Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel is the most thought-provoking read of 2026 by a mile

Elizabeth Strout returns with one of her most tender books to date

Elizabeth Strout has long been one of my favourite writers. I don’t think there’s a storyteller quite as gifted as Strout, and it’s all down to her deep understanding of human emotion.

Her books are about ordinary people and their everyday lives, but there’s a stillness that encompasses you when reading these stories. They’re so impactful in their simplicity, and The Things We Never Say is no different.

The way Elizabeth Strout intertwines the horror of the modern world with Artie Dam’s own life is done with such delicacy.

This is a strikingly stunning story about losing yourself in a capsizing world, and a book everyone will benefit from reading.

Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive.

But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his head. How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?