Tell Me Everything, as many of Elizabeth Strout's novels, is set in the little town of Crosby in Maine and she weaves a bunch of characters together with such charm and insight that one is wrapped and rapt.
If you have read other Strout stories you will recognise characters, William, and of course, Lucy Barton, And no story about this part of Maine could possibly go ahead without Olive Kitteridge being involved.
Strout portrays her characters with such warmth and understanding. Even when their deeds may seem to be heinous, we are often invited to find sympathy for them, for, when she fills in the details of each person's life, we realise that each person carries a burden one way or another.
Tell Me Everything is in many ways about the melancholy fact that we are seldom able to tell anyone everything about ourselves, but it is also a gentle warning that wanting to know everything about anyone is not always wise.
Lucy and Bob's story is the .. linchpin ( a very apposite word to use, as you will find out if you read this story!).. of this book and their not quite love story is achingly touching.
Everything about this book rings true and shows Elizabeth Strout to be a worthy Pulitzer prize winning author. Don't just read this novel, read all the others too. The miniature world, Strout has created will draw you in and give you such pleasure to be a part of, even if you have to guard your heart against the little sorrows you will encounter along the way.
I am grateful to Penguin and Netgalley for an earc of this title and it is my pleasure to review it honestly.

I have read about many of the characters that populate this book but somehow this time I found the whole book disappointing. All the usual characters appear – Olive Ketteridge, Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess …..
Unfortunately each of Elizabeth Strout’s later novels have become somewhat bitty and uninteresting than the last.

This is Strouts 10th novel set in the now familiar surroundings of rural Maine, with a recurring set of characters from her earlier books making guest appearances. And finally - Yes! Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton (two of Strouts best creations) get to meet. It’s ostensibly the story of Bob Burgess, the friendly homespun small town lawyer, who featured in ‘The Burgess Boys’ as well as ‘Lucy By the Sea’. Bob has no sense of who he truly is and his life is thrown off kilter when he thinks he has fallen in love with his best friend, Lucy. It’s also a series of stories told by Lucy and Olive to each other, about ordinary peoples ‘unrecorded lives’, about living with ghosts in long marriages, about loneliness and about the nature of love.

There is some beautiful, profound phrasing in this novel. Bob describes waves of “soft sadness” rolling over him and how “we are all standing on shifting sands”. There are subtle references to our changing world, political unrest in the US, climate change and the war in Ukraine.

This is the perfect book, pure and simple. It is beautiful, wise and often hilarious. I loved it from start to finish and savoured each chapter like a little gift. My favourite book of 2024, and destined to be a classic. Many, many thanks to @netgalley and @penguinbooksuk for the advance copy in return for my honest review. ‘Tell Me Everything’ is published on 19 September 2024.

Just beautiful. Heart warming, characters to love and simple messages throughout. A real treat and a warm hug of a book.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this lovely read.

There are few things more comforting and life-affirming than a visit from Elizabeth Strout, chatting to you in your own armchair, bringing you up to date with the lives of her characters in Crosby, Maine and also touching on changes in the neighbourhood. We hear the stories they tell each other about people they have known and we hear their innermost thoughts about their own lives and loves. Sometimes the action is narrated by the author, sometimes we hear the actual dialogue - a nice way of mixing it up. Their back stories are explained, but I think it pays to have read the earlier ones first.

Central to this novel are Bob Burgess and Lucy Barton, both of whom we know well from previous books, and their platonic (though not for want of yearning for more) friendship. Bob is working as a lawyer for a young man caught up in a murder case and that thread has a real poignancy to it, highlighting the sad, blighted lives of a whole family. Plenty more characters from the earlier books make a reappearance, their stories intertwining to create a sense of connection and community. Brilliantly done, as ever, non-judgemental and with great empathy.

With thanks to Penguin, Viking via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This is a collection of personal stories set in novel form. They are charming, involving, enlightening and deal with love, death and loss. The stories are told of or by main characters we have met before in Strout’s novels: Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess, and the inimitable Olive Kitteridge, now in her 90s.

The writing is brilliant. Strout seems to have a way of communicating love and sadness very directly but she leaves space for the reader to work out their own response. I did not want this novel to end.

I highly recommend this novel.

The new novel from Elizabeth Strout, set in Maine, brings together Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge and what a joy it is for these two characters to finally meet.

Set against the backdrop of a mutual friend, Bob Burgess we experience the sadness and encircling loneliness of the central characters as Lucy and Olive look to make sense of their lives.

All this is set behind the story of the Beach Family and an ongoing mystery into which Bob Burgess is drawn.

Elizabeth Stroud leads the reader through the complexities of life and I can think of no better guide.

The novels which Elizabeth Strout writes are full of wisdom and compassion. She tells the stories of unrecorded lives, those people who are not famous, often overlooked and indeed who are the subject of the conversations that two of her characters, Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge, have when they finally meet in this book.

For me, reading an Elizabeth Strout book is like sitting with an old friend, catching up on our stories. There is something so comforting in this.
In Tell Me Everything, we meet again with not only Lucy and Olive but with Isabelle, William, Susan Olsen and others and most importantly with the Burgess Boys, Jim and Bob. Bob and Lucy have become close friends. Both realise they want more than friendship but in a self sacrifice worthy of Brief Encounter they eschew an affair and keep their friendship. It is beautifully done.

