At the insistence of her ex, writer Lucy Barton leaves NYC at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and moves with him to a seaside house in Maine. There they spend weeks in lockdown, visiting their children only sporadically. We see pandemic restrictions through their eyes: empty store shelves, masking, washing hands - and clothes after a trip to the grocery store - and distrust of outsiders. As weeks turn to months, each ponders their shared future, their past in NYC, and the complications and unhappy surprises as 2020 becomes 2021. Readers need not have read other Strout novels to enjoy this book, but those who have already met Lucy will appreciate this deep dive into her life.

I like this book because it teaches me about teeth ??

Really good book. Loved her sense of humor and she’s so cool! Would highly recommend.

Great book! Highly recommend for anyone 4th grade and above.

Such great Portland references - fun to know all the actual places!

Really beautiful book with great recipes that I have tried--some successfully, some not.

This book is really entertaining and good!!!

This book is a sequel to Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley.

Lucy Barton tells us all about her ex-husband’s life, including the collapse of William’s third marriage, the anxiety of having a father who was a Nazi POW, and his discovery that he has an older half sister in Maine. Of course readers also learn more about Lucy and her past and current relationships with William. Great beach-read for fans of Strout’s other books.

They were in the magic treehouse, they found a pirate book and wanted to go there. Then they were in there and got caught by the pirates. To try to get out, they put them in the real ship in a basement and they knew where the treasure was so they went.