The Things We Never Say

Artie Dam 是一個擁抱著秘密的人。他的日常是在高中教授歷史，啟發年輕的心靈、糾正他們無心的殘酷，並對最需要的人給予溫暖的關懷。他會與結婚三十載的妻子一同參加節日派對，與鄰居閒話家常；週末時，則駕駛帆船出沒在美麗的馬薩諸塞灣。就外表而言，他活得踏實且充滿朝氣。

然而，Artie 的內心卻飽受疏離感的折磨。他看著這個瘋狂的世界——看著自己，也看著周遭的人——腦海中反覆盤旋著一個問題：為什麼我們對彼此的了解竟如此之少？甚至是對那些最親近的人？

直到有一天，Artie 發現生命也對他隱瞞了一個秘密，一個足以顛覆他整個世界的秘密。得知真相後，他被迫重新規劃人生航向，重新審視他最珍視的關係，並試著與生命核心中那些難解的謎團達成和解。

透過精緻的文筆與深刻的洞察，Elizabeth Strout 捕捉了悲傷如何在數十年間迴盪、深厚友誼帶來的慰藉，以及打破秘密枷鎖後獲得的自由。《The Things We Never Say》是這位當代最卓越的人心觀察家所創作的又一震撼新作。

Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbours, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: how is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us? And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence. With exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets. The Things We Never Say is a stunning new novel from one of our most acclaimed observers of the human heart.