I loved this book. I'd say it's best to read the others first as you probably get more out of them that way. Having said that I still haven't read Lucy by the Sea even though it's sitting on my bookshelves. A wonderful book as are all of her novels. Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

As Elizabeth’s Strout fans will know, many of her characters recur throughout her loosely connected series of novels, rather as they do in Kent Haruf’s Holt books. In Tell Me Everything, it’s Bob Burgess who comes to the fore.
Bob settled in his hometown, Crosby, Maine, and has been married to Margaret for fifteen years. When Lucy Barton and her ex-husband came to live in Crosby, she and Bob got to know each other, meeting for lockdown walks and becoming friends. Bob harbours more than a liking for Lucy and she does for him, as sharp-eyed Olive Kitteridge observes. Olive’s now living in a retirement community and welcomes the exchange of stories she enjoys with Lucy, even if she is a little mystified by Lucy’s offerings. As the novel draws to a close, Lucy tells Olive a story that will reduce them both to tears.
As ever, Strout helpfully sketches in her characters’ backstories for those who need their memories jogged or are new to her fiction. Bob’s character is beautifully drawn. He’s a good man: decent, honourable, and deeply empathetic - a ‘sin-eater’ as Lucy puts it - soaking up the confidences and problems of others. Strout’s characteristic insightful compassion runs through this gorgeous novel, packed with stories of ordinary, everyday people who sometimes lead extraordinary lives. but often don’t. Written with a quiet brilliance, Tell Me Everything is one of Strout’s best novels yet. She seems to be speeding up her output without compromising its quality, quite a feat. I can’t wait to see whose story she’ll tell next.

A fan of Elizabeth Strout so was overjoyed to read this latest novel! It didn’t disappoint! Elizabeth writes with such warmth and the characters come alive right in front of your eyes! Lovely to see Olive and Lucy share stories as their lives have been pinnacle in earlier books!

Really enjoyed and would highly recommend

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the advanced reading copy.

Oh, how I love Elizabeth Strout. She is one of those authors who always writes the perfect book, and you know you’re in for a good time in her company. Tell Me Everything was no exception. I love the crossing of all her worlds and characters. This is a beautifully written book, musing on love in all its forms. I know it will stay with me long after I’ve finished reading.

I will be focusing on what the new reader may take away from this novel.
This book is about the meaning of life: love. Love and acceptance and understanding in all forms, the beauty of life with its ups and downs and hardships, and the meaning in the every day, our loved ones, communities, trusting time to do its healing and the possibilities.
My favourite parts were the compassion the characters showed each other and the intimacy and satisfaction the alternatives offered without the characters making any rash decisions.
4.5 stars.
The characters are sweet and relatable. Olive, Lucy. Bob and even Margaret are interesting. Matt too, a bit.
The plot is touching but not necessarily sentimental. This is not the type of story I usually go for, but I enjoyed it.
Strout’s craft is fantastic; the writing is casual but never boring or simplistic.

What a beautiful way with words Elizabeth Strout has. Her novels have built up into a world of people you feel you know and it’s always a treat to join them and find out what’s happening. What I particularly love is that what is happening is often nothing monumental and yet it has such a bearing on their lives. The focus of this novel is Bob Burgess, the town lawyer, who is working on a murder investigation and yet that is not really the central story of the book. We spend more time on Bob’s friendship with Lucy Barton, their walks and chats, and how the closeness is affecting their other relationships. We also have Lucy spending time with Olive Kitteridge to tell each other stories they have come across, none of them earth shattering but all an example of what is really happening in the lives of others. The theme of ‘unrecorded lives’ is beautifully told and utterly recognisable, and I raced through this book, completely absorbed. Wonderful.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Another amazing book by Elizabeth Strout! Elizabeth Strout creates the most fascinating characters in her books. I was so glad to get to know them better in this fantastic book.

A new Elizabeth Strout is always a cause for celebration and Tell Me Everything is no exception to that rule. It brings all of her characters together, in the town of Crosby, and examines the details of their lives (& many others) in minute detail. The legend that is Olive Kitteridge finally meets up with Lucy Barton, but this story isn’t so much about them. The wonderful Bob Burgess is front & centre, and what a character he is! Gentle & kind, Bob keeps trying his best, even when he doesn’t know what that means.

I fully expected to love this book & I really did. I feel like Bob, Lucy, Olive, Jim & their friends & families will stay with me for a while now. I’m tempted to reread the whole back catalogue so I don’t have to leave them just yet. Many thanks to NetGalley & Viking for an early copy.

A new Elizabeth Strout novel will always be something that I would be excited about, so I was very happy to receive this as an advance copy. Strout's ability to weave stories is wonderful and I felt I was there in Crosby with living, breathing characters. Olive and Lucy together, what joy. I didn't want to leave their world, surely a sign of a good book.

A very enjoyable book that i won’t hesitate to recommend to others. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

Long time Strout fans will be thrilled (as I was) with this latest novel in which Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton meet when Olive invites Lucy to visit her in her care home so that she can share a story from her life. Bob Burgess is playing a larger role now in Lucy's life and the three of them become involved in a crime that has caused huge upset in their small town.

The themes of love and life are prominent, people living normal lives tinged with unspoken tragedy or sorrow. The stories are small; the impact huge.

A real gem. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton get together and tell each other stories. As you can imagine Lucy's are wandering, ethereal stories where you are trying to work out the point. Olive's, with her trademark bluntness, are straight to the point with her own views added on at the end. Whilst it is lovely to meet them again it did feel that perhaps it may be time to retire them both, there were so many other characters in this book that had interesting stories which I would be more than happy to follow. Pam and her husband, the lovely Matt, and the mysterious Katharine the therapist - how does she make all those people joyous?
This is not a standalone book, you need the Lucy/Olive back stories to appreciate where they are in their lives.

A book where Lucy and Olive meet... this was a dream for the fans! Please read it!!!
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this advanced copy.