E Stout's TELL ME EVERTHING-Everything Stouts Writes Shouts to be Read and Savored

Elizabeth Stout is an American literary novelist whose novels are a continuous tale of characters whose lives overlap in her prolific collection of books set in the fictional small town of Shirley Falls, ME with Lucy Barton, a successful novelist at their fulcrum. Stout is a critically acclaimed, best selling author. Her previous novel "Olive Kitteridge" (K) won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In K, Stout strung together a series of loosely entwined short stories that meshed together into a richly, descriptive novel of a town and its sundry inhabitants. The motifs running through "Tell Me Everything" are Stout's common memes of loneliness or need for being seen, love in all its various forms constitutes love, and the meaning of life remains an eternal enigma. The overriding message is that everyone's life is a story worthy of being told. These recurring themes may seem trite or banal, but in Stout's skillful hands, crafts a beguiling tale of grace and intrigue. All Stout's characters and the town itself come alive with her sharp descriptions and use of humor, emotions and behaviors. The people are all fallible, remarkable and likable. Lucy Barton, now middle-aged with two grown daughters, granddaughter and ex-husband (with whom she resides) has defied the constraints of a bleak and abysmal childhood and still managed to achieve success as a writer. She distanced herself from the shackles of Shirley Falls and chose to return home. Lucy reconnects with her old steadfast friend, Bob Burgess. Burgess is an attorney, married to the town's parishioner, Margaret. Margaret likes the sound of her own sermons a tad too much. William, Lucy's ex, drones on too much about his boring field; parasites. And, old Olive Kitteridge, feisty as ever at 95, is still a sounding board for others' stories; especially Lucy's. There's assorted loco, locals who imbibe too much, have illicit affairs with friends' spouses and those putting noses inside others' houses. Plus, there's more with a murder mystery to solve. The prime suspect is an oddball loner who becomes Burgess' client. Lucy and Bob take regular strolls together in all kinds of weather while friends and lovers fall from favor. Out of all Stout's exceptional novels, TELL ME EVERYTHING contains everyone from her past literary works. In this ambitious and gratifying read, everything eventually tugs at the heartstrings. Stout satisfies loose ends in her character's lives. so it seems. Still, life is full of surprises. Surely, Stout will provide us with more from the lives of Lucy and her Shirley Falls' family. Hopefully! Stout leaves us with Lucy saying to Olive, "Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love. If it is love, then it is love."