LUCY BY THE SEA by Elizabeth Strout

This novel takes up where Oh William! left off, but it’s not imperative that you read Oh William! first.  In fact, Strout’s characters from previous novels appear flit from book to book.  This one, though, is narrated by Lucy Barton, who headlines several of Strout’s novels.  Lucy herself is a respected author, who clawed her way out of poverty but still thinks of herself as a coward.  It’s 2020, and we all know what happened, especially in New York.  Lucy is very much in disbelief about the pandemic, but her ex-husband, William, a retired parasitologist, whisks her off to Maine before things get bad.  This is very much a COVID novel, as this pair hunkers down for the duration, all the while trying to ensure that other family members are safe as well.  Adapting to life in lockdown, away from her two adult daughters, is at first a struggle for Lucy, and she doesn’t even feel like writing.  The aforementioned daughters are dealing with challenges of their own, unrelated to but certainly not lessened by the pandemic.  William definitely comes off as a more likeable character in this novel than in the previous one, since he becomes more of a take-charge individual whose mission is to keep Lucy safe.  He also has to fend off pandemic deniers who don’t think steering clear of their asthmatic son is necessary, even though they have continued socializing indoors.  Lucy and William ultimately have to figure out how to put up with each other again while sharing a living space and having limited interaction with other people.  Lucy sometimes narrates whatever comes into her head, such as the fact that William doesn’t like to watch her floss her teeth.  As always, Strout’s prose is rich but simple, and I just can’t get enough of it.