Olive Kitteridge

Fiction

By: Elizabeth Strout

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • The beloved first novel featuring Olive Kitteridge, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of My Name is Lucy Barton and the Oprah’s Book Club pick Olive, Again

“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her.”—USA Today

“Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force.”—The New Yorker

One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post Book World, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, People, Entertainment Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, The Plain Dealer, The Atlantic, Rocky Mountain News, Library Journal

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life—sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition—its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.

The inspiration for the Emmy Award–winning HBO miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, and Bill Murray

Critic reviews

“Perceptive, deeply empathetic . . . Olive is the axis around which these thirteen complex, relentlessly human narratives spin themselves into Elizabeth Strout’s unforgettable novel in stories.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her. . . . [Elizabeth Strout] constructs her stories with rich irony and moments of genuine surprise and intense emotion. . . . Glorious, powerful stuff.”—USA Today

“Funny, wicked and remorseful, Mrs. Kitteridge is a compelling life force, a red-blooded original. When she’s not onstage, we look forward to her return. The book is a page-turner because of her.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Olive Kitteridge still lingers in memory like a treasured photograph.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Rarely does a story collection pack such a gutsy emotional punch.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force. . . . [She] makes us experience not only the terrors of change but also the terrifying hope that change can bring: she plunges us into these churning waters and we come up gasping for air.”—The New Yorker

Olive is a complex soul

I often have difficulty with books that don’t have a clear, positive protagonist. Olive is painfully oblivious to her own cold rudeness but occasionally rises to great compassion. A frustrating gal to be our protagonist.
I recommend the book to those with patience for complex souls who are not always easy to be around.

Interesting, wistful book. Multiple short stories,

The book is interesting but also annoying at times. It is unclear when you start reading that it's multiple short stories. I found the ones where Olive is the main protagonist to be most interesting - the rest, not so much. The stories are mostly sad, brutal in their honesty. Olive is an imperfect, at times endearing, at times infuriating human being. I found it interesting to hear the perspectives on aging- this is something not talked about much at large. The descriptions are detailed and really beautiful at times and really tedious at times but the effect is to create a richly detailed world. Yes, the themes can be hard and depressing, but they are all things that are common to the human experience - complex parent/child relationships, marriage issues, infidelity, divorce, and loneliness.

Never came together

So many different story characters. With each chapter I felt as if I was starting a new book. I was shocked when the narrator said “ this concludes..”. I was like “what??” The book totally baffled me how it was written. I like a book with a plot that builds and everything is tied together at the end.

Wow.

Just wow. I just finished listening to this and I don’t know whether I should laugh, cry, jump for joy or be very mad that the book ended! It’s a very good thing there is already a follow up book to this! I can’t wait to start Olive, Again! This book is not a light, beach read type of book. It’s not super heavy and depressing either. It has a bit of everything in it - just like life. Heartbreak, joy, concern, angst, laughter and awe. Okay, I’m done. I have to hurry and start the next book.

Well written and good story just to melancholy for me.

Olive is a character. I enjoyed the book but it made me sad to listen to ‘life’ and the descriptions of relationships that just missed the mark and disappointed both sides.