Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel, ”The Things We Never Say,” is a beautiful 203-page treasure. We get to know big-hearted Artie Dam a 57-year-old award-winning high school history teacher, also a coach, who loves his students and teaching. His students affectionately say, Damn-Dam the greatest man.
Strout beautifully drops us into Artie’s simple-seeming life. Artie loves to teach, visit with his son Rob, sail his modest sailboat, and meet his close friend Flossie every Tuesday at the pub.
But Artie’s life isn’t simple. Artie wants to kill himself. Ten years ago his son Rob at the age of 17 was the driver in a fatal car accident; and a painful family secret is exposed. The language and pacing are easy and stunning.
Strout allows us to see Artie from the inside out. We viscerally feel Artie’s big heart and lostness at the same time. He’s friendly and kind but unbeknownst to most, he is lonely and depressed.
And sometimes Artie marvels at his life. He grew up in a working-class family and now he and Evie, his wife of 33 years, live on a quiet cul-de-sac on the ocean, in a house they inherited from Evie’s parents when they moved.
Artie is lucky. He and his 27-year-old son Rob love each other deeply and it grounds them. But Artie senses a distance in their relationship. Rob feels it too yet neither say a word. Artie thinks it might be related to the accident.
It puzzles Artie that people rarely say what they’re thinking and feeling. He doesn’t enjoy going with Evie to the neighborhood parties anymore, the small talk tires him out, or maybe he’s just tired.
Evie is not likeable. She belittles Artie in myriad ways and he’s beginning to notice. He tells himself Evie is less warm since the accident.
Artie is increasingly resentful as outside politics begin creeping into his classroom. He sees a change on the field too. Kids are nastier and fights break out. He frets; he knows history.
When a painful long buried family secret is exposed Artie only tells his new best friend Kenneth, the man who rescued him when his sailboat capsized. Now Artie only exchanges pleasantries with his old friends.
Strout weaves her magic throughout this book, bringing us so close to Artie it will make your heart ache. It felt like a magic trick to do it in just 203 pages. And I loved every single page!
“The Things We Never Say,” can be found at our local libraries.
