Born: 1956, Portland, MaineLives: New York City and Brunswick, Maine
Elizabeth Strout was born in Portland, Maine, and raised in small towns in Maine and in Durham, New Hampshire; her father was a science professor and her mother an English professor. She studied at Bates College and took a law degree at Syracuse University in 1982.
She waitressed in New York, briefly worked as a legal-services advocate, and taught part time at Borough of Manhattan Community College while finishing her first novel, Amy and Isabelle (1998). She now divides her time between New York City and Brunswick, Maine.