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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Brief references to past hardship and violence in rural lives; nothing graphic
Language
Barely any
Mild language; rural Midwest register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief adult relationships in several stories
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking as part of rural community life
Emotional Intensity
Some
The dignity of lives lived outside the spotlight, the weight of childhood on adults, ordinary people seen fully
What this book is about
Elizabeth Strout returns to Amgash, Illinois — the small town Lucy Barton escaped — and follows the people who never left. Teachers, farmers, cleaners, grandparents, veterans: each story is a window into a life lived with quiet dignity or quiet pain, and all of them brush against the edges of Lucy Barton's world. Strout's linked short story collection is a companion piece to My Name Is Lucy Barton, and one of the finest American story collections of the 2010s.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
quiet emotional depth throughout
linked stories require no prior Strout context to enjoy
Reader Verification
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