Ahh this was lovely. Like sinking into a warm, comfy bath. I loved Olive K when it first came out, so it was so nice to revisit her world. Strout is a fantastic writer. Her seemingly effortless prose and dialogue are light and easy - and then suddenly she hits you with a line so spot on and moving. I've enjoyed everything she's written.

Elizabeth Strout has done it again. In this sequel to the Pulitzer Prize winning Olive Kitteridge, her extraordinary powers of insight and empathy are once more on full display. Strout writes about the everyday concerns of ordinary people, and she does it better than any other author I've read.

Lots of folk in Crosby, Maine don't care much for Olive Kitteridge. To many, she was their grumpy, abrupt math teacher, and when they spot her in the supermarket, they duck behind a different aisle. However, there are a few souls that can look past that gruff exterior to see the kind heart underneath. These days, Olive is coming to terms with loss and old age. But there are reasons to be cheerful - her relationship with her son appears to be thawing, and she has found new love in an unexpected place. The world might irritate Olive more than most, but she's doing her best to become "oh, just a tiny—tiny—bit better as a person."

The stories in the book are linked, much like its predecessor. They are all wonderful vignettes in their own way but a few of them stood out in my mind. Friend tells of Olive adjusting to assisted living and making a new pal in the process. A woman from a troubled family finds a kind shoulder to cry on in Helped. And in Light, Olive bumps into a former student who is fighting cancer, and comforts her in her own unique way.

The characters tackle problems that all of us will have to handle some day - heartache, loneliness, ageing. For Olive, old age is not without its benefits - there is something liberating about it:
"...you go through life and you think you're something. Not in a good way, and not in a bad way. But you think you are something. And then you see"—and Olive shrugged in the direction of the girl who had served the coffee—"that you no longer are anything. To a waitress with a huge hind end, you've become invisible. And it's freeing."
Bob Burgess is sad because he doesn't see his brother Jim enough - his wife can't stand to spend time in Maine and there are times when he wonders why Jim married her at all. But then he has has a revelation that makes this easier to bear:
"It came to him then that it should never be taken lightly, the essential loneliness of people, that the choices they made to keep themselves from that gaping darkness were choices that required respect: This was true for Jim and Helen, and for Margaret and himself as well."
And Olive comes to terms with her mortality in a beautiful, wistful way:
"It was almost over after all, her life. It swelled behind her like a sardine fishing net, all sorts of useless seaweed and broken bits of shells and the tiny, shining fish—all those hundreds of students she had taught, the girls and boys in high school she had passed in the corridor when she was a high school girl herself (many—most—would be dead by now), the billion streaks of emotion she'd had as she looked at sunrises, sunsets, the different hands of waitresses who had place before her cups of coffee— All of it gone, or about to go."

I've said this before about Elizabeth Strout's writing and I'll say it again - there is something incredibly authentic and real about it. Her characters are so alive, their vulnerabilities and flaws render them so believable. It was an absolute pleasure to return to the town of Crosby and spend some more time in Olive's company. I was sad to say goodbye but I will treasure the experience.

This book is well-written, but I didn't enjoy the style of writing, and I couldn't warm to the characters. I think the book is just too American for me, but I can see that other people would love it.

I loved Olive Kitteridge and I was absolutely delighted to receive a review copy if this book. I wasn't disappointed. Olives unusual and magnetic view of the world has not left her and Ms Strout has brought Olive back at the most perfect time of her life. A joy from beginning to end. Thanks very much

Thanks Netgalley, Author and the Publisher. This was a truly powerful book to read. I really liked Olive and all her strange ways and agreed with her on so many, perhaps it means I am strange to!!!!!!!!!!

Live in Crosby, Maine, USA is certainly not boring....... especially if Olive has anything to do with it. The elderly are often forthright and sometimes abrasive and, in this, Olive does not disappoint! Her view of life, her past and her present, makes interesting reading.

I really enjoyed Olive Kitteridge and was very keen to read this book. Fortunately it didn't disappoint. Once again, Elizabeth writes so beautifully about an otherwise unsympathetic character. But through her words, she managed to make Olive so much more personable and sympathetic. I loved how all the stories linked together, plus it has really made me think about the affect of getting older and the prospect of the end of life. Fabulous and brilliant. I read the entire thing in one day.

