NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Olive Kitteridge comes a “superb” (O: The Oprah Magazine) novel that “confirms Strout as the possessor of an irresistibly companionable, peculiarly American voice.” (The Atlantic Monthly) In the late 1950s, in a small New England town, Reverend Tyler Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard … Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard to be the person he once was. He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family’s tragedy. Tyler’s usually patient and kind congregation now questions his leadership and propriety, and accusations are born out of anger and gossip. Then, in Tyler’s darkest hour, a startling discovery will test his parish’s humanity—and his own will to endure the trials that sooner or later test us all.
Praise for Abide With Me
“Strout’s greatly anticipated second novel . . . is an answered prayer.”—Vanity Fair
“Deeply moving . . . In one beautiful page after another, Strout captures the mysterious combinations of hope and sorrow. She sees all these wounded people with heartbreaking clarity, but she has managed to write a story that cradles them in understanding and that, somehow, seems like a foretaste of salvation.”—The Washington Post
“Graceful and moving . . . The pacing of Strout’s deeply felt fiction about the distance between parents and children gives her work an addictive quality.”—People (four stars)
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I loved Olive Kitteridge, and have liked other books by Elizabeth Strout, but I could not find anything redeeming to say about this novel. It was the most deeply depressing book I have ever read, and there isn’t even a good lesson to be learned from it.
Elizabeth Strout is a master of the human soul, and minister Tyler’s dark night of the soul is plumbed with such care and wonderful language. Her books are a treat, and anyone who has ever found themselves searching their souls for meaning and purpose will find solace and affirmation in this book.
Elizabeth Strout is one of my favorite authors. This one is my least favorite although she displayed her typical command of language and characters.
Had a hard time getting into this story. Put aside, maybe for another day.
This was a way read. The characters were very real and experienced the hardships many of us can empathize with, and possibly relate to. I couldn’t put it down!
I love this author and will read just about anything she writes.
I liked it better than The Burgess boys and My Name is Lucy Barton.
Abide With Me is a literate, well-written novel that takes the reader inside the life of a minister in a small to mid-sized town in the 1950s. It is not a fast read, or a page-turner, and certainly not junk fiction. Rather, it is a thoughtful approach to what faith, steadfastness, and love can mean in a troubled time. The characters are especially …
I really liked this book and found it to be warm and a little sad, but not overly sappy. I enjoy reading Elizabeth Stout books.
Loved it…interesting character development as well as interesting story line in the genre of Olive Kittredge
A quality read
I appreciated the complexities of the characters. I found the book to be a redemption of the good we all carry within us amidst our struggles.
I found this a very moving book. Small town minister with his own naivete, adoring – and nasty – parishioners. How rumors run, and harm, and how deep faith can be a vulnerable, convoluted matter. The characters are excellent, especially the central one, really well-thought through, believable. It’s a book about faith, relationships, rumors, …
My favorite my favorite author
OK, but not as good as her later books.
Terrible. All cliche horrible characters who amazingly become kind and loving in the last chapter. Yawn.
Easy to read but a little too much gratuitous sex that the story didn’t need.
I really liked thus book. I read it start to finish over onw slerpless night.
After many Strout books, I encourage everyone to read every jewel she’s written.
As with all of her books, I find Elizabeth Strout so ‘just there’ with her characters……
An amazing read.