Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout

 

The real star of any Elizabeth Strout novel is her voice. Her sentences are simple, clean, and elegant.. Her main character, Lucy Barton, is always, eventually, able to examine her feelings until she can express them with a rare eloquence. We spend time with Lucy and her thoughts, while not a lot happens around her, and yet there is a story here that does not drag. 

 This is a pandemic story. The world is going into lockdown before Lucy can absorb what is happening. Luckily for Lucy, her ex-husband, William, comes to her aid, insisting that she evacuate New York City with him, to a place on the coast of Maine. He also makes arrangements for their two daughters. 

 When life suddenly becomes unrecognizable to her, Lucy expresses how alone and adrift she feels, bereft for her late husband, her apartment, and her purpose. Lucy feels like she is losing her mind, and can’t concentrate on reading or writing. As time goes on, she makes some friends in Maine, and settles into this house with her ex-husband. 

 Strout’s prior books have shed more light on the love and friendship between Lucy and William. It’s complicated, and within these pages, their relationship does take a different turn. Has Lucy been so wrapped up in her daughters’ marital issues that she doesn’t see the possible problems ahead, for herself? That door is obviously left open, to be continued. 

 I loved the backdrop of this installment of Lucy Barton’s history, the little house perched atop a hill overlooking a turbulent sea. It can reflect and foreshadow so many things… 

 Lucy by the Sea is another beautiful novel by Elizabeth Strout, I enjoyed it immensely, and thank Random House books and Netgalley for giving me the special opportunity to read this and write a review!

If I Survive You, by Jonathan Escoffery

Jonathan Escoffery has succeeded in writing a series of short stories so connected that the entire work can be taken for a novel. Additionally, these memorable stories are both sad and funny, deal with a young person’s identity crisis (both racial and cultural), racism, homelessness, family discord, financial disaster, and Miami culture.

Most of the stories focus on Trelawney, the younger son of Jamaican immigrants, and the only person in his nuclear family to have been born in the US. At school, no one thinks he looks or sounds Jamaican, because he is not. Additionally, his complexion suggests Hispanic or Dominican, and it turns out that in this country, society has a need to pigeon hole people’s ethnicity, so at times, Trelawney has to announce himself as Black. The absurdity of colorism is very well portrayed.

Escoffery’s writing style is impressive, and I am personally in awe of how he portrayed Trelawney’s desperate poverty and homelessness without crushing the reader with overwhelming sadness. For instance, at one point, Trelawney’s job is certifying people for public housing, all the while being homeless himself. While having compassion for these people in need, Trelawney is also torn between being totally honest, and taking care of himself. Some of the people Trelawney deals with are very funny!

There were several characters in these stories, and I admired the way all the voices were distinctive. Trelawney’s narrative is particularly distinctive,, the way he puts you in his shoes, while his father’s is in a Jamaican dialect. His mother’s language suggests that she has assimilated more, while his brother Delano can switch back and forth. There is also his cousin Cukie, whose story is also riveting. 

I recommend this wholeheartedly. Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, Giroux for introducing me to Jonathan Escoffery.

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I have been lucky, lately, choosing books blindly. 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

This is a beautifully told story about love and friendship, and how those two terms can both describe a single relationship. Love, work, and love of work are central themes.

The story focuses on Sam and Sadie, who meet as kids, by accident.  They are a couple of brilliant introverts with a common interest in video games. Years later, they run into each other again, by chance, and it is Sam who is determined to stay in touch, with the specific hope of making games with Sadie. Eventually, they do just that, and by this time, there are other people in both of their lives, especially Marx, Sam’s college roommate, foil, and protector. Marx is an extroverted thespian into Shakespeare who coaxes Sam into bonding with him. 

Sam has known trauma and adversity, is awkward socially, and is also self-conscious about a physical disability. Sadie must navigate the challenges of being the only woman in a room of gamers and struggles to be taken seriously in her career. She is also preyed upon by an important college professor. 

After Sadie and Sam take a semester off school to produce a game that is ready for prime time, they launch their own company, called Unfair Games. Marx becomes their producer, a role for which he is perfectly suited. 

Though Sadie and Sam are extremely close, their pasts and their insecurities will inform how they  perceive each other over time. Misunderstandings, missed opportunities, along with their different perspectives make for a very unusual and rocky love story.  And, through it all, Marx has an ever changing relationship with each one of them. He is the calm, happy one, providing support to them and keeping the company running. 

The story of Sadie and Sam involves a tragic turn, to which they each react very much according to their characters. And author Gabrielle Zevin cleverly relates the games they play to the journey and choices make in real life. 

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley for this amazing experience.