One of the greatest joys in my reading life is getting to lose myself in an Elizabeth Strout novel. From the first pages, you feel as though you are catching up with old friends. Lucy and William are such real, complicated, and now familiar characters. Lucy by the Sea follows them through the pandemic as they forge a new life in Crosby, Maine, which just so happens to be where Olive Kitteridge is from. This book is about grief, love, aging, loneliness, and the search for happiness at all stages of life.

I always recognize a bit of myself in the characters Strout creates. I love Olive and I very much love Lucy. I was sad when I reached the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this ARC.

Elizabeth has brought the Barton family full circle in the midst of the pandemic. Lucy Barton thinks things through like all of us do . Questioning her decisions, questioning relationships, but mostly loving her family. Who cannot relate to Lucy, William and their daughters? All have their weaknesses and issues yet through the pandemic they showed their strength and commitment.

I love how Lucy talks to her audience . We are right there. Coffee in our hand just being a good listener.

Looking forward to meeting Lucy again to see what is happening in her world. She makes her reader feel good.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC of #LucyByTheSea.

As the world grinds to a slow halt with a pandemic, Lucy is told by William to pack up and be ready to leave. Now. She thinks he is overreacting and he is in a full-blown panic!

Staying in a small house in Maine with her ex-husband isn’t Lucy’s idea of a good time. She misses her home and the city and her daughters, who have also taken refuge out of the city. She is also still mourning the death of David. Isolated in Maine for who knows how long, they make the best of it. They even make friends, at a social distance. But the day-to-day enforced solitude is grinding. People get on each other’s nerves.

But there is so much more, as in all of her books. How do we show empathy, kindness, and most importantly, forgiveness? Lucy will learn much about her own strengths and weaknesses and will discover that love is love and no matter how far apart we are, love stays strong.

I am always in awe of this author’s writing. The characters aren’t perfect by a long shot! But that is where we learn to do better.

NetGalley/September 20, 2022, Random House/Penguin

A quietly beautiful book that reflects on the pain, confusion, and joys of being human. Centering on characters more than plot, the novel tells the story of an ordinary woman struggling in her first year of widowhood in NYC. And then the pandemic turns the world upside down. Lucy's ex-husband , William, wants to save only one life -- Lucy's -- and so he convinces her to move to the Maine coast with him for as long as needed.

The book reminds us what it was like to live through the strangest of times (often I'd stop while reading and think, "I'd forgotten that happened"). My favorite parts were those in which Lucy writes her way into loving a character who opposes all she believes in -- and the exchanges with her grown daughters, as she moves between giving them advice and space in varying doses.

A book to savor and reread -- this may be my favorite of Elizabeth Strout's novels, and I've loved them all.

When I picked this up and realized it was set in the time of the pandemic, I almost put it down. Much as I love Lucy Barton, I just wasn't sure I could relive 2020 with her. I'm so glad I persevered. Strout uses Lucy to such good effect to gently interrogate so many things: class in America, the lingering effects of childhood, long relationships, and family dynamics. I loved this and didn't want it to end, which is how I always feel about Strout's Lucy Barton books.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

This is one of those books that I'm having trouble synthesizing my feelings about. Reading about the pandemic and all the events that ensued in those two horrid years of lockdowns through Lucy's eyes made me indescribably sad. Lucy just seems like she's sad a lot, and that made me very sad. But she's observant, and in touch with her feelings, she's introspective, and I've discovered that I love getting to know people, even if it's through this book. I will dock a star because it took me longer than I'd hoped to get into, but it was still worth a read. It's lovely, kind, and pulsating with feeling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC, in exchange for an honest and fair review!

This review has been published to Goodreads, and will be published on Amazon on the publishing date.

Ms. Strout continues to entertain with non-stop addictive type narration. The series continues but mastery of former content does not differentiate the reading experience much. We pick up the bits and pieces of former works when applicable but this novel creates a unique and invigorating storyline of its own. The character developments and internal dialogues generate a very enjoyable novel. The vivid details and realistic irony entertains and moves the plot forward in a twisting and interesting fashion. In the end, you cannot go wrong with Ms. Strout's creative works.

