Reviews

Tyler Caskey marries Lauren, a feisty young woman. When he becomes a Reverend, they move to New England, where he is pastor of a small community. The community doesn't think much of Lauren, and after her death, Tyler struggles to raise his daughters and care for the needs of his church members.
A touching story of a man's, and a community's, search for holiness.

thebobsphere's review against another edition

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3.0

Having read, and enjoyed the Lucy Barton books and the first Olive Kitteridge one, I decided to buy all of Elizabeth Strout’s books. While those books were either interlinked short stories or novellas. Abide With Me is a novel in the traditional sense of the word and is her second work of fiction.

The plot consists of a widowed minister, Tyler Caskey, in a small town. Slowly due to his grief he starts to lose himself be it with his parishers, daughter or his helper, Tyler commits actions which make him a mockery of the town.

To be honest I found Abide With Me to be a bit inconsistent. While I liked the Rev’s loss of reality, I did find it to fall into repetition and I did get bored. On the plus side Elizabeth Strout knows how to capture small town folk and their worries and concerns. Also as a theology student, I did like the mentions of Bonhoeffer and Tillich (who I studied) and how their teaching reflect on Caskey’s life.

I see Abide with Me as Strout edging to something great – Olive Kitteridge is the book that made her name and there are elements of that in Abide by Me but not fully formed.

giorgia_bi_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dmwade's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

pumpkinmama's review

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2.0

Not great. Had high hopes, as I loved "Olive Kittredge", but I just had nothing but contempt for virtually every single character in this story (minus the little daughters) and was just relived whenn it was over. Lovely writing though.

sby's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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