I loved the first book I read in 2023: ‘Lucy by the Sea’ by Elizabeth Strout.

The story is about grief and adaptation, both personal and collective, during COVID. Strout is a gifted writer who wrestles with the complex contradictions of being a person. In simple but profound prose, readers can almost embody the emotions felt by Lucy Barton, the novel’s protagonist. The ability of Strout to reveal Lucy’s understanding of her inner life is exceptional.

The story starts in March 2020, when the pandemic began spreading across the United States. Lucy, a successful novelist, lives in a comfortable Manhattan apartment. She is grieving the death of her second husband, David. Her relationship with her ex-husband William is warm, and they share a deep love for their adult daughters.

William arrives unexpectedly at Lucy’s apartment and tells her to pack her bag. His third wife has left him, and he wants Lucy to flee New York. He has rented a small house on the coast of Maine where they can escape the coming plague… as friends. Because William is a scientist, Lucy listens and begins packing. The move from the bustling familiarity of New York to the isolated Maine coast rattles Lucy. “What is strange as I look back is how I simply did not know what was happening.”

Strout captures Lucy’s anxiety, fear, and grief as she absorbs the death of David away from their New York apartment. She also misses her daughters, worries about her siblings, and is haunted by her cruel parents. Lucy and William settle into a routine. Lucy is so disoriented that she sometimes feels like she might fall. “There was a feeling of mutedness. I would be privately staggered by grief. My ears were plugged up as though I was underwater.” Lucy has a massive panic attack.

Though some neighbors resent the arrival of New Yorkers, others (whom we have met in Strout’s prior books) are kind. Watching TV nightly, Lucy and William are distraught by the high COVID death rates that now include friends, George Floyd’s murder, and the election denial of the former president. The world seems fragile as democracy teeters. Most characters wear masks and gloves, sit apart outside and refrain from hugging. But COVID denial rears its ugly head as Lucy’s two siblings resist reality in rural Illinois. Lucy’s sister works as an aide in a nursing home. She tells Lucy, “We don’t wear masks at church Lucy. It’s the government trying to force us to do that.” Lucy tries to understand. “What if I felt looked down upon all the time by the wealthier people in this country, who made fun of my religion and my guns.”

Being isolated in a house by the sea, Lucy and William ponder their lives. Though they can irritate each another, they are older now and can better empathize. William says, “I am in mourning for my life.” And Lucy realizes that the pandemic replicates her youth. “My whole childhood was a lockdown. I never saw anyone or went anywhere.”

Elizabeth Strout offers another insightful novel about one woman’s feelings yet speaks to the larger human struggle around grief, loss, dislocation, and uncertainty. Everyone has an initial COVID memory that includes fear, distress, and disorientation. Because of Strout’s writing gifts, this astute novel helps us make sense of those feelings. The novel ends with hope and even happiness. 4.5/5