Who would think that a book about Lucy Barton living through COVID would be so compelling. But it certainly was. Strout has captured the essence of what all of us were feeling- the initial disbelief, the fear and anxiety, the changes to our lives and finally, the acceptance.
When things are a mess in the world, it makes a person reflect on their lives as Lucy does in this book. If we are honest with ourselves, we realize that maybe we could have done better- maybe with how we treated our families or people in general. Sometimes a tragedy brings us closer, sometimes it does not.
Elizabeth Strout is so wise. Such beautiful, amazing writing throughout this book. I loved going on this journey with Lucy. This is a book that I must own a physical copy of as I will treasure this book always.

This really should have been titled “Lucy and the Pandemic”. I liked the parts about the relationships between Lucy and William and their daughters. But the entire book was exhaustingly saturated with everything that happened in the last 2 1/2 years, primarily the pandemic. I got bored very quickly of being told that every interaction happened with masks on and where those masks were on their faces and that they only interacted outside and always sat far away from each other and always self isolated. And then all the current events (George Floyd, riots, election, Jan 6, etc) happened and Lucy needed to process and give us her perspective and it all. I think this really just did not feel like an escape. These last two years have been draining and hard; I don’t want to read about it all in this much detail.

In addition to this, I am just very ready to move on from Lucy Barton. Olive Kitteridge shows up in references from other characters and as much as I loved her book, I’m ready to move on from her too. I would like some fresh material and new characters from Elizabeth Strout. This book gets 3 stars from me because I love Strout’s writing and that is still a decent rating from me but I’m glad I had an arc of this and didn’t spend my money on it. I was prepared to autobuy it but that is no longer happening.

Lucy by the Sea continues the story of Lucy Barton. William, her former husband, whisks her off to a house in coastal Maine to escape the beginnings of the Covid pandemic. He is a parasitologist and sees the warnings of impending disaster before many others. She leaves her beloved New York behind and is achingly separated from her married daughters.

Told from Lucy’s POV, Strout’s unique writing style chronicles people living their lives in the surreal era of pandemic isolation. She observes life and life passing, poignantly capturing the thoughts, feelings, and experiences so many of us had these past two years. There is sadness and joy, despair and hope. “I did not know where to put my mind.” “It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us.” Strout, through Lucy, is profound in her simple observations.

This is a beautiful novel…well thought out and well written.

Loved it!

For fans of Strout’s books: Without mentioning names because I don’t want to be a spoiler, one character from Strout’s prior works makes an appearance and another earns an occasional mention.

4 stars for the latest novel by Elizabeth Strout! I'd never read a Lucy Barton book before but I have read the Olive Kitteridge novels and enjoyed them. This book has Strout's typical writing style and even mentions Olive several times, though she never appears in the book. I will warn any potential readers that Lucy by the Sea is set in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the plot centers around Lucy's experiences with the pandemic.

There's a new virus spreading around the globe and Lucy's ex husband, William, decides that they need to leave New York City. This is where Lucy lives and her second husband had recently passed. Lucy didn't expect to be living during a pandemic with her ex husband in a house in Maine but there she is. Lucy's adult daughters are also facing struggles in their own lives and marriages while news of the pandemic is always in the background. William finds a new purpose during lockdown while Lucy tries to reignite her passion for writing.

I really liked all the characters in this book and this was a quick but insightful read. Lucy as the protagonist told the story from her point of view and I felt connected to her struggles during lockdown. It is a slow moving plot that's entirely character driven and not a lot of action but I still felt pulled into the book. Lucy shares her feelings on Covid, living with her ex and her daughter's drama filled lives. I'd recommend this book, particularly if you've enjoyed any of Strout's other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There's something special about this author. Once again, she observes the world with the keenest of lenses and uses simple, yet powerful, prose to express how life really is. Not how we want it to be or fantasize about it, but how it is. She never tells the reader exactly how to interpret her messages, and I think that's the underlying gift of her work. When I read her books, somehow I feel heard (though I'm not the one doing the speaking), because I think her writing lends itself to the reader interpreting the text through the lens of their own experience. This book is set during the pandemic, but the book's focus is how Lucy's relationship with her ex=husband and her two daughters evolve during a time where many, many people were operating under a state of high anxiety. It is timely right now, but I also think this book will stand the test of time.

