As promised yesterday, I give excerpts of the six (U.S.) September releases I reviewed for Shelf Awareness. But first, my thoughts on a compassionate sequel about a beloved ensemble cast.
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
“People always tell you who they are if you just listen”
Alternative title ideas: “Oh Bob!” or “Talk Therapy in Small-Town Maine.” I’ve had a mixed experience with the Amgash novels, of which I’ve now read four. Last year’s Lucy by the Sea was my favourite, a surprisingly successful Covid novel with much to say about isolation, political divisions and how life translates into art. Oh William!, though shortlisted for the Booker, seemed a low point. It’s presented as Lucy’s published memoir about her first husband, but irked me with its precious, scatter-brained writing. For me, Tell Me Everything was closer to the latter. It continues Strout’s newer habit of bringing her various characters together in the same narrative. That was a joy of the previous book, but here it’s overdone and, along with the knowing first-person plural narration (“As we mentioned earlier, housing prices in Crosby, Maine, had been going through the roof since the pandemic”; “Oh Jim Burgess! What are we to do with you?”), feels affected and hokey.
Strout makes it clear from the first line that this novel will mostly be devoted to Bob Burgess, who is not particularly interesting but perhaps a good choice of protagonist for that reason. A 65-year-old semi-retired lawyer, he’s a man of integrity who wins confidences because of his unassuming mien and willingness to listen and help where he can. One doesn’t read Strout for intrigue, but there is actually a mild murder mystery here. Bob ends up defending Matt Beach, a middle-aged man suspected of disposing of his mother’s body in a quarry. The Beaches are odd and damaged, with trauma threading through their history.
Sad stories are indeed the substance of the novel; Lucy trades in them. Literally: on her visits to Olive Kitteridge’s nursing home room, they swap bleak stories of the “unrecorded lives” they have observed or heard about. Lucy and Bob, who are clearly in love with each other, keep up a similar exchange of gloomy tales on their regular walks. Lucy asks Bob and Olive the point of these anecdotes, pondering the very meaning of life. Bob dismisses the question as immature; “as we have said, Bob was not a reflective fellow.” And because the book is filtered through Bob, we, too, feel this is just a piling up of depressing stories. Why should I care about Bob’s ex-wife’s alcoholism, his sister-in-law’s death from cancer, his nephew’s accident? Or any of the other unfortunate occurrences that make up a life. Bob and Lucy are appealingly ordinary characters, yet Strout suggests that they function as secular “sin-eaters,” accepting confessions. Forasmuch as they focus on others, they do each come to terms with childhood trauma and the reality of their marriages. Strout majors on emotional intelligence, but can be clichéd and soundbite-y. Such was my experience of this likable but diffuse novel.
With thanks to Viking (Penguin) for the proof copy for review.
Reviewed for Shelf Awareness:
Poetry:
Signs, Music by Raymond Antrobus – The British-Jamaican poet’s intimate third collection contrasts the before and after of becoming a father—a transition that prompts him to reflect on his Deaf and biracial identity as well as the loss of his own father.
With thanks to Picador for the free copy for review.
Want, the Lake by Jenny Factor – Factor’s long, intricate second poetry collection envisions womanhood as a tug of war between desire and constraint. “Elegy for a Younger Self” poems string together vivid reminiscences.
Terminal Maladies by Okwudili Nebeolisa – The Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate’s debut collection is a tender chronicle of the years leading to his mother’s death from cancer. Food and nature imagery chart the decline in Nkoli’s health and its effect on her family.
Fiction:
A Reason to See You Again by Jami Attenberg – Her tenth book evinces her mastery of dysfunctional family stories. From the Chicago-area Cohens, the circle widens and retracts as partners and friends enter and exit. Through estrangement and reunion, as characters grapple with sexuality and addictions, the decision is between hiding and figuring out who they are.
Nonfiction:
We Are Animals: On the Nature and Politics of Motherhood by Jennifer Case – Case’s second book explores the evolution, politics, and culture of contemporary parenthood in 15 intrepid essays. Science and statistics weave through in illuminating ways. This forthright, lyrical study of maternity is an excellent companion read to Lucy Jones’s Matrescence.
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan – Ten years after his Booker Prize win for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan revisits his father’s time as a POW—the starting point but ultimately just one thread in this astonishing and uncategorizable work that combines family memoir, biography, and history to examine how love and memory endure. (Published in the USA on 17 September.)
With thanks to Emma Finnigan PR and Vintage (Penguin) for the proof copy for review.
Any other September releases you’d recommend?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Nice reviews. Question 7 sounds interesting. I’m a rare one that’s never gotten anywhere with Elizabeth Stout.
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I love some of her novels but others have fallen short for me. Maybe you just haven’t found the right one (or maybe she’s not for you at all, and that’s fine!).
Question 7 is sui generis.
