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A review by kellylizbeth
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
5.0
This novel-in-stories is one of those rare literary works that comfortably occupies the overlap in the Venn diagram of Pulitzer Prize winners and Oprah’s Book Club. It’s formatted like the movie Love Actually: multiple storylines and characters to follow, crossing paths enough to create a sense of continuity and flow but not enough to feel like a singular plot. I like this style of writing. You can pick it up and put it down (as do those of us who read on a commute) without losing track of the story, but it’s easy to distinguish the common threads – the most central of which is the title character, Olive – that weave it into a complete novel.
The opening story of Henry Kitteridge’s tender, protective feelings for the young girl working in his pharmacy (itself an artfully depicted Norman Rockwell painting of a setting) is one of my favorites. Strout narrates a growing bond between two earnestly good-hearted people that nearly crosses the line of infidelity, but at the same time is so sweet and sincere that you can hardly find fault in it. Each of the following vignettes explores the spectrum of hope and sorrow that characterizes everyday life and relationships. Most are quietly heartbreaking in one way or another: Olive’s new daughter-in-law makes hurtful remarks about her on her son’s wedding day, opening a rift between the women that never heals; a native son of Crosby, Maine haunted by his mother’s suicide returns intending to end his own life. But Strout’s stories conclude on a mix of high and low notes, which keeps the novel from striking an entirely depressing chord all the way through. Her depictions of human joy, desperation, and above all, love are finely drawn and beautifully personified by Olive Kitteridge and her fellow townspeople.
Read it: when you’re feeling pensive or disillusioned. This is a book that will remind you what matters.
The opening story of Henry Kitteridge’s tender, protective feelings for the young girl working in his pharmacy (itself an artfully depicted Norman Rockwell painting of a setting) is one of my favorites. Strout narrates a growing bond between two earnestly good-hearted people that nearly crosses the line of infidelity, but at the same time is so sweet and sincere that you can hardly find fault in it. Each of the following vignettes explores the spectrum of hope and sorrow that characterizes everyday life and relationships. Most are quietly heartbreaking in one way or another: Olive’s new daughter-in-law makes hurtful remarks about her on her son’s wedding day, opening a rift between the women that never heals; a native son of Crosby, Maine haunted by his mother’s suicide returns intending to end his own life. But Strout’s stories conclude on a mix of high and low notes, which keeps the novel from striking an entirely depressing chord all the way through. Her depictions of human joy, desperation, and above all, love are finely drawn and beautifully personified by Olive Kitteridge and her fellow townspeople.
Read it: when you’re feeling pensive or disillusioned. This is a book that will remind you what matters.