Olive Kitteridge is one of my favourite books, ever. I really enjoyed meeting her again. The insight that Olive has into everyday life and everyday people is wonderful. I love the way her character Is emboldened to speak to people she doesn’t know and into situations of which she has no previous knowledge. This book is uplifting. I do feel that it is better if you have read Olive Kitteridge first. A truly wonderful character and wonderful book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it early.

Olive, Again picks up where Olive Kitteridge leaves off, but the sequel could be read as a standalone. The 13 linked stories featuring some of the townspeople of Crosby, Maine, are more narrative than plot. Some of the characters appeared in Olive Kitteridge and others are new. Like its predecessor the book is beautifully written.

Some people think Olive, a retired teacher, is a difficult character, lacking in warmth, uncomfortably blunt. She frequently calls people stupid and thinks nothing of contradicting near strangers as when she tells an academic, who should have known better, that people from Somalia are Somalis, not Somalians. I wouldn’t want to be a pupil in her maths class if I wasn’t a good student.

Perhaps my favourite is Motherless Child, a story about what happens when her son, his second wife and children come to visit. You just know it’s going to be a disaster and you cringe when Olive makes one mistake after another. She forgets to get in basic groceries (like milk!). She focuses her attention on her son’s two children and ignores the two who aren’t related to her and can’t understand why their mother is upset.

Although Olive knows everyone in town, she’s a solitary character, who’s aware she’s unpopular, even with her son. But while some people are dismayed by her behaviour, others find her refreshingly candid.

Some of the stories are comical. In The End of the Civil War Days, a father who takes part in (American) Civil War reenactments discovers his daughter is a dominatrix.

In The Poet, Olive encounters her former pupil, who’s now a famous poet, at the local café. They eat breakfast together and talk about serious matters. But little does Olive know that she’ll soon be the subject of a not-too-flattering poem.

There are way too few books about ageing and many of those are sentimental and patronising stories of cheerful grannies or old farts. But here we have Olive, Again to give us a realistic view of senior land where people become ill and are fearful of dying. Towards the end of the book, Olive is in her 80s and ensconced in an assisted living facility. She’s miserable until she befriends her next-door neighbour, who initially she’d dismissed as mousy; they form a pact. Eventually though Olive does not find peace she does come to terms with who she is.

I read Olive, Again in one sitting when I should have taken my time and savoured it like a fine wine.

Vignettes from small town America. A series of short stories moving forward in time about the inhabitants of a small coastal town in Maine. The eponymous Olive Kitteridge is the main character in some stories, but in others only has a walk on part. Olive is irascible and strangely likeable.

I enjoyed it.

Olive Kitteridge. Oh how I have lived with you, enjoyed you, been appalled by you but always interested in the way you approach things. Olive is the most wonderfully imperfectly perfect creation.

When I say that I must make it clear it is only the novels, not the TV series. So it is my unfiltered view of Olive I am seeing.

Elizabeth Strout and her ability to bring here, and the surrounding cast of characters to life in wonderful. Superb writing. That it is the minutiae of relationships and emotions that matter.

In this novel we come across Olive again and some of the characters we have met before, particularly her son Christopher.

There are thirteen linked stories all totally wonderful, some are unbearably sad and some so very comic. The dominatrix daughter springs to mind.

Hopefully, with Olive and her typewriter, this will not be her last outing.

I was so excited to hear that there was to be another book about Olive because she has stayed with me since reading Olive Kitteridge. This sequel (which stands alone too) is as good as the first, if not better. The writing and characters are absolutely first class. I didn’t want to finish the book too quickly, yet I had to keep reading. When I went shopping in my local town, I almost expected Olive to appear with a pithy comment as she’s so real! I loved the way she moves in and out of the book. The structure is wonderful and appears effortless, so skilled is the writing. There are plenty of sad situations but the novel is ultimately uplifting. It makes you reflect on your own life and what is important. More than anything, Olive is one of the most unforgettable characters in literature. She often gets things wrong but also gets things right. Through her, Elizabeth Strout writes with compassion and humour about the challenges of ageing. I didn’t want this book to end. Now I’m going to go back to her previous novels and start again as these are some of the best books I have ever read.

Beautifully written story of small town America, but Olive, her relatives and most of her friends are not easily liked. I always find it hard to care about abrasive, rude characters, and so never really became invested in the book
Undoubtedly clever, but not for me, I'm afraid.