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Had to Google “sui generis” but good to hear.
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Every time I read a review of Question 7, I think, I have to read this. Then I forget to do so!
Loved your use of “forasmuch” which google tells me is archaic. Time for a come back.
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It’s definitely worth seeking out.
Ha, I do love an archaic portmanteau. Why use three words when you can use one? I remember once objecting to a novel that always wrote out “dare say” (which it used frequently for some reason) instead of “daresay.”
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Oh hooray! Someone else who doesn’t quite ‘get’ the worship that attends Elizabeth Strout’s work. I thought it was just me. And…. Hopewellslibraryoflife. Question 7 though. That I must read.
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Au contraire, I’ve rated 3 of Strout’s novels 4.5 or 5* (Abide with Me, Olive, Again, and Lucy by the Sea) and 2 more 4* (Olive Kitteridge and My Name Is Lucy Barton). It’s just this one and Oh William! that disappointed (3*).
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OK. Come to think, it’s only Oh William! that I’ve read.
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Strout is very hit or miss for me, and Tell Me Everything sounds like it encapsulates the things about her that miss. (I tried Lucy By the Sea and couldn’t cope with it at all—same reaction as yours to Oh William—but both Olive novels have been hits.) Flanagan is also on my to-not-read list after The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which I found underwhelming, although this sounds very different and has also been longlisted for the Baillie Gifford prize, apparently!
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I’d agree that she’s hit or miss; Lucy by the Sea was a surprise hit with me though I can see why others wouldn’t care for it (especially if turned off by a Covid plot).
Flanagan, too, has wild ups and downs. I’ve DNFed/rated 2* as many of his books as I’ve rated 4*+ (3 of each)! I didn’t know about the Baillie Gifford.
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Bit of a surprise as I thought Question 7 was fiction, but it seems to be much more of a hybrid.
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All its elements are nonfiction — at base it’s a family memoir — but the way he puts the history together does feel fanciful.
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I’ve never fancied Elizabeth Strout and the unending stream of them now puts me off further! A good variety of reading, though.
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It is a bit strange/indulgent how she keeps returning to the same characters. Some find that comforting, but I tend to avoid series.
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I actually enjoyed Olive Kitteridge but yes, I agree with others who have been put off by the number of sequels. I doubt I’ll read more Strout.
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Olive, Again was a rare case of the sequel possibly being better than the original. Back then I really enjoyed spotting the cameo appearances by characters from her other novels. Now it seems like too much.
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I asked for Tell Me Everything from Edelweiss but never heard back. I loved all her Lucy Barton books, but this doesn’t sound like those. Hm… I put it on my wish list and will have to think about it. I didn’t care for Olive Kitterage, but I heard from others that like you, they liked Olive, Again better. Maybe I should try that first.
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I’ve not read The Burgess Boys, so maybe I didn’t have the necessary pre-existing love for Bob and Jim? (This and Lucy by the Sea are full of spoilers about their family’s tragic story, so I feel I don’t need to read the earlier book.)
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Oh… I haven’t read Burgess Boys either… again… hm…
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The one that stands out against the rest for me is We Are Animals. Science, statistics, and parenthood!
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I can imagine you really enjoying it. It’s from a U.S. university press so I’m not sure how you’d access it?
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I’m behind on the Strout novels. I really need to get back to those.
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Lucy by the Sea is one to seek out.
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[…] that McCracken’s are just the sorts of scenarios Lucy and Olive would have told stories about in Tell Me Everything: accidents, misfortunes; random connections. Travel is a major element in many of the stories, […]
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Question 7 intrigues me. And the Attenberg novel. (I really warmed to her 1000 Words earlier this year.) I enjoyed Esinam Bediako’s debut about a young Ghanaian woman’s coming-of-age on a NYC campus, Blood on the Brain (there is only a slight medical aspect to the theme, mostly the title indicates questions around ancestors/her father, so don’t get excited! hee hee). I’m also very curious to read the new Kevin Lambert which is a September publication; I find his stuff intimidating but am ready to take the plunge. His Querelle of Roberval garnered some international attention (at least, in France, also Ireland I believe?)
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I didn’t know if 1000 Words would have much to offer me, but people do seem fond of it.
I’ve not heard of those authors. I happened to read lots about Ghana and/or by Ghanaian writers last year.
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One reason that I enjoyed it so much is a reason that would speak to you, too, I think-her having invited so many other novelists to contribute 1000-word articles. (Some of these might even be available online, I’m not sure.) So it was interesting to have a peek into their internal process, having read their books. But I can see why you might hesitate.
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[…] Knulp, though less blithe, or the unassuming Bob Burgess from Elizabeth Strout’s novels (e.g., Tell Me Everything). Robert takes over the market café in Vienna and over the next decade or so his establishment […]
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[…] Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout […]
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