The Things We Never Say

Artie Dam teaches high school history, corrects his students' casual cruelties and offers a kind word to those who need it most. He has been married for three decades, makes small talk at holiday parties and spends weekends sailing on Massachusetts Bay. Inside, though, he feels deeply alone, and one question keeps returning to him: how can we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

This standalone novel from Elizabeth Strout, the Pulitzer-winning author shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2026, explores grief that echoes across decades, the comfort of deep friendship and the freedom of finally setting secrets down. The publisher describes it as a novel of love, loneliness and new beginnings, and it will stay with anyone who has wondered what goes unsaid between the people they love.