Lucy by the Sea - [LONG] Book Review
Before beginning this review, I have one word for this book: Masterpiece!
Strout’s Lucy by the Sea is an underrated masterpiece and is worthy of your attention. The fourth installation in the Amgash series, this book can be read as a standalone, as per the author’s suggestion, which is what I did. The novel is narrated by Lucy, who finds herself moving with her former husband, William, into a quiet house that looks over the sea in Maine during the Covid-19 pandemic. Strout is a masterful storyteller, capturing human emotions such as fear and grief effortlessly yet cautiously.
The initial days of the pandemic were that of panic and confusion, which is also experienced by the protagonist, Lucy. She comes to realize that the threat of this virus is serious when a no-handshaking and no-hugging regulation was established, especially when she loves the act of embracing. When she is cast in this foreign place of Maine, she is naturally frightened. She likes “places that are familiar”, and it is understandable because going to a place you don’t know much about or trying new things can be both intimidating and uncomfortable in the beginning.
This is the reason why Lucy begins to feel this sense of dislocation, especially in the first few weeks. She finds herself being in Maine physically but her mind drifts back to her apartment in New York. What this sense of doubleness concludes is that her one self is home and the other away from home. It shows this perception of dislocation from the body, where her mind is somewhere in the past, seeking it, yearning for it, grieving for it.
Now, some may judge Lucy for being too whiny and always complaining, and that is how I felt as well, but once you acknowledge her feelings of discomfort and anguish, you relate to her irritation. In one instance, Lucy states her disinterest in food after her former husband William takes over the cooking. She does not tell anything to William and she conceals this fact. Part of it has to do with her husband’s passing and the other has to do with her coming from poverty. This disinterest in food suggests that she is unable to let go of her past, and this is evident when she is constantly reminiscent of the past, especially of her late husband, David and her abusive childhood.
An interesting thing to note about Lucy’s childhood trauma is that she has created this imaginary mother who is kind to her, kinder than her real mother, who was the root of all her past trauma. And even in her old age, Lucy continues to turn to this fanciful mother whenever she is in distress and her fanciful mother would always come to her rescue. All her memories with her real mother are horrible experiences, and after creating this imaginary mother, she calms down and is soothed by her words.
Another thing I found intriguing and cannot tell what was really taking place was how great intuition Lucy has. Everything she predicts or foreshadows always seems to come true. For instance, she could tell if her daughter was pregnant, and her daughter later happily states she was expecting. Another incident was when she could see an ominous energy radiating from her daughter’s father-in-law and claimed he had the virus, and he did. This bit about Lucy predicting situations took me aback, and made me realize that she is a character that is aware of her surroundings; she is conscious.
The book touches on numerous things that took place during the pandemic. It displays this surrealism of how the pandemic began, spread, and became a cause of destruction for everyone and everything; how the virus separated many families; how due to lockdowns, domestic violence was on the rise; how many protested in favor of the anti-vaccine or anti-mask policies. And these are just a few of the things Strout touches upon in her book, and that is why I believe this novel should be read by everyone. It details the things that occurred in those two years of alienation. In a way, we lived and survived, and continue surviving.
In one scene, William is suddenly excited to get back to work, even if it’s from home, and Lucy agrees that he looked younger and that she felt older because she was not working. It made me realize that it is dreams and ambitions and hopes that make us alive, make us continue to push forth, and thus, make us younger. While Lucy might have felt old, she did not realize that her helping around and being with people when they most need it is also viewed as a purpose. To look forward to a new day, to go on a walk with someone you like, to share stories, to laugh, they all make us younger, make us alive.
Lucy by the Sea is a book about grief, loss, alienation, and isolation, but by the end of it, Strout sends a message of hope, companionship, and love, especially during a period of a pandemic that is set to cause destruction in its path. I truly loved this novel, and consider it the finest literature of our period. It emphasizes humanity in a period when many were dislocated from one another. I would highly recommend everyone to read this book not once but also continue to come back to it whenever they can as I guarantee I will. By the end of the book, when the two characters embrace each other, we are reminded that staying together and not giving up may require effort but it is never hopeless. Just like the sea that reaches to the shore, you, too, can hold out your hand and reach out to the person you love, to your many dreams, to your hopes.
