For me, Elizabeth Strout's greatest strength lies in all the things she does not say. You journey with her through the whole panoramic human landscape of her stories, but you never once have to stop to wonder if the engine is working. You don't have to read the signposts as you progress, because you always have confidence that she will bring you home and you will know more about being human than you ever did at the outset. With some writers, I can feel the mechanics of construction as I go along. Sometimes there are actual, visible, engineering structures in books (give the reader a wave Lionel Shriver and raise your copy of Shall we go or shall we stay). In other books the writer is so worried that we will miss the point that the narration is practically accompanied by flashing lights. (Yes you, Isabelle Allende. Violetta was not your best work I'm afraid.) Elizabeth Strout trusts the reader to quietly listen and allow the story to settle aroun...