For fans of Elizabeth Strout, this book is a real treat— writer Lucy Barton finally meets Olive Kitteridge, now 90 years old, living in an assisted living facility. We see Lucy where we left her at the end of Lucy by the Sea, living with ex-husband William, in Crosby, Maine during the pandemic. The pandemic has largely passed, yet they continue this living arrangement. If you wish to read Strout’s full cycle of Lucy Barton books in order, they are My Name Is Lucy Barton, Anything Is Possible, Oh, William! (both reviewed here https://www.margueritereads.com/home/my-name-is-lucy-barton-and-oh-william-by-elizabeth-strout), and Lucy By the Sea ( reviewed here https://www.margueritereads.com/home/lucy-by-the-sea-by-elizabeth-strout?rq=elizabeth%20strout). Olive Kitteridge’s story is told in Olive Kitteridge (reviewed here https://www.margueritereads.com/home/olive-kitteridge?rq=elizabeth%20Strout), and Olive, Again. These characters intersect with Bob Burgess, the subject of an earlier Strout book, The Burgess Boys. While it is not necessary to read the other books, it will add to the richness of your reading experience, as you see how Strout peels back the layers of the onion, developing these characters into the real people one feels they must be.

The plot centers on three elements: first, Bob Burgess, as an attorney in Crosby, agrees to defend Matt Beach, an eccentric loner who is accused of murdering his combative mother. This case drags up Bob’s traumatic past, and helps to further resolve it. A second element is the deepening friendship between Lucy Barton and Bob, as they take frequent walks, chatting about everything and nothing. Bob is taken with how Lucy listens with great attention to Bob, which they each experience as a deeper love for each other. Bob has been married to Margaret for 15 years, and like any marriage later in life, is companionable, familiar, and goes through ups and downs. Bob and Lucy’s relationship will come to resolution in this book. Finally, the third element is a new friendship between Olive and Lucy. Lucy visits Olive at her apartment, and the two share stories about others and themselves, stories of “unrecorded lives” and Olive calls them. They are each seeking meaning in these stories, comic and tragic, knowing the tales are poignant and will likely die with them, yet struggling to draw deeper lessons about life in general, God, suffering, love, and what is the point of it all. These are two women you would never put together; Olive, who has lived a life of hard work, helping others, yet being harshly critical of all, and cannot abide a “snot-wot”, someone who thinks they are better than others; Lucy, a writer of childlike innocence, expressing joy over the simple things, yet with foibles and insecurities of her own.

I cannot recommend Strout’s novels enough. She uses these characters to elucidate truths about life, love, and the entire meaning of it all. Tell Me Everything is the next step in that process.