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The Strout universe is tight-knit yet vast in emotional wealth. Elizabeth S continues to mesmerize us with the stories of ordinary people--told in a deceptively straightforward voice, rich with irony and insights. In Tell Me Everything, two of Strout’s most delightful and ongoing protagonists---Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton---finally get up close and personal in Crosby, Maine. (Some folks blame Lucy for the skyrocketing price of housing---she is a successful writer that moved here during the pandemic). You won’t be let down with their meet-and-greet, either. There’s invariably a buffet of body language going on in Strout-world. Olive invites Lucy to come hear a story, true stories that need telling about unrecorded lives.

By now, Olive is ninety years old and Lucy is in her sixties. Lucy visits Olive in a retirement home where Olive now resides; I remember Lucy’s zippered boots and the way she blushes. Olive asks her about Bob, and Lucy tends to get cagey in response. And then Olive shares a story about family. In later meet-ups, there’s typically a segue, sort of like, “How’s Bob?”—legnthy pause, a smile, and then onto the astonishing stories of people you will feel like you know.

I thought it was going to be a Lucy/Olive narrative, but it shifts. We still get Strout-filled awkward moments and desperately minor conflicts between those in the ensemble cast. But this is a Bob Burgess book most of all. Lucy experiences some personal Bob drama, but, alas, he is pulled in many directions at once.

Bob Burgess is a semi-retired attorney who has also been in previous Strout novels, especially, of course, The Burgess Boys. It’s fine if you have never met him before, because ES will round him out and pull you into the Burgess weeds, not the least of which is a tragedy he shares with his brother. Married to Margaret, a Unitarian minister, he’s a little in love with Lucy. We know he doesn’t seem the cheating kind. Does the heart want what the heart wants? Bob doesn’t think he deserves to be the hero in his life—or even the main character. In Tell Me Everything, he unwittingly, humbly, generously, even reluctantly, gets to be both.

Newbies to Strout can start with any of her sparkling books. If you read out of order, you’ll see some spoilers, but it doesn’t hurt too much. That’s not a huge downside. You’ll be immersed in every novel in any order. An elegant and gently spicy writer, she creates characters who breathe on the page. They can be crabby, too. Strout pens crabby, exposed characters better than anyone!

Most of the drama in TME is quiet, restless, and inward. Small things lead to big consequences. A haircut causes a surprising riptide of emotions, an unforeseen disturbance that illustrates Strout’s genius in upending routine events. Angst—both existential and specific—haunts her sympathetic cast; unresolved issues can weave and wind and bend their mettle into melancholy.

Bob is a sin-eater, says Lucy. He is drawn to people who are stuck in their transgressions. Tall and schlumpy-shaped, Bob has room in his body and soul to absorb the sins of others. He takes on a monkish criminal defendant accused of killing his mother; his ex-wife wrestles with alcohol, and his brother is a hot mess of grief. Bob is needed all over the place, but he struggles to connect with his wife.

Whether you are new or familiar to the Strout-verse, you’ll be hooked from the opening pages. I thank Random House for sending me an ARC to review. The pleasure was all mine.