Wow! Not an author i’d read before but she’s Pulitzer Prize winning and I can see why. This is such a beautifully written book. Olive Kitteridge is now in her 80s and feels that she’s getting old. She lives in Crosby, Maine, and this is the tale of the small town and it’s inhabitants as they come into and out of Olive’s life. Olive is an outspoken, plain speaking woman who is not quite sure how her life has turned out the way it has. She still mourns the death of her loving husband Henry, but hates being alone and is persuaded by a man she once knew and liked - Jack Kennison - to marry again. In a series of chapters that cover the next 6 or 7 years, we hear of the lives and losses of Olive, Jack, Olive’s son Christopher and his family, and an assortment of equally lovely and lonely people who populate Crosby. This book is magical. Both desperately sad, but also uplifting. Can’t wait to search out Strout’s back catalogue.

A beautifully written great read. The characters in this book and their lives are written about in a wonderful refreshing way. This is a gem of a book and a pleasure to read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I haven’t read ‘Olive Kitteridge’ but my enjoyment of Elizabeth Strout’s follow-up, ‘Olive, Again’ suffered not a jot because of this. The novel’s eponymous heroine is a truly memorable character. Opinionated, thoughtful, shrewd, overly-hasty, kind, acerbic, vulnerable and strong, she is a wonderfully convincing mix of what it is to be human and also uniquely individual. In a world where the old are often disregarded or marginalised, it is refreshing to have a ballsy octogenarian at the novel’s centre. The author is astute enough to veer away from clichés too. Retired teacher Olive is neither the embodiment of wisdom nor an innocent old lady and the characterisation is all the stronger for this. Strout’s dialogue is entirely believable; her characters’ voices rise up off the page. Her observations are equally memorable. The natural world is described in domestic terms that reflect Olive’s life: In Jack’s garden, ‘it snowed lightly one night, and in the morning the forsythia looked like scrambled eggs.’ And, similarly, in her old people’s independent living facility, Olive felt ‘that a screen had been lowered over her, the type of thing that went over a cake on a summer picnic table to keep the files out. In other words she was trapped…’. Wherever we are in the novel, a sense of Olive pervades.
However, even more enjoyable than being introduced to Olive (at this late stage!) is to appreciate the ingenious way in which the novel is structured. The reader is let into the lives of many different characters residing in Crosby, Maine and its surrounding area. Sometimes Olive appears briefly in their stories; sometimes she is only mentioned; sometimes not at all. And in arranging her novel in this way, Strout cleverly manages to create an authentic society in which people come across each other often, or occasionally, or never. Inevitably a tragedy may be lived out in the house next door and a neighbour may never know, or a missed opportunity for kindness is acknowledged years later, or a generous gesture or thoughtful word has a lasting effect.
Through Olive, Elizabeth Strout reminds us that we all have the capacity to make others happy, but not necessarily the wisdom to know when to act and what to do. This is a story of people living together, of community life. At its centre is the searingly honest Olive who conjures up no universal truths and sees that community is no more than a collection of individuals. But, still, better than living in lonely isolation.
My thanks to NetGalley and Viking, Penguin Books UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

A brilliant novel.
This book was powerful, emotional and unforgettable
This book is part of a series but could be a stand-alone.
One of the most emotional books about families that I have read

'Olive Kitteridge' is one of my favourite novels, so I was a little bit apprehensive about whether a sequel would bring anything new. However I loved it. The characters are so well-drawn and each chapter and story is compelling, engrossing and moving. Highly recommended.

"...You go through life and you think you’re something. Not in a good way, and not in a bad way. But you think you are something. And then you see—that you no longer are anything."

These stitched together stories, seemingly random or simplistic all feature our favourite crotchety heroine Olive, whose contrariness has certainly been racheted up for this outing. The vignettes give us glimpses into the lives of an entire town in rural Maine. They are moving, frustrating, touching and familiar little flashes, written in moments that echo our own perception of the passage of time. Snapshots to be remembered or forgotten, but every one a life lived.

Having just read 'Olive, Again' I feel I was at a distinct disadvantage having not read the previous Olive books. I had not had the opportunity to get to know her younger self. I didn't like Olive very much, and her son & grandchildren even less so. The book is written as a series of events rather than a story. I found this distracting. The book was recommended on the writers similar style to Anne Tyler, who I love. So I am going to seek out the books of younger Olive and get to know her better.