The Things We Never Say with Elizabeth Strout
Tue 26 May 2026
7:00pm at St. Swithins Church, The Paragon, Bath BA1 5LY
Book + Ticket gives you 1 ticket with a copy of the book included, all tickets include 15% off any books purchased on the night, and author talk, and signing.
Other ways to book:
Email books@mrbsemporium.com, call 01225 331155 or pop into the shop at 14-15 John Street, Bath. BA1 2JL.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome back to Bath the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker-Shortlisted, and Mr B’s longtime favourite, Elizabeth Strout, for her stunning new standalone novel, The Things We Never Say.
From the author who brought you the unforgettable characters of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, we now have the enormous pleasure of being introduced to high school teacher, Artie Dam in this novel of love, loneliness and new beginnings.
About the book:
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: how is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world.
Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence. With exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets. The Things We Never Say is a stunning new novel from one of our most acclaimed observers of the human heart.
“A terrific writer” – Zadie Smith
“A superbly gifted storyteller” – Hilary Mantel
“Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favourite writers” – Ann Patchett
“She gets better with each book” – Maggie O’Farrell
About the author: Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.