There’s a new genre of fiction emerging - COVID Lit. Two of the books I read last month have commenced with the “shelter in place” orders that came in March 2020. And this is where Elizabeth Strout places Lucy Barton from her Amgash Series in Lucy by the Sea, the fourth in the series.

The pandemic has hit New York City, and William - Lucy’s ex-husband turned close friend - carts her off for protection to a small town in Maine to live in a house he’s rented on the cheap. The house is further isolated down a winding road and perched on a hill facing the ocean.

The uncertainty of how long the virus will last and thus how long they’ll need to be secluded provides a rich foundation for Strout’s keen eye for introspection. Lucy resists what it seems William has known all along - there are long-term implications to what’s going on.

Readers journey with Lucy as she figures out how to create sanity among the chaos and how, in the wake of real-life events like the murder of George Floyd, to come to terms with and grow from a new awareness she’s confronted with. The isolation forces a new way to maintain relationships with her daughters and other extended family, who are navigating their own ways amid the turmoil.

Normally, a book in a series should be able to stand on its own, and perhaps this one can too. But, I think readers who are familiar with Lucy, and in particular, are aware of exactly where Lucy and William left off in Oh William! will have a better appreciation for some of the significant changes in their relationship. And, I think they will love this book - even if they don't like a primary plot point. (No spoilers, but this discussion point alone will make fantastic book club discussion fodder!)

For all of us who lived through this pandemic, this novel - and others like it - are providing interesting reminders of what we lived through, and that we, like these characters, are resilient.

There’s a new genre of fiction emerging - and I’m here for it.

This is the first of the "Lucy" books that I have read. It was easy enough to follow and heart warming in many ways. It is set in the pandemic and it captures it very well, but as a reader it felt too close to what we all went through, well not being able to pick up and move to Maine but the isolation, paranoia etc. Many would have enjoyed it more if it was further away in time that I read it. So I recommend it in some ways for the relationships and how everyone was affected, and am hesitant as well

Set in 2020-21, Lucy By the Sea is a pandemic story, but also a family story. As the COVID pandemic begins to spread, Lucy's ex-husband, William, contacts her to ask her to go with him to Maine, where he has rented a cottage to escape NYC, and reluctantly she agrees. He also encourages their two daughters to leave the city, with mixed success. The novel began very slowly for me, but I'm glad I persisted, because it developed into a wonderful study of relationships among family members and friends, showcasing Strout's incredible ability to develop her characters' personalities and interweave their stories. In addition to Lucy Barton and her family, there are also "cameo" appearances of Olive Kitteridge, the Burgess brothers, and more characters from previous novels, making me want to re-read all her previous books. Strout's writing is deceptively simple, sometimes with a bit too much "telling" rather than showing, but she does build those short sentences into powerful statements about the human condition. This novel reads like a memoir of a flawed but amazingly perceptive woman. Highly recommended.

The virus. That’s how Covid 19 is referred to by Lucy Barton, by William, and others in Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy by the Sea. Initially, I thought that it would give the book a sense of timelessness as William insists that his ex-wife, now friend, Lucy, leave her New York City apartment and go to Maine with him. He’s rented a small cabin, and they essentially go into lockdown. Bit by bit, we see through Lucy’s eyes, the daily effects of lockdown: food shortages, fewer people out and about, family and friends becoming ill, dying. This lockdown could be for any pandemic or disaster. But as the book goes on, there are references to persons and events that put the story in a very specific time in U.S. history: the murder of a Black man by police that ignited riots and demonstrations across the country, and the shocking events of January 6, 2020. Despite being mostly withdrawn from the world, Lucy and William to watch the news; Lucy responds to these with disbelief and sadness.

Mostly, however, she is more concerned about matters close to her. Her siblings, yes. More so, however, she worries about her daughters, both of whom are having personal problems in their marriages. She frets because she can’t be close to them to comfort them; early on, there’s no vaccine, and William won’t hear of them visiting, touching, or traveling. He does the shopping, always masked. Living in a small town in Maine is quite an adjustment for Lucy. Lucy is constantly cold. The town is quiet. Some of the locals don’t want New Yorkers there. Lucy struggles at times with this lifestyle. She’s depressed and has panic attacks. Widowed not too long ago, she misses her late husband, David. She can’t even listen to classical music. But slowly, she adjusts. She makes a few friends, enjoys walks with a man named Bob, and she also occasionally visits with a woman who works at the food pantry. She and William get along fine, but it’s nice to have other friends.

