FROM THE PULITZER-WINNING, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED ELIZABETH STROUT COMES A STUNNING STANDALONE NOVEL OF LOVE, LONELINESS AND NEW BEGINNINGS 'Emotionally stunning, devastatingly wise . . . her best novel yet' RACHEL JOYCE ‘A moving, tender and wise novel about a committed teacher who is utterly confounded by the emotional complexities of daily life. This might be Elizabeth Strout’s best yet’ CLARE CHAMBERS Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, 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 neighbours, 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 mind: