In Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout returns with a similar format to her highly successful novel, Olive Kitteridge: a non-traditional narrative that reads like a series of interlinked short stories, rather than being plot-driven or linear in form. It is best read in conjunction with Strout's earlier novel, My Name is Lucy Barton.

Anything is Possible is filled with the stories of people from — or with connections to — Amgash, Illinois, the small Midwest town where Lucy Barton grew up. Amgash, like pretty much anywhere, is filled with people trying to live their lives as best they can.

Bed-and-breakfast owner Dottie, reflects that "people had to decide, really, how they were going to live," and in each of the nine chapters, Strout introduces a different character trying to do just that. There is Tommy Guptill helping his isolated neighbor; widowed Patty Nicely ...