As she does in her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout offers once again a collection of linked stories. Instead of Maine, however, this collection focuses on Northern Illinois and has no central character. But as the stories progress, the reader discovers various connections between characters, some providing background to Strout’s recent novel My Name Is Lucy Barton.
Often much darker and more explicit than her previous work, Anything Is Possible addresses deep emotional wounds and moral compromises as characters from all walks of life hope for redemption.
Strout is a subtle writer and uses multiple perspectives to reveal hypocrisy and so warn the reader against snap judgments. Many characters look back on their lives and seek direction, wondering, almost Job-like, “Where are you, God?” (Random House)
About the Author
Otto Selles teaches French at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., and attends Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids.