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
Olive Kitteridge is an extraordinary book. I had to read the first story quite a few times to get into the characters and the get what Strout wanted to do here. The writing is gorgeous. It must have required considerable effort and discipline to compile the selection of related and yet unrelated stories - all of which involve either Olive Kitteridge or people in her community in a small town in Maine - and yet keep the tone of the stories so even, so understated.
There were two aspects of Olive Kitteridge that fascinated me most - and that are inevitably what makes or breaks this book for me:
For one, the book focuses on people in the later stages of life. Mostly. It was great to read about characters who were not going through any rites of passage or growth.
Hand in hand with this, however, came a sort of bleak realism that made it sometimes difficult to read the stories. It was the sort of realism that does not promise happy endings, and acts as a reminder that reality is often far removed from the hope and dignity which is lent to characters in stories.
I was not sure at first whether I liked or disliked this book, and to some extent I still am not sure about this, but I am glad I have read it.
