Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy by the Sea is my first foray into literature taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s likely I’ve avoided it for a reason (my industry was shutdown) as the memories of what was so completely unknown are still very fresh. We’ve met our titular Lucy before and, as in Strout’s other novels, we are simply privy to this chapter of her life.
Lucy by the Sea is more than the description (divorced couple forced into each other’s lives by the pandemic) will lead you to believe. As with Oh William, Strout’s companion to Lucy by the Sea published in 2021, Lucy does not so much leap off the page as she does infiltrate your conscience. Lucy navigates the fear and uncertainty typical in any life, especially one in which an unexpected and untimely loss has occurred, but that was heightened by the pandemic and all that came along with it.
As we’ve come to expect, Strout’s writing remains as sharp as ever. Descriptions of settings and people are realistic but never flashy. Her word choose is precise; it never feels as though there are too many of them.
What does life have in store for Lucy? We can only hope that Strout has the answer and that she’ll let us in on it soon.
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