The Things We Never Say | Elizabeth Strout

FROM THE PULITZER-WINNING, WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR COMES A NEW STANDALONE NOVEL OF POIGNANT HOPE AND FRIENDSHIP

Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He goes about his days teaching American history to high schoolers, correcting their casual ignorance, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He spends his free time sailing the beautiful Massachusetts Bay, or with his adult son and his wife of more than three decades -- and as Artie does these things, he plans the event that will forever change the world he inhabits.

But when a startling accident awakens a new perspective in Artie, and he realizes that life has its own secret it's been keeping from him - along with a lot more to say on the weighty matters of fate and freedom in his home and his country - he charts another course full of grief, hilarity and heart, to a place where the end marks the beginning.

Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a profound exploration of the human condition - one that brims with deep compassion for each and every one of her characters. With exquisite prose and gentle intimacy, Artie Dam takes one man's fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the mysterious love that sustains and holds us through it all.

***PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH STROUT:

'A terrific writer' ZADIE SMITH

'A superbly gifted storyteller' HILARY MANTEL

'Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favourite writers' ANN PATCHETT

'Strout's ability to reveal wonder in unrecorded lives continues to astonish' TELEGRAPH

'She gets better with each book' MAGGIE O'FARRELL

'A beautiful read' OPRAH WINFREY

'Strout is, as ever, wonderfully attentive life's escapable cruelties and woes' SUNDAY TIMES

One of the most profoundly moving books I have read - I envy anyone reading it for the first time. Elizabeth Strout is one of those rare novelists whose books leave you a little wiser, open and more compassionate than you were when you began reading. Emotionally stunning, devastatingly wise, a beautiful read. Her best novel yet * Rachel Joyce *A moving, tender and wise novel about a committed teacher who is utterly confounded by the emotional complexities of daily life. This might be Elizabeth Strout's best yet * Clare Chambers *One of the best novels I have read. I am so stunned by it, how moving and beautiful and perfect it is * Anna Funder *I was torn between wanting to devour it in a single sitting and slowly savouring its brilliance. Strout writes about some of the darkest, saddest things with such grace and humanity that you're left still feeling optimistic about the world. The Things We Never Say is utterly captivating in the classic Stroutian understated way. No one else delves into the intricacies of everyday life with such searing insight and honesty. If stranded on a desert island, The Complete Works of Strout, would unequivocally be my book of choice to remind me of the complexity and ultimate goodness of people. * Roxy Dunn *Strout is always smart, always perceptive, and Artie is a memorable figure * Harper's Bazaar *This is a profound, resplendent novel that stares our present moment in the face while throwing a lifeboat to cling to in the storm. And Artie Dam is someone you may never be able to forget, not least for his white socks and how they irritate his wife - these are the things we remember, which Strout, a titan of the most intricate storytelling, understands well. * Financial Times *Elizabeth Strout writes extraordinary fiction about ordinary people...Strout's gift is to reveal their frustrations and epiphanies in stories that are deceptively simple yet carry a profound emotional charge * The Telegraph *     Author Biography: Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.

Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.