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A review by katykelly
Olive by Emma Gannon
5.0
30-something womanhood represented and examined, hits a nerve.
At least, it hit a nerve with me. Though I'm a mum, Olive really did strike a chord. Olive herself - a successful career in the writing she loves, with lifelong close friends, the story picks up just after Olive's relationship of nine years breaks down - Jacob wants children, Olive has always been adamant that they are not for her.
Olive proceeds to examine her own motivations, history and reasons for this, all the while attempting to move on and keep her friendship going with the old schoolfriends navigating their own life changes and problems - pregnancies, motherhood, relationship worries.
It's all very convincingly portrayed - I don't personally have a close-knit circle of female friends that I turn to in times of need, but I recognised the 'sisterhood' and connection, as well as the obstacles and emotional traumas they each reveal to us. This shows the contemporary lives of women as what they really are: messy, complicated, a veneer of perfection smoothing over the undercurrent of strain, boredom and human frailty.
Olive is never less than empathetic, she isn't perfect herself, sometimes too self-centred, rude or liable to wallow in self-pity. So who doesn't find themselves in this role sometimes? The group of friends will contain someone that you find reminds you of of yourself and your own lives and issues.
I liked the snippets and reminders of Olive's younger self, as she and friends finish University, begin to explore the world of work, worry about pregnancy scares, and slowly start to show the signs of growing up and becoming the women we see in new roles a decade later.
Olive explores the issues of childfree living, both for herself but also for her readers (meaning us as well as those of her publication), in some both funny and quite affecting scenes - attitudes and characters will amuse, annoy, even outrage in their turn. Personally, it's an issue I was rather interested in, having children, seeing the decision from Olive's perspective reminded me very strongly of how different life was, and could be... and I very much liked how Gannon concluded with her protagonist at the close.
Perfect for audiobook, I'm really glad I listened to this, having Olive talking to me was a perfect choice for a story with a narrator sharing so much of her thought process with her readers. The narrator excelled at her voice as well, I slipped straight into her voice and it seamlessly swept from friend to friend.
I didn't expect this to hit home the way it did. And I might even go as far to say I'd read it again, which I don't say very often at all. Recommended, for those who would call Olive a contemporary especially, both for younger women looking ahead at choices they still have time to consider, and for older readers who might want to step inside the shoes still finding their path to contentment with life.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
At least, it hit a nerve with me. Though I'm a mum, Olive really did strike a chord. Olive herself - a successful career in the writing she loves, with lifelong close friends, the story picks up just after Olive's relationship of nine years breaks down - Jacob wants children, Olive has always been adamant that they are not for her.
Olive proceeds to examine her own motivations, history and reasons for this, all the while attempting to move on and keep her friendship going with the old schoolfriends navigating their own life changes and problems - pregnancies, motherhood, relationship worries.
It's all very convincingly portrayed - I don't personally have a close-knit circle of female friends that I turn to in times of need, but I recognised the 'sisterhood' and connection, as well as the obstacles and emotional traumas they each reveal to us. This shows the contemporary lives of women as what they really are: messy, complicated, a veneer of perfection smoothing over the undercurrent of strain, boredom and human frailty.
Olive is never less than empathetic, she isn't perfect herself, sometimes too self-centred, rude or liable to wallow in self-pity. So who doesn't find themselves in this role sometimes? The group of friends will contain someone that you find reminds you of of yourself and your own lives and issues.
I liked the snippets and reminders of Olive's younger self, as she and friends finish University, begin to explore the world of work, worry about pregnancy scares, and slowly start to show the signs of growing up and becoming the women we see in new roles a decade later.
Olive explores the issues of childfree living, both for herself but also for her readers (meaning us as well as those of her publication), in some both funny and quite affecting scenes - attitudes and characters will amuse, annoy, even outrage in their turn. Personally, it's an issue I was rather interested in, having children, seeing the decision from Olive's perspective reminded me very strongly of how different life was, and could be... and I very much liked how Gannon concluded with her protagonist at the close.
Perfect for audiobook, I'm really glad I listened to this, having Olive talking to me was a perfect choice for a story with a narrator sharing so much of her thought process with her readers. The narrator excelled at her voice as well, I slipped straight into her voice and it seamlessly swept from friend to friend.
I didn't expect this to hit home the way it did. And I might even go as far to say I'd read it again, which I don't say very often at all. Recommended, for those who would call Olive a contemporary especially, both for younger women looking ahead at choices they still have time to consider, and for older readers who might want to step inside the shoes still finding their path to contentment with life.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.