Review by thischarmingreader - Tell Me Everything

thischarmingreader 's review for:

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

4.0

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

📖 Book Group Read 📖

When I finished this book last week, I thought it was a good read- probably a three star for me; however, I’ve found myself thinking about it every day. Thinking about the untold stories swirling around us.

Let me explain. This is the fifth book in Elizabeth Strout’s Amgash series. I hadn’t read any of the previous ones although I had read and loved Olive Kitteridge. Tell Me Everything picks up with Lucy Barton living in Crosby, Maine (home of Olive Kitteridge and Bob Burgess) with her ex-husband, William. Theirs is a complicated story. Aren’t they all?

Lucy and Bob are best of friends and take long walks where they talk about everything under the sun. Bob is an almost-retired lawyer and resident good guy who runs errands for townspeople, is married to a local Unitarian minister, and is maybe in love with Lucy. Through Bob, Lucy ends up connecting with Olive where they exchange stories- their own and others. And Lucy has feelings about all the stories that exist that will never be told. This is the part I keep thinking of.

And during all of this storytelling, a woman goes missing, her body found months later, and Bob represents the woman’s son who is the prime suspect.

There is a plain spoken narrative here that compelled me to finish this physical book in two days, practically unheard of for me these days. I think I have to go back and read the others in this series.

Highly recommended for lovers of small town secrets, unspoken love, family dynamics, and stories you’ll think about long after you’ve read the last page.