Janice Valverde

I don't read much fiction, but read this book since it was chosen by a book club I just joined--our first book--it's a new book club. As I started reading it, I wondered why I should be interested in the seemingly mundane goings on of a few people in Maine. Then, I became SO interested in the mundane goings on of these few people in Maine. Elizabeth Strout has a rare gift for writing dialog. She lets her characters speak for themselves, and it sounds so real and natural. (I hate stilted unnatural dialog in books and it is one of the reasons I don't like a lot of fiction.) And she writes in a conversational tone. I felt as though she was just telling me the story while we sat over coffee on a lazy afternoon. It felt intimate, the way it feels when someone opens up and tells you a very personal transformative memory, a special story in their life. Which is, of course, what Tell Me Everything is about. She wove sunlight, golden light, pink light, and leaves of every season into the story in an almost magical way. In almost every chapter, we know what the air and the light and the temperature is. . . and that becomes a critical element of the story. For example, when Bob and Margaret set out for ice cream and the evening is clear and beautiful and their moods are high. . .but when they turn around to come home after being disappointed at the ice cream store. . . the sky gets gray and so do their moods. Or on the fateful day that the Burgess' father was killed by the family car, it was snowy in one sibling's memory and bright and sunny in another sibling's memory. And every time Lucy and Bob take a walk, we know what the weather is. The author creates the atmosphere skillfully every time you need to know what the weather is, which is what we do every day when we encounter others. (Hey, nice weather today, right? Isn't it a yucky day? Look at that sunset!) I resisted liking this novel, but I ended up really enjoying all the questions it raised, how it teaches us, or reminds us if we are old and have a bit of experience at life, that there is tremendous meaning and feeling in even the mundane goings on of our lives . . . and Elizabeth Strout sure knows how to tell that story. Her concept of the "sin eater" is brilliantly insightful, too.