The Things We Never Say
A Novel
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4.2 • 491 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “profound, resplendent novel”* from Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout, a chance incident sparks a powerful realization in a beloved teacher’s life
“Strout’s capacious empathy and rigorous attention to the nuances of human behavior and psychology are as evident as ever.”—The Boston Globe
“Artie Dam is someone you may never be able to forget.”—Financial Times*
Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?
And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.
Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Elizabeth Strout returns with a quietly devastating novel about the secrets we keep, even from the people we love most. Artie Dam is a beloved high school history teacher living a seemingly contented life as a husband and father in a coastal Massachusetts town. But underneath, he carries a deep and private loneliness he can barely name. When an unexpected revelation about his family forces him to question everything he thought he understood, Artie has to confront both the silence in his marriage and the things he’s been avoiding about himself. The author of Olive Kitteridge makes ordinary small-town lives feel profound, and the way Strout captures friendship, parenthood, and aging here is unmatched. Artie is a beautifully drawn character, so tender and achingly human, and his world feels so complete that every conversation seems like it carries years of unspoken history. This graceful novel skillfully reflects the relatable strangeness of being deeply loved but still never fully known.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A married high school teacher confronts his despair and isolation in this insightful outing from Strout (Tell Me Everything). Artie Dam, 57, has a beautiful home on the Massachusetts coast, a long and stable partnership with his wife, Evie, and a job he loves, but he can't shake his "accretion of loneliness," nor can he bring himself to reveal it to anyone. Recalling the suicide of a character in a novel he read, Artie is reminded that "people do die of loneliness" and decides to end his life. After he nearly drowns in a sailing accident, his brush with mortality renews his desire to live, but he's rocked again when his 27-year-old son, Rob, confides in him that a DNA test showed he's not Artie's biological child. As father and son reimagine their bond, Artie must decide whether to jeopardize his marriage by telling Evie what he's learned. Some of the episodes feel a bit random, but Strout masterfully explores her central themes (after a "lunatic" former president is reelected, a clear reference to Trump, Artie feels like the "country was committing suicide") and offers timeless observations, suggesting, for example, that her characters feel distant from those they love most because "to say anything real was to say things that nobody wanted to know." This will stay with readers.
Customer Reviews
Relevant
Such a compelling story, with so many unique characters. What is especially interesting is that the novel mentions numerous times that a president has been elected. The dismay and brief retelling of the past year's events under Trump makes for a dry believable novel.
There’s something about this book
I finished this book feeling a deep sadness, which I think was the point. Artie’s life and thoughts and relationships are so normal, unspectacular. But the author’s attention to detail and the contradictions of his mind make the book what it is. His loneliness and grief and confusion and joy come through beautifully. I love that the author gives us glimpses into the perspectives of people on the periphery of his life. There’s a line about how every person has within them an unknowable universe. The book captures that idea so well.
Deeply moving
I found this novel to be deeply moving, both profoundly painful and hopeful, talking about the secrets we keep to ourselves and the meaningful ways we can reach out with kindness and make a difference in the lives of others. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.