I thought I could never love another Elizabeth Strout novel more, then along comes THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY (Penguin Random House 2026) and I realise again this author’s quiet, restrained power, her empathy, her understanding of the human spirit, her devotion to language and character and story, and her genuine compassion.
This is the story of Artie Dam, a man with a secret. A high school history teacher, married for three decades, he has a son he loves and a sailboat he likes to take out on Massachusetts Bay. He has a life. But inside, he has doubts and anxieties, feelings of isolation and remorse. And when one day he learns a secret about his own life, a secret that might change everything (or might change nothing), he is forced to think even deeper thoughts about everything and everyone in his life, what they mean to him, and what his life means to himself.
Artie learns that fear is a very private thing, that people sometimes commit random acts of kindness for no other reason than to help others, that trauma can break people in unexpected ways, that memories are keyholes to our futures and that nobody can ever really know anyone.
‘ “Why don’t people ever say anything real?” And now he knew why. Because to say anything real was to say things that nobody wanted to know. Or if they wanted to know, they would not care in the right way. Or even understand. It was a private thing, to be alive. He understood this now.’
This is a book about shoplifting and suicide, loneliness and love, friendship and futility, secrets and lies, death and deception, appearances and avarice, politics and the current state of the world. It’s about the infinite value of a good teacher. It’s about morality and betrayal and loyalty, and about what we decide to reveal, to whom, when and why. It’s about parents and children. About relationships. About trust and encouragement and bullying and caring and hopefulness. It’s about missed opportunities and random chances and the consequences of both. Artie is a man who thinks deeply and pays close attention to those around him, to their physical, mental and emotional states.
THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY is brilliant prose, an engrossing chronicle of lives, a tender and restrained observation of life’s most important issues, an exquisitely moving and heartbreaking story of the wonder of the world and the place each of us holds in it. Stunning, meditative, comforting and insightful, this novel is why Elizabeth Strout is revered as a timeless author who nevertheless touches our contemporary world with magic.