There was once a Top Chef challenge where the chefs had to prepare one of the most simplest of dishes, scrambled eggs. It proved to be one of the most difficult things they'd done, because doing something simple with perfection is hard. There is no where to hide. Elizabeth Strout, with this book, cooked the perfect scrambled eggs. She told a very simple story so beautifully and perfectly I'm not sure anyone else could have done it. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies, My Dinner With Andre because I feel like I could read it again in two weeks have have a totally different reaction. And I am still analyzing tiny moments in my mind. You could roll each sentence around in your brain forever and ever. I concretely understood these characters. The book unfolded like a reality. There was no hiding. The writing was perfect and the story was perfect, too.