Then there’s William. Oh, William. Lucy is exasperated at times because he tends to shrug things off that she feels are important, but at other times, they can have wonderful, meaningful conversations and feel emotionally close. After all, their relationship goes back years. William can put their daughters’ lives and relationships in perspective because he and Lucy have lived through those same kinds of hardships; she reflects on this too.

It took me a while to settle in with this book. I had previously read Oh William! and liked it, but I’d forgotten what Lucy was like. She’s an author, but her voice – her spoken voice and thoughts sometimes struck me as random, flighty almost. Yet, she’s an endearing person who loves deeply but struggles to love herself. But I was really struck by how much she cares and tries to understand those who think and feel differently from herself. Can she adjust to the quiet of Maine, to appreciate the beauty of the sea, and love the people of this town?

Lucy by the Sea felt like a very personal story. Lucy’s story could have been Elizabeth Strout’s story, or yours, or mine. Each of us has been impacted by this pandemic, and no one is untouched, even if we’ve not gotten sick or lost a loved one. It doesn’t even have to be a lockdown, does it? How do we respond to the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”? When life gives us lemons, can we make lemonade?

As always, thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Elizabeth Strout for the ARC digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book about Lucy during the pandemic. It’s pretty slow, yet introspective. We learn about Maine and prejudice against New Yorkers, and other relationships. Adult children, siblings, parents, poverty, divorced spouses, and deceased spouses and their influence on Lucy’s life are described. With overarching tones of pandemic and political upheaval, though not in your face about it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I truly was looking forward to this new Lucy Barton book, and wasn't disappointed. Lucy hasn't changed and is just as naive and quietly thoughful as ever. This book is set during the Covid-19 pandemic and has Lucy being moved out of New York by her ex-husband William, and installed, the two of them, in a rented home on the coast of Maine. Lucy had no realization of how serious the pandemic was, but William did and he took every precaution to keep Lucy safe. This book deals with change and challenges, as well as relationships.

Lucy is a great character. She's sweetly quirky, somewhat naive due to her background, thoughtful and introspective, as well as completely honest and forthcoming. She is an author with two grown daughters, both of whom have William as the father. The book delves deeply into Lucy's inner feelings and observations of life. The writing style is sparse and takes some getting used to every time I pick up one of Strout's books, but I enjoy it.

We can all relate to the Covid pandemic experiences, and this is showcased in the flight from New York, the isolation, the loneliness. It provides a true view of what was happening through Lucy's eyes. Good timing as we try to get to the end of the pandemic.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on September 20, 2022.

I'm a newbie to Lucy Barton, and it appears that I will be back for more. I appreciate Strout's unadorned and simple writing, and how likeable and relatable Lucy is. I'm a fan.

I was wary of yet another Covid tale, but I guess writers write about what they know, right? Lucy examines what I think we all felt during those times- uncertainty and reflection- in a wonderfully relevant way.

Coronavirus has come to New York. William, Lucy's former husband and the father of her two daughters, convinces her to seek refuge with him in Maine. They rent a house on the coast in a small, quiet community, where nothing much happens. Of course, the pandemic affects them mentally, things happen to friends and family members. Lucy experiences worries, panic attacks, grief, and memory loss. Most of us will find that we shared many of those same feelings in different ways. The weaving of previous characters from her other books was done in such a way that makes me really want to go back and get to know Lucy Barton from the beginning.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this third installment in the Lucy Barton series!
Her ex-husband William knows something big is going to happen with this new virus going around (covid) so he gets Lucy out of NYC as soon as possible. They wind up in Crosby, Maine in an old home with an ocean view.

Lucy isn’t so sure at first about the urgency William is feeling. She can’t wrap her head around anything being so bad. And then she starts watching the news. She can’t believe what she’s seeing. As the pandemic unfolds the news gets to Lucy more and more, she becomes a bit depressed.
Meanwhile their daughters get out of the city and head to Connecticut. Their eldest daughter dealing with fertility issues, the younger with marital problems.

I love Lucy’s quiet and powerful observations, her inner monologue feels like I’m listening to a friend. Loved the ending too. I might be in the minority but I like Lucy’s story better than Olive’s. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my review copy of this book.