A book by Maine novelist Elizabeth Strout was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
The novel, “The Things We Never Say,” is about a friendly high school history teacher who secretly struggles with suicidal feelings, until a near-death experience renews his desire to live. He then discovers a worldview-altering secret about his wife, which he must grapple with alongside his horror at the results of the 2024 presidential election.
When writing the novel, Strout took inspiration from an obituary photo of a kind-looking upstate New York man, and from an acquaintance’s story about rescuing a drowning man.
“The Things We Never Say” was among six books shortlisted for the prize, which was ultimately awarded to M John Harrison’s post-apocalyptic novel “The End of Everything,” the first science fiction novel to win the Booker award, the leading prize for English language literature.
The other shortlisted books were “The Disappearers” by Marlon James, “Black Bag” by Luke Kennard, “May We Feed the King” by Rebecca Perry and “John of John” by Douglas Stuart.