Elizabeth Strout
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout is the story of Artie Dam, a fifty-seven-year-old high school teacher, popular with his students, and recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award. He is married to a psychotherapist with whom he shares a twenty-seven-year-old son. Although he seems happily married, is devoted to his son, and enjoys his work, Artie is lonely and suffers from depression. The novel opens with him contemplating suicide. But a near drowning accident makes him realize he wants to live, so he abandons thoughts of suicide.
The setting is 2024, just prior to the presidential election. Artie worries about the future of the country. He feels even bleaker after the election and is convinced the country is on the road to self-destruction. To make matters worse, Artie learns his wife has harbored a shocking secret that involves him and their son. He debates whether to confront her but then decides against it. The atmosphere of secrecy turns his whole world upside down and he starts to engage in erratic behavior. He no longer trusts his wife, feels increasingly isolated from friends, and loses interest in his work. His unconditional love for his son and their unbreakable bond is the only thing that buoys his spirit.
Peppering the narrative are flashbacks from Artie’s childhood and marriage, which appear in intermittent spurts. His interaction with students, particularly his dealing with two troubled teens, shows him to be a caring, sensitive teacher with a genuine concern for their well-being. He struggles with the issue of free will and wonders to what extent our choices are shaped or predetermined by our circumstances.
This is a quick, easy-to-read novel that unfolds in a series of short vignettes shuffling between Artie’s recollections of the past and his life in the present. For some inexplicable reason, Strout encapsulates some of the passages in parentheses, as if they are an aside. These disrupt the flow and are intrusive, as is her occasional authorial commentary on the nature of human beings.
The bleak atmosphere that permeates the narrative is exacerbated by a political climate that appears threatening and corrosive. Artie’s conclusion that secrecy impedes honesty, communication, and understanding even among loved ones does little to alleviate his loneliness and isolation.