Tell Me Everything: Oprah's Book Club
By Elizabeth Strout
- Release Date: 2024-09-10
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a “stunner” (People) of a novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.
“Tell Me Everything hits like a bucolic fable. . . . A novel of moods, how they govern our personal lives and public spaces, reflected in Strout’s shimmering technique.”—The Washington Post
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Vogue, Parade
With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”
It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known—“unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.
Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.”
Reviews
A slow methodical story
1By KB96740This was a rambling story that I wanted to move along. It was a good story, but had lots of mundane story surrounding it.Dreary.
1By AnnieJBonzFlat. Not her best work.Great Read
5By Luft 57The characters came to life for me and the way they expressed their thoughts helped me clarify my own ideas. Anita Luft.Tell me Everything
4By YayaNetskiThis book is an insight to the lives of some ordinary and at the same time unique people . It’s about life and love with a murdered mystery thrown in. I found it a bit hard to follow and remember all of the lesser characters. The main characters were Bob Burgess , Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge . Margaret ,William ,Jim, Matt .Just not enough
4By Ellen ViolaLoved the characters. And the stories but……….Great book!
5By bubblegrlI always love her books❤️Coming home again to Maine
5By Marzipan24Visiting with all the friends we’ve spent time with Lucy is familiar and a comforting continuation. Strout helps us to understand ourselves and love a little more as we tap into the unrecorded stories told through Lucy, Olive, Bob. We get to meet new characters with their traumas and gifts and solve a mystery. Such special characters and wisdom generously shared is what sets Elizabeth Strout’s book apart.Slow but has depth
4By widereadAlways love her books, this one is more meditativeAggravating
2By ceg132I’ve enjoyed Ms Strout’s conversational style and gentle but straightforward depictions of Maine and it’s unique characters in previous works. But this was an aggravating disappointment. I was exasperated with the characters’ adolescent self absorption and infatuations. If they’d focused a modicum of their energy and thought on their spouses instead of themselves and their seemingly vital relationships their marriages would have been much richer. And their neighborly efforts to appear to themselves and others to “do good” did not alleviate their angst or my irritation.Pointless
2By Amigo73Rambling. Very slow going and boring.Fabulous book
5By lorettaburtonA must read!Not a fast read but wonderful
4By KHCondeBe patient and read all the wonderful stories of love. Fascinating but I struggled to stay with it. Be steadfast persevere and there is hope in loveTell me everything
2By Dedra GrizzardI loved the ending.Poignant
5By gypsyflutterbyThis book hit me hard in so many small, but substantial ways. I’m not sure everyone will understand what the author was trying to say, but I got it. It was real. It was honest. It was very provocative.Ok
2By "LFP"Not for meA great story life
5By Emma@NCLoved this life journey great story about friends and acquaintances. Love has many meanings sometimes they become friends and sometimes they become memoriesFriends,life and Love
5By Wasabi91@What an unusual but lovely story of life and love, fabulous story teller,greatly enjoyed.Storytelling for Grownups
5By MargoLikesPodcastsOh Elizabeth! You have done it again. Written a book with the most well defined characters who feel like old friends. People facing the challenges of aging and yet still wrestling challenges of their youth. It is beautiful, funny, sad, heartbreaking and satisfying. A triumph!!!! Highly recommend!Wow. A thousand stories, and cool elephants!
5By LizSweetwaterI have read every book she wrote. My name is Lucy. Barton is my favorite. This is my favorite too. The audiobooks In this series are very special. The Reader has the cadence of speech that I hear of Lucy Barton in my head. Put more elephants in next time! It makes everyone laugh. And oh God, don’t we all need to laugh right now?
