The Book: Artie Dam is a high school history teacher who loves his job and is beloved by his students who call him Damn-Dam. Long married to his wife Evie, they live in the house she inherited from her wealthy family, right on the water where Artie keeps a sailboat and loves to go out sailing alone. Their son Rob is grown, having survived a terrible car accident when he was a teenager. Artie seems to have everything and yet he feels isolated and lonely. He feels that no one really knows him and that he doesn't really know other people, including those closest to him. He feels that he is living a double life - outwardly jovial and inwardly suffering. Then he discovers a secret that has been kept from him for years and an incident occurs to him, both of which force him to rethink his approach to life.
The Author: Elizabeth Strout
Genre: Literary Fiction
Length: 334 pages (e-reader ipad mini)
One good thing: This is a novel of ideas and the big idea is that no matter what we think we know we can never fully understand other people and we can never fully understand how we appear to other people. As we travel through life we are blind but we think we can see. Within each human being is a vast, unknowable universe. In creating a character who appears outwardly ebullient to other people but who, inside, is dealing with loneliness and feelings of isolation, Strout makes this idea very accessible.
One not-so-great thing: As with many of her novels, Strout doesn't shrink from having her characters deal with recent real events. For instance, in "Lucy by the Sea" Strout had her characters deal with isolation because of the pandemic. This novel takes place in 2024 during the presidential election. While I found her characters' reaction to the election and its immediate aftermath realistic, in real life events move so fast that some of the things she writes about seem dated already.
Nancy Pearl's "Four Doorways": Characters; Writing; Story; Setting
This is a novel focused on one character, painting a picture of him during a certain year of his life but during which he reflects on his past and the author occasionally gives us glimpses of his future. I found Artie to be a great character study while at the same time finding the other characters hard to completely understand (which I think is the point). We mostly see the other characters from Artie's perspective although occasionally the narrator jumps in with an insight.
I am aware that many readers find Strout's writing style off-putting. She writes in straightforward sentences that appear simple on their face. I think some readers feel she talks down to them. I find her style fascinating; it is as if she is sitting across from you telling you a story. She will straight-out tell you that a character only understood something later. I found this novel easy to read and yet full of ideas to think about. The story is relatively simple, the plot is not action-packed and yet I found it difficult to put down.
Strout has set this novel in Massachusetts, a change from her previous novels, but unlike her novels set in Maine I didn't get a particular "Massachusetts feel" from this novel. In some ways it could have been set anywhere in New England.
Trigger warning: There is a great deal of talk of suicide in this novel.
