Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout

I selected this novel because one of the members of my Victorian Book club recommended it (we read Victorian novels). I really enjoyed it. It was like a series of short stories, but a few of the characters (like Olive) appeared in all of the stories. The novel had sad undertones and I don’t think I would have enjoyed it if I was in a dark patch in my life.

Olive Kitteridge: indomitable, compassionate and often unpredictable. A retired school teacher in a small coastal town in Maine, struggling to make sense of the changes in her life a’s she grows older. She is a woman who sees into the hearts of others, discerning their triumphs and tragedies.
We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man who acts for the mother he lost – and whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels tyrannized by her overbearing sensitivities.
A penetrating, vibrant exploration of the human soul in need, Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain and shed a tear or two.

The writing was excellent and the characters lived off the page. I will definitely be looking for other Strout novels.

Here is the review from the New York Times Olive Kitteridge