An ordinary life, if you don’t look closely

A coal merchant in 1985 Ireland discovers suffering concealed by the routines of his community. Keegan gives a brief encounter lasting weight as he considers the cost of acting on what he knows.

A First World War veteran spends a summer restoring a church mural in rural Yorkshire. His later recollections bring together the satisfaction of work, brief companionship, and an attachment to a place he cannot recover.

Olive, a retired schoolteacher, appears at the center and edges of stories about a Maine town. Strout sets her abrasive encounters beside other lives, allowing tenderness and loneliness to surface in unexpected places.

William Stoner leaves a Missouri farm for university and devotes his life to literature. Teaching, an unhappy marriage, and difficult loyalties give this measured novel its account of compromise and private disappointment.

Stevens, an English butler, recalls a life organized around service while taking a journey. His careful descriptions of work leave less room for feelings and choices that do not fit his idea of duty.

An aging Iowa minister writes to his young son about family, faith, and the life he will leave behind. His affectionate letter also holds doubts and an uneasy response to a younger man’s return.