By Elizabeth Strout. The novel explores themes of male loneliness, the difficulty of authentic communication, and the corrosive nature of secrets. Its epigraph, a quotation from Carl Jung - "Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible" - establishes the novel’s central concerns. It also engages with the 2024 US election, its aftermath, and related social issues. One of the saddest stories either of us have ever read.