There is much to love in this relatively short (200+ pages) easy-read novel–and also much that is so so. While it’s my least favorite Elizabeth Strout novel, she still centers the story around a single interesting character just as she did with the abrasive and witty Olive Kitteridge, the quiet and introspective Lucy Barton, and the kind Bob Burgess. 

In this novel, it’s Artie Dam, a high school history teacher who finds the goodness in every student, who realizes AI is taking over writing and thinking (and is thus disillusioned with the future of teaching) and who struggles with loneliness and depression. He’s complex and likable and offers insight on teaching, marriage, and fatherhood. I appreciate that Strout brings awareness to mental health struggles via a highly functioning adult, something we don’t see that often. And this, I think, is why he’s so good at reading his students’ struggles and giving them positive ways to cope and move forward. 

What’s so so is the writing. Usually I marvel at how well Strout portrays her characters’ personalities, how she reveals them subtly through words and actions. While she does do this with Artie sometimes, she also gets telly and too overt, and often it seems more like a character sketch than a novel with a directional plot. 

The story gets political, which is fine because disgust toward the newly elected President is in keeping with Artie’s values and personality, but his views come across too much like Strout is writing a manifesto instead of creating a character. Almost like she–the author–intervenes and interrupts Artie’s story, overpowering it with her own voice. I think she could have let the reader feel the same views far more effectively with better execution. She’s done that so well in her other books, and I wish she had done so in this one. 

Still, as a two day read, it was worth meeting Artie Dam. I just think he could have resonated with us more than he did. 3.5 ⭐️