The Secret of Elizabeth Strout’s Appeal
Elizabeth Strout's new novel, The Things We Never Say, exemplifies her signature style of portraying ordinary, deeply human characters grappling with inner loneliness and unspoken emotions. Set against a backdrop of political tension in 2024, the story follows Artie Dam, a high school teacher whose outwardly stable life masks a private struggle with suicidal thoughts. Strout's restrained prose and focus on emotional authenticity continue to resonate with both critics and a broad readership.
- ▪Elizabeth Strout's 11th novel, The Things We Never Say, is set in a seaside town in Massachusetts and begins in the summer of 2024.
- ▪The novel's protagonist, Artie Dam, is a high-school history teacher who contemplates suicide while maintaining a composed public demeanor.
- ▪Strout explores themes of loneliness, communication, and identity, using a plain yet powerful narrative style that has defined her acclaimed body of work.
- ▪Artie's near-death experience in cold water becomes a pivotal moment in the story, symbolizing his internal struggle and will to survive.
- ▪The novel subtly references the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the return of Donald Trump to power, though he is never named directly.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
BooksThe Secret of Elizabeth Strout’s AppealHow she writes best sellers that are also critical darlingsBy Adam BegleyTristan Spinski / The Washington Post / GettyMay 5, 2026, 8 AM ET ShareSave Listen−1.0x+Seek0:0018:39How does she do it? Not just the neat trick of beguiling highbrow critics while at the same time pleasing millions of readers who don’t care about literary bona fides. The real feat is harpooning the reader artlessly (or so it seems), with language as plain as a Congregational church, a paucity of dramatic incident, and a cast of characters no more exotic than your neighbors. They aren’t exotic, her characters, but they’re quirky—some cantankerous, some bafflingly passive, all convincingly real.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
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