I’ve had this one on the shelf for a few months, but dropped it onto the top of the vacation pile when it became a 2026 Booker Prize finalist. Strout is a reliably good read, and this was no exception.
In this latest novel, Strout creates a setting on the coast of Massachusetts reminiscent of but wholly separate from her previous worlds. With the exception of one sly nod to Olive Kitteridge, this novel is completely independent from her previous ones but has some similar elements – an older couple with one child, a revelation of an affair, carefully constructed dialogue alongside interior thoughts from the main character. Strout manages to tell the entire life story of Artie Dam – husband, father, schoolteacher, friend, sailor – through a main story taking place over less than a year. Artie’s experiences and emotions are far ranging and realistic, and you are drawn in to compassion and understanding right from the start.
While I couldn’t see where the story was going, I trusted Strout to take me through a whole and wonderful story without going too far astray. She ranges from the deeply personal to the larger world view and commentary and introduces the surprising twists in such a way that the reader a) doesn’t see them coming, b) gasps out loud, and c) immediately turns the page to continue reading.
From the broader perspectives, Strout keeps a mostly even hand when looking at the current state of America, although she does reveal her own bias through the near-dystopian occurrences in the future projections of the story and the repeated characterization of any measure of authority (including when Artie enforces discipline and civility in his class) as bad. While the name of the President is one of “the things we never say,” his presence and influence on the feelings of the characters is clear. Strout tries to present the issues as complex and nuanced, but ultimately presents fear (especially of change) as the overriding response in the predominately (but not entirely) Democratic community. She doesn’t let the progressives off the hook: when Artie is “encouraged” (i.e., required) to make changes to his teaching materials and style, he sees and feels it as an end to his happiness with teaching, and it becomes something he does by rote rather than with the enthusiasm he was previously adored for. It would be impossible to tell such a story – in modern smalltown America – without at least acknowledging the political climate, and I commend Strout for introducing the polarity as one of the, but not the only, defining feature of the characters or situations.
The exception is Artie’s son, Rob, a computer programmer or analyst working for the government (I was reminded of Edward Snowden’s nebulous role prior to his whistleblowing); without being specific, Rob sounds the alarm to his dad about the administration’s surveillance, suggesting deep malevolence without providing any details. I found this element to be distracting and unnecessary, as well as undermining of the sense of even-handedness in the other political aspects, by implying more than a different approach but actual evil. Rob is the weakest main character; the circumstances with his wife and strange girlfriend felt contrived and unnecessary.
The novel’s strengths are the exceptional writing, believable and engaging characters, and a story both ordinary and extraordinary. I loved Artie Dam for all his strengths, foibles, challenges, and efforts toward integrity and love, and wept for him at the end. In his own assessment, he is the embodiment of the American dream – not about material success or fame, but the real one: life, liberty, and the pursuit (not necessarily attainment) of happiness. As a fellow reader said, Artie is not old (he is only 57 at the start of the novel, in 2024) but he behaves as if he is, as if he’s at the end of his life rather than in the middle of it. It’s part of what draws me into Strout’s stories – the relatability of the characters who, on the one hand are aligned with me age-wise while also see their lives from somewhat bleaker perspectives.
I have a few more Strout novels to read to catch-up on all her work so far. In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for her in the Booker competition.
Fate: will join my growing Strout collection.
4 – pub 2026
8 – female author
11 – referral
13 – somewhere I’ve never been
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