Olive Kitteridge

Why I picked it up? Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Olive Kitteridge in 2009.  I had spent some time in Maine by then, and I was captivated by the geography—the influence of the long coast and the northern remoteness of the state. Hearing about a story that went deep into the lives of people there felt serendipitous.

Olive is the anchor character that sets the time and place for the vignettes that make up the book. The deepest stories are the ones in which you get inside the still waters of Olive’s own mind and her perception of the world. She is a no-nonsense, gruff retired math teacher, who seemingly doesn't deserve her affable husband Henry.  He is easier to like--they are both easy to judge and pigeonhole.

Who would I pass it on to? I would recommend the book to my friend Ellen. I think Ellen leans toward non-fiction, but the spare prose and tightly drawn characters would appeal to her. She loves good writing and has an interesting library that I love to peruse. She also has a lot of good characters around her.

About the Author
Elizabeth Strout is a prize-winning author.  Her most recent novel, The Things We Never Say, will be published in May.  “Olive Kitteridge” is also an HBO as a series starring Francis McDormand as Olive.

Same Shelf
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ihiguro

A version of this review was published in 2013.