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The Burgess Boys

A Novel

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The Burgess Boys

By: Elizabeth Strout
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” wrote The New Yorker on the publication of her Pulitzer Prize–winning Olive Kitteridge. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Strout’s “magnificent gift for humanizing characters.” Now the acclaimed author returns with a stunning novel as powerful and moving as any work in contemporary literature.

Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, The Burgess Boys is Elizabeth Strout’s newest and perhaps most astonishing work of literary art.

Praise for Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Olive Kitteridge

“Perceptive, deeply empathetic . . . Olive is the axis around which these thirteen complex, relentlessly human narratives spin themselves into Elizabeth Strout’s unforgettable novel in stories.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her. . . . [Strout] constructs her stories with rich irony and moments of genuine surprise and intense emotion. . . . Glorious, powerful stuff.”—USA Today

“Funny, wicked and remorseful, Mrs. Kitteridge is a compelling life force, a red-blooded original. When she’s not onstage, we look forward to her return. The book is a page-turner because of her.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Deeply human . . . Though loneliness and loss haunt these pages, Strout also supplies gentle humor and a nourishing dose of hope.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Olive Kitteridge still lingers in memory like a treasured photograph.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post Book World • USA Today • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • Seattle Post-Intelligencer • People • Entertainment Weekly • The Christian Science Monitor • The Plain Dealer • The Atlantic • Rocky Mountain News • Library Journal Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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Found the book relaxing, the pace was as good as the narration, and I liked Bob, oh Bob. Not a patch on Olive Kitteridge or as good as My Name is Lucy Barton. But not many books are.

Elegant and uneventful

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Burgess Boys to be better than the print version?

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It allowed me to really listen to the beautiful language and enthralling descriptive sections.

A Fantastic Book

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After a tragic childhood accident, the Burgess children’s lives and personalities have all been deeply affected; not just in the ways in which their lives have turned out, but particularly in the way they respond to and treat each other. This has a knock-on effect on the sister Susan’s son, Zach and his actions threaten to destroy not only his own life but race-relations in their local community.
Elizabeth Strout has a rare talent for portraying her characters, not only as 3 dimensional, but as whole, totally believable people. As in real life, nobody is totally good (though Bob comes close to that description) or bad.
A narrator can make or break a book. Cassandra Campbell enhances this audiobook by bringing to life each character with its own instantly recognisable voice.

Authentic characters make for a gripping listen

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Elizabeth Strout delves in to family life, the good, the bad & the extremely ugly. I struggled with Jim’s ego driven character throughout, but ironically think that this is a good thing as it bears testament to the strength of Strout’s characters. Zac’s story line is a little off kilter in my opinion, especially the Somali aspect of the story. But this is made up for by Bob, Susan, Helen & Jim tenfold. I’ve read a few of Strout’s books & I have the same feeling every time I get to the end...I’m left wanting more. Loved the narrator’s crisp yet comforting voice.

Strout’s Strengths

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Already a fan of Elizabeth Strout’s fiction, books not audio, I anticipated this book with high hopes. I was not disappointed. She writes understated, poetic prose and because of this, as in all her work, the quality of the words is more important than the plot.
The narrator was just right.
Definitely worth a punt

Beautiful Prose

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