Lucy by the Sea

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. How did you deal with the events of the COVID-19 lockdown? Did any of the characters’ experiences reflect your own? If you’ve read other novels set during this period, like Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake or Louise Edrich’s The Sentence, which depiction have you found most impactful or realistic?

2. Toward the end of the story, Lucy says, “We are all in lockdown, all the time” (287). Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

3. Consider the novel’s depiction of motherhood. If you’re a mother yourself, did it resonate with your own experiences? If you’re not, did it remind you of mothers you’ve known?

4. Lucy and William’s move to a smaller community is rife with uncomfortable class divides. What did you think of the way the characters navigated this situation? Would you have approached it similarly?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel is firmly rooted in a specific time. In what ways do the events of the story continue to reverberate today and in the future?

2. How are the characters’ journeys shaped by the novel’s political climate? Do politics bring people together, or push them further apart, and what are the implications of this for the post-COVID era?

3. How does Lucy’s privilege affect the way she absorbs the social and political horrors she sees on TV? How do they fit into her established inner world? Were you yourself aware of the political events the novel depicts before reading it? How did the story change your perception of them?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Examine Lucy and William’s relationship from beginning to end. Does it fundamentally change, or is it simply expressed in new ways? Explain your reasoning. 

2. Compare this installment to previous books about Lucy: My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh, William. In which novel does Lucy undergo the most change? How does By the Sea challenge her in new ways?

3. How does the author position external events to reflect the conflicts that are happening internally?

4. Is Lucy a reliable narrator? How can you tell, and what might the novel be “saying” about the idea of reliability when witnessing unfolding events?