Lucy by the Sea

'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own' Hilary Mantel

FROM THE BOOKER-SHORTLISTED, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR

'It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us'

In March 2020 Lucy Barton's ex-husband William pleads with her to leave New York and escape to a coastal house he has rented in Maine. Lucy reluctantly agrees, leaving the washing-up in the sink, expecting to be back in a week or two. Weeks turn into months, and it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the sea.

Rich with empathy and a searing clarity, Lucy by the Sea evokes the fragility and uncertainty of the recent past, as well as the possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this miraculous novel are the deep human connections that sustain us, even as the world seems to be falling apart.

'A terrific writer' Zadie Smith

'I cannot get Lucy Barton out of my head' The Times

'She gets better with each book' Maggie O'Farrell


Sunday Times bestseller, October 2022
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2022
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 2009

Reviews

Strout writes in a conversational voice, evoking those early weeks and months of the pandemic with immediacy and candor. These halting rhythms resonate . . . Rendered in Strout's graceful, deceptively light prose