Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

With her trademark spare, crystalline prose--a voice infused with "intimate, fragile, desperate humanness" (The Washington Post)--Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton through the early days of the pandemic.

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea.

Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we're apart--the pain of a beloved daughter's suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love.

Review:

This series, starting with the novel, My Name is Lucy Barton, centers around a woman who comes from abject poverty and abuse, into a world as different to her upbringing as possible.  By attending college, she is thrown into a life of literature, science, and a culture she cannot fathom.  Though successful in many ways, Lucy has always been an outsider.  She's too removed from her siblings to get along well with them.  But she also never quite connects with her children, and the men in her life, who cannot understand just how haunted she is by her childhood.

This novel, Lucy By The Sea, continues her journey, as she reacts to the turmoil of the COVID pandemic.  This feels like the closing of the series, as Lucy deals with the death of her second husband David, and finds a different way to relate to her first husband, William.  There's also much more about Lucy's two daughters, as well.  

It's strange to think that we are at a point, already, where we can begin to reflect on that time that was just a few years ago.  But, the book brings all the events back, from the uncertainty of what the virus was, to the abrupt lockdowns and social distancing, and to the social unrest that follows.  But, we also see Lucy able to have great empathy to people with completely different reactions to the pandemic.  I loved that Lucy was the one who was able to be the bridge between various groups.  Her diverse life experiences lead her to connect in ways most people could not.  

This is a very special book.  I dearly loved the characters, the relationships, and most of all, Lucy's reflections.  I hope you love it as much as I did.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date: September 20th, 2022

Author:  Elizabeth Strout

Publisher:  Random House

Genre:  Literary Fiction

Page Length:  304 Pages

Source: NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This book is a wonderful tail-end to a moving series.  The characters of Lucy and William are full of life experiences that make this a rich and wonderful novel.  Please read the three proceeding novels to really get the complete effect of how these characters change over time.  It is a lovely book and I highly recommend it.