Tell Me Everything

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Strout

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a “stunner” (People) of a novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.

“Tell Me Everything hits like a bucolic fable. . . . A novel of moods, how they govern our personal lives and public spaces, reflected in Strout’s shimmering technique.”—The Washington Post

With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”

It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known—“unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.

Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.”

©2024 Elizabeth Strout (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Strout superfans will be thrilled to see the prickly protagonist of the author’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Olive Kitteridge . . . finally cross paths with the tender heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Lucy by the Sea. But if you’ve never cracked the spine of a Strout novel before, don’t sweat it—you’ll feel like a Crosby, Maine, local by the end of the first chapter.”—Oprah Daily

“A rich tapestry, intricately wrought yet effortlessly realized, both suspenseful and meditative . . . Suffering and the enduring of it, the human impulse to solve and resolve confronting the fundamental unknowability of others and life’s essential mystery, finding hope, love, and connection in improbable places: Strout’s perpetual preoccupations are here explored with clear sighted rigor, emotional generosity, and bighearted joy.”—The Boston Globe

“The narrative threads make for dishy small-town drama, but even more satisfying are the insights Strout weaves into the dialogue. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will relish this.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“With tenderness, honesty, intimacy, and compassion, Strout uses her cunning powers of observation to draw readers beyond the mundane to the miraculous complexities where true friendship lies. . . . An absolute must-have.”—Booklist, starred review

Lucy and Bob

The special friendship between Lucy and Bob Burgess evolves.
Family and small town friendships change and grow. Started slow but I loved it!

A Meditation on Life

Beautifully written and narrated meditation on life, relationships, love and the challenges and joys of it all. Hard to put down.

Storytelling At Its Best

Raw honesty, realism, compassion, suspense, reflection and wisdom—this book is an experience worth having…

Always surprising and somehow real

Characters to bring home- a touch of mystery, the tale is vivid and leaves me feeling and thinking

Thoughtful, interesting lovable characters and wonderful story marred by narration

Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favorite authors. This book was another winner. I loved all the little stories within stories and the realistic complexities of navigating relationships. What ruined this book and many of Elizabeth Strout’s other audiobooks for me was the narration by Kimberly Farr. Kimberly reads this as if she is speaking to a first grade class in a sing song, halting, and overly enunciated fashion with emphasis and pauses in weird places. It completely detracts from the beautiful flow of the story. The only way I figured out how to tolerate it was to increase speed to 1.2x. For some reason, either the publisher or author likes her work, but I so wish they would try a different narrator who would enhance the story rather than distract from it. I have seen this criticism from other fans and hope at the publisher pays attention..

Beautiful Novel

Really enjoyed the story and the masterful way it was read & presented. Highly recommend it. A beautiful tale of life and love.

So rich!

I had read Olive Kitteridge but nothing else. I love that one but Tell Me Everything, which can stand alone, is so rich and the characters are so real and relatable. It was a joy to continually go back to and get lost in Crosby Maine. 🤩

Great narration , great story

I’ve read or listened to almost all Elizabeth Strout books and I think this is my most favorite.

5 stars

Thoughtfully and sensitively read, this wonderfully written novel draws the characters and their various stories together so well. I hope this isn't the last we see of the residents of Crosby, Maine. They are at once a trial and a comfort.

Perhaps my favorite Strout of all! Gorgeous!

I loved all the books about these characters and families, and this one ties them together so well ( but probably can stand on its own) and we meet a new family as well.
It is a beauty of a book, intimate and deep and moving. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I LOVED the narrator's slow thoughtful narration. It is a book about human connection and the pauses allow the listener to feel the characters reacting in real time to each other. If you want a speed read or listen, I'd suggest another author. This novel is one to savor!