With the masterful storytelling and insight into character that won her a Pulitzer for Olive Kitteridge, Strout's new novel delves into the dynamics of the Burgess family.
One of the many things I like about writing is that I get to be sort of judgement free. Because in real life we're full of judgement, and to some extent we have to be because we have to make decisions about what's safe and what's not safe and how to live. But for me, to write a story or write a novel, you know, I make these people up, so I don't have to condemn them. I can watch them behave badly and love them!
—Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout "The Burgess Boys" Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C. April 2, 2013