Monday, October 21, 2019

Olive, Again


Bellyacher, crab, crank, sourpuss. Yup, Olive Kitteridge is back. Henry has passed away and Olive continues on in her small, quiet town of Crosby, Maine. A little older, wiser and still muttering about with her “Yuh’s”, “Hells Bells” and all the funny Oliveisms that made us love her the first time around. This novel feels like a loosely connected group of short stories (structured similarly to Anything Is Possible - the sequel to Lucy Barton.) Each scenario is beautifully written and touches Olive’s life in some way but doesn’t necessarily focus on her as the main character. She stumbles upon many former students, old neighbors, still shaky ties with her son Christopher who is experiencing his second difficult marriage and Olive’s own surprising relationship with Jack, the Harvard snob. If you watched the HBO series, actress Frances McDormand is firmly ensconced as Olive and Elizabeth Strout’s words are poetic. But, it is also very sad. An almost too honest insight into the worst case scenarios of old age and the relationships, both good and bad, that we endure throughout our lives. A fairly quick read, I recommend Olive, Again if you liked the first book - but you definitely have to be in the mood.

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