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A week late, but wanted to say: Congrats on your book contract!!! Very excited to read it.

Also resolving to read Elizabeth Strout now. I was among those who vaguely associated her name with not-serious books, or thought she wrote YA maybe? So thank you for the correction!

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Congratulations on the book deal! Excited to hear more about it.

I too love - and don’t understand! - how Strout’s books make me feel so much and so deeply.

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May 25, 2023Liked by Sara Saljoughi

"I’ve been understanding, lately, how much fear there is in me, how I have tensed and clenched and waited. This, despite thinking myself fearless and open. This, despite a life that would / could be a montage of many ill advised and dangerous scenes. At least one version of the story would be that, anyway. But the undercurrent of fear isn’t so easy to hide anymore, and I guess that’s a good thing, even if it’s also sad to understand one has never felt safe in an enduring way." Wow, thank you for this phrasing here, and the timing of it, even when you couldn't realize its aptness for this reader--am up too early in the wee hours (I got up early to journal myself through my worries right now), and I'm grateful for your company. I read and loved Olive Kitteredge some years ago, and I think I need to revisit Elizabeth Strout, per your encouragement here. Thanks for your glorious writing, and congratulations on not only your book contract (YES to that subject and urgency, gosh) but also your invitation. How deserving and good, my friend. xx

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I had a similar response to Elizabeth Strout when I first read her. This is what I wrote in 2009 about it!

https://themillions.com/2009/07/in-defense-of-mom-book-picks-for-olive_13.html

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Congratulations on the book!

And I really agree about Elizabeth Strout. One thing that amazed me in the new book was her ability to render the strangeness of the early pandemic in a way that felt fresh, even though we'd all lived through it.

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Elizabeth Strout is the best. congratulations on your book deal, Sara! I can't wait to read it.

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