Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout, author; Kimberly Farr, narrator.
Elizabeth Strout writes with a gentle hand, and her stories are filled with insight. Her characters always deal quietly with all of life’s very loud ups and downs. This novel is no exception. In this book, the author has brought together some of our favorite characters.
Lucy Barton has moved to Crosby, Maine, the hometown of the sometimes curmudgeonly, nonagenarian, Olive Kitteridge. During the pandemic, Lucy moved there with her ex-husband, William. Olive and Lucy develop a warm relationship sharing stories with each other that slowly reveal life in all of its glory, and sometimes its despair, as they give voice to those who are unknown. These stories compel the reader to think about their own lives and choices.
Bob Burgess, a lawyer, left his law practice in New York. He also now lives in Crosby, Maine, with his wife Margaret. Bob Burgess grew up believing he was responsible for his father’s death, when he was only a little child. He has carried that burden of guilt for his entire life. He is a very close friend of Lucy Barton, though sometimes their feelings run too deep.
Matthew Beach is a quiet man living in a remote area of Shirley Falls, Maine, not far from Crosby. His 86-year-old mother, Gloria Beach, had been living with him for a decade. She had been ridiculed for years, called a beach ball, and then more maliciously, a bitch ball. It shamed her. When she suddenly disappeared, and her body was found, Matthew was suspected of her murder. He reaches out to lawyer Bob Burgess for help. As the secrets are revealed, his guilt and/or innocence are drawn into question. Sometimes doubts develop! Everyone makes mistakes, but we always have the opportunity to do the right thing. Burgess discovers there is a well of kindness in himself that he hadn't known he possessed. He also develops feelings of resentment that he never had before.
Many of the characters have suffered in their past and have secrets that have shaped their lives, feelings, and choices. Many harbor grudges. Some are aware of them, and some are not. As the novel progresses, it explores life with regard to abuse, isolation, friendship, love, unrequited love, marriage, parenthood, childlessness, death, grief, loss, aging and illness, among other emotional challenges that the characters and some readers might have faced. This novel quietly investigates the effects of all of life’s ups and downs on these characters, and therefore, on the lives of the reader. When in the book, the question is asked, “What does anyone’s life mean?”, or put another way, what is the meaning of life, does the reader find an answer? Do the characters? The book explores our experiences with sadness, joy, dreams and nightmares as each of the characters is forced to live life with all of its warts and foibles.
Although it is a book described as being about the character Bob Burgess, a decent and kind man who is unaware of his own good character and sense of decency, it is really about everyman. All of us have to find our own purpose in life. At different times, we will be called upon to rise to the occasion, and sometimes, the result will not be exactly what we want, but it will be enough. Human beings are imperfect.