Olive Kitteridge – the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
This beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, turned into an Emmy Award-winning HBO mini-series, is an extraordinary story about an ordinary woman’s life, and a vibrant exploration of all that connects us. The story of Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain, and shed a tear or two. 'As perfect a novel as you will ever read… So astonishingly good that I shall be reading it once a year for the foreseeable future and very probably for the rest of my life.'Evening Standard
Olive Kitteridge is a complex woman. Described by some as indomitable and by others as compassionate, she herself has always been certain that she is absolutely right about everything. A retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine, as she grows older she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life.
Through different narratives, telling the triumphs and tragedies of those around her, and spanning years, Olive’s story emerges. We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man pained by loss – whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels overwhelmed by her sensitivities.
Praise for Elizabeth Strout
‘Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force.’ The New Yorker
'A terrific writer.' Zadie Smith
'So good it gave me goosebumps.’Sunday Times
'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own.' Hilary Mantel
I loved this. Being from Maine, I felt like it was very authentically "Maine", from the speech patterns and atmosphere to phrases like "Jeezum Crow", which I haven’t heard myself in at least 13 years. Add to that Olive’s occasional resemblance to my great-grandmother, and in a lot of ways reading this book was like visiting home. It’s not a particularly happy book, though there is a little bit of light at the end. Sometimes Olive is the center of the story, sometimes she’s a bit player, and sometimes she’s just walking by, but she always makes a mark. Olive’s life is hard, and there’s so much you really don’t know about her, which you realize during her heart-wrenching visit to her son’s home in New York. I think the thing that sticks with me the most is the tangible love between Olive and Henry, which is most apparent when she calls to talk to him at the nursing home and maintains her one-sided conversation. Overall, it’s just a beautifully constructed collection of stories.
