my point of view, there is brilliant writing, a real sense of place, and a further development of the characters, with Olive being her usual compellingly fractious self, and a murder mystery thread. To write what is an epic novel, spanning the lives of several people like this, to me, is genius. I know I'll read this novel again, and love it even more. Very highly recommended. My grateful thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This is of course, the latest in a series of books about a cast of characters that Strout has written about before and it's almost a shock to be told that Olive Kitteridge is now 91. Lucy Barton and Olive become friends as there is something they have in common - they are interested in stories about people. 'Unrecorded' stories Lucy calls them, stories that she won't use in her novels but ones that are still important or shocking or significant. Usually the stories are about the ordinary people of Maine who have something terrible or unexpected happen to them, but quite often it can be a story of a little snapshot that Lucy saw, an elderly couple laughing together for example. So the book has a loose and patchy sort of narrative, with lots of stories woven in and out of the main characters, plus a sort of whodunnit in there as well. If you love Strout's writing then you will love this as I did, but it wouldn't be a good book to start with as it partially relies on you wanting to hear more about people you already know.

In Tell Me Everything the author weaves together the lives of familiar characters from her previous novels to tell a story about life in a small town.
It’s a nice reunion with old characters and a chance to reflect on life's ups and downs.
A worthwhile light read

It was lovely to revisit characters from Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton series, but I felt this novel was a bit jumbled, packed with too many characters, backstory, and storylines. I had the sense that the novel and its characters didn't move much from start to finish.

That said, I adore Strout and everything she writes, and would say this is assigned reading to any person who starts Strout's work.

In short: Did I love it? Not as much as her previous installments, but yes, I loved it all the same.

There’s a pervading melancholy to Elizabeth’s Strout’s latest story about the inhabitants of Crosby, Maine whom many readers will already know well. But it doesn’t matter if this is the first of her novels you pick up. Strout makes all of her characters jump off the page and ignite the reader’s interest, even if they only have walk-on parts, such is the skill of her storytelling.
‘Tell Me Everything’ is made up of Strout’s characters’ remembrances woven round events in life right now, or just about thoughts they are having over their current circumstances. Lucy Barton, a celebrated writer, befriends the bossy, curmudgeonly, elderly Olive Kittridge and they tell each other stories of this and that. It’s what people who are interested in human foibles do. What are the motivations, the lessons learnt, the pain or the pleasure? Does everyone carry secrets? Is it ever sensible to confess them?
At the centre of the novel is lawyer Bob Burgess’ involvement in a murder investigation. He promises to defend the eccentric, isolated man at the centre of the enquiry. At the same time, Bob is also becoming more attached to Lucy than he ever thought possible but this is bringing more anxiety than happiness. Strout develops these storylines slowly and convincingly, both of which reinforce the idea that, sometimes, as Bob surmises, ‘we are all so alone’. Lucy explains that ‘…we match up for a moment – or maybe a lifetime – with somebody because we feel that we are connected to them. And we are. But we’re not in a certain way, because nobody can go into the crevices of another’s mind…’
So, melancholic – yes. But ‘Tell Me Everything’ also recognises that people are capable of great compassion, selflessness and love, even when they’ve experienced abuse and neglect. This quiet story says a great deal more about the strength and courage of people than any epic novel of derring-do.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Olive Kitteridge meets Lucy Barton. I suppose it was bound to happen. As they meet in Olive's room to exchange stories of people's 'unrecorded lives', Bob Burgess is out in the world, drawn into a tragic case and battling his emotions over his relationships with Lucy and with his wife.

I love the world Elizabeth Strout creates. It's peopled with fascinating characters who are thoughtful, troubled, wise, confused, sad, happy, and I feel drawn in, witnessing their private moments and eavesdropping on their conversations. This is beautiful heartwarming escapism!

An author who specialises in the fictional observational insights into the highs and lows of a community . There does not require each persons story to have a point : that is the point of the retelling of a series of events. Life is made up for every individual of the frequently mundane, occasionally traumatic, regularly heartbreaking . The series of events that form the catalogue of everyday experiences consisting of life in its varied forms. Yet with the telling of each story we the reader grow to empathise with each of the inhabitants of this community , sharing their emotions as they run the gauntlet of life in all its aspects . Every family experience, the secrets, lies, joy and tragedies which are all exposed in gentle storytelling resulting in greater emotional intensity than any hyperbole could hope to achieve. A author demonstrating a depth of human understanding in her own exceptional unique format A five star read like no other. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

If Elizabeth Strout writes it, I'm going to read it.

Beautiful writing yet again. I love how you can come to these books fresh without having read the back catalogue. But if you have read the back catalogue little clues and reminders are dotted along the way to make you remember and feel you know all the characters all that much better.

A story in which my heart ached and I was left wanting more.

I've not read any Elizabeth Strout before but I found that I really enjoyed this despite having no previous introduction to the characters by way of previous novels that I believe the author has written. I liked the Maine setting and thought that it was very well written. At its heart it is a simple and still story, and overall I enjoyed it.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.