Artie Dam is new to Strout's world building and yet after only a few pages you feel like you've known him forever, he fits so well. I always forget how elegantly Strout writes and how effortlessly she makes it seem and it's always slightly awe inspiring to read one of her books. So many things happen in such a quiet but profoundly powerful way. Her characters are layered and nuanced. They struggle with joy and sorrow and their lives are filled with both in such a richly generous way. This is written so simply and packs such a profoundly emotional punch. I cried at least three times and not always because I was sad.

I have read all of Elizabeth Strout’s novels and never been disappointed by the quality of her writing and her empathy with her characters and their lives. I feel she has surpassed herself this time round. Everything I have enjoyed before is still there in spades but she surprised me by her outraged political take on events in her and her characters’ country. But then these are unprecedented times in America and things need saying.

Artie is a joy. I was rooting for him throughout the unsettling twists and turns he experiences. I found his relationship with his son and daughter-in-law and the way it evolves deeply moving. He is a teacher who treats his students with respect and teaches them to respect that others have difficulties in their lives that are not always immediately apparent. Danny and Rhonda could so easily have accepted failure where Artie ensured they did not. The snapshot of these two at the end of the novel is especially poignant.

‘In his study of history, he had learned about the leaders, and the various groups involved, but he had somehow missed this fact about every single person: that they held within themselves a vast, unknowable universe.’

A perfect novel for me and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. No need to have read any of her previous work but there is a wealth of back catalogue out there to enjoy.

With thanks to Penguin via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I absolutely loved every page of this novel and am sad to have finished it. It is a wonderful book - sad, uplifting and realistic - about Artie Dam, a middle-aged history teacher and his family and students. Often I would have to stop reading as the writing was just so brilliant and I’d need a moment to revel in it, or, after one of the devastating sentences in brackets, recover from it. Elizabeth Strout has an extraordinary ability to bring characters to life and after a few paragraphs if Artie had walked into the room, I wouldn’t have been surprised. His relationship with his son Rob is touching and heartbreaking at the same time. Artie is one of the most unforgettable characters I have ever met. I highly recommend The Things We Never Say. I love all of Elizabeth Strout’s books and this is my favourite. It’s perfect.

As Evie would say wow what a book. Elizabeth Strout never lets us down. This is a novel filled with human life described in the relationships with we have with ourself and with others. I think that the fragility of our subconscious is what is looked at in this story. Based around a few people we are shown how to love and what it looks like under a lens. I will highly recommend this book to all that will listen. Thank you for allowing me an advance reading.