Abide with Me

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Strout

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton comes a “deeply moving” (The Washington Post) novel that “confirms Strout as the possessor of an irresistibly companionable, peculiarly American voice” (The Atlantic Monthly).

In the late 1950s, in a small New England town, Reverend Tyler Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard to be the person he once was. He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family’s tragedy. Tyler’s usually patient and kind congregation now questions his leadership and propriety, and accusations are born out of anger and gossip. Then, in Tyler’s darkest hour, a startling discovery will test his parish’s humanity—and his own will to endure the trials that sooner or later test us all.

©2006 Elizabeth Strout (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Strout has crafted a harrowing meditation of exile on Main Street." (Publishers Weekly)

“Superb . . . a shimmering tale of loss, faith, and human fallibility.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

Small Town

This book is wonderful. If you have ever lived in a small community or have been a member of a small church this book rings true. The damage caused by gossip and innuendo can be devastating, The love and compassion found in these communities can be healing. Strout is one of my favorite authors, and she does not disappoint in this book. The narration is perfect.

Amazing

Heart warming and insightful, Elizabeth’s Strout’s character development is so layered and deep. This is one of her best books.

Terrible narrator for this book. I am sure she does well with other writers

As usual with this author, the characters are quite unlikable until the very end. She has a keen sense of human frailty and jealousy. Tin the end, however, all is well. Narration was abysmal

Good, not my favorite

I am a huge fan of Strout's book, Olive Kitterage and have enjoyed her other books, as well. This one was good--well written--but I couldn't get attached to the main characters. I wanted to care about them, but just couldn't.

interesting, but less so than others by Strout

Tyler Caskey is a young, widowed minister and father of 2 young girls in a small town in Maine in the early 1950s. As the story unfolds, we learn more about his wife's death and Tyler's guilt, his overbearing mother who is raising the younger daughter, his congregation, and his older daughter, Katherine who is still grieving her mother. As one reads, one becomes aware of Tyler's worries, his guilt, and his own continuing grief.

Katherine is in her first year of school and is very shy, afraid, and acting out inappropriately. Soon, the school decides to let a person who is studying psychology spend time studying Katherine. This brings Tyler and Katherine more problems, as the amateur, unfeeling diagnoses, fail to help.

At the same time, Tyler's housekeeper disappears. She is wanted for a crime, and whether or not she is guilty the town has condemned her and is passing increasingly false rumors about her and Tyler.

Given the times, the small town "everyone knows everyone else's business," the storied reticence of Mainers, and the downward spiral of Tyler and his daughter's lives, things finally come to a head, leaving him speechless before the congregation.

Strout's books are always excellent studies of human emotions, and Abide with Me continues her mastery in this vein. But to me the story was not as engaging as some of her others. One could predict the path the book would take to a certain extent, but it was still worth the read.

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.

I love this book. A tale of love and loss and the deep need for God and for each other. How beautiful it is when brethren dwell in unity. One mind, one spirit, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.

Truly beautiful.

This warms my heart. All is well with the world. Beautifully and masterfully narrated.

Very slow, but a very good story.

This was a really good story. Slow, but well told. Original and authentic. Never saw the ending coming.
I’m grateful I abided.

My favorite Elizabeth Strout novel so far

I have read all her books. This one is especially touching and poetic. I could visualize every scene and landscape vividly. Her descriptions of place take me there. The characters are so real and universal. I loved how she wove in the teaching/legacy of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer into the story. His seeming inconsistencies parallel the characters'. A number of weepy moments too when empathy and redemption break through. Beautiful.

Get ready, it’s pretty sad.

This is what can happen in an insular community where a cruel cattiness develops in response to those seen as outsiders. The level of unhappiness among these folks as well as the main characters’ family members is appalling, and the implications for children are awful. Well written and nuanced, things end on a more positive note.