'Anything Is Possible' Is Unafraid To Be Gentle

Elizabeth Strout's new novel-in-stories, Anything Is Possible, is welcome literary salve for these alarmingly acrimonious, anxiety-inducing times. These nine linked tales about people who overcome miserable childhoods, severe losses, disheartening marriages, and war trauma to experience moments of amazing grace offer comfort and reassurance. They remind us that a little kindness and compassion can open up surprising possibilities.

Readers who loved Strout's fictional memoir of her eponymous heroine's path from a grim, impoverished childhood inisa companion volume about the people Lucy came from, and their reactions to her latest successful publication, that memoir.