Olive Kitteridge: Summary and book reviews of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, plus links to an excerpt from Olive Kitteridge and a biography of Elizabeth Strout.

Pulitzer Prize for Letters, Drama and Music, 2009 At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse. As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life – sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.

Media Reviews

Entertainment Weekly Rarely does a story collection pack such a gutsy emotional punch.   The New Yorker Strout makes us experience not only the terrors of change but also the terrifying hope that change can bring: she plunges us into these churning waters and we come up gasping for air.   USA Today. Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her. . . . [Elizabeth Strout] constructs her stories with rich irony and moments of genuine surprise and intense emotion. . . . Glorious, powerful stuff.   Seattle Post-Intelligencer Olive Kitteridge still lingers in memory like a treasured photograph.   O: The Oprah Magazine Perceptive, deeply empathetic . . . Olive is the axis around which these thirteen complex, relentlessly human narratives spin themselves into Elizabeth Strout’s unforgettable novel in stories.   San Francisco Chronicle Funny, wicked and remorseful, Mrs. Kitteridge is a compelling life force, a red-blooded original. When she’s not onstage, we look forward to her return. The book is a page-turner because of her. Booklist Starred Review. Though loneliness and loss haunt these pages, Strout also supplies gentle humor and a nourishing dose of hope.   Library Journal Readers will have to decide for themselves whether it's worth the ride to the last few pages to witness Olive's slide into something resembling insight.   Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Like this story, the collection is easy to read and impossible to forget.   Kirkus Reviews A perfectly balanced portrait of the human condition, encompassing plenty of anger, cruelty and loss without ever losing sight of the equally powerful presences of tenderness, shared pursuits and lifelong loyalty.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Frank F.
Annoyance
I found the third-to-last and second-to-last stories to be an annoyance (the one about the two young sisters whose mother tried to shoot her daughter's boyfriend and the one about the disturbed young preacher's daughter). These were two very...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Dorothy T.
Pulitzer Prize worthy
(Really a four and a half) Olive is someone I didn't like, then I did, then I didn't, and at the end she was someone I was able to understand and accept for who she was. I am certain there is a lesson or two for each of us in this well paced and...   Read More

Rated of 5 by JaneN
Olive
Olive Kitteridge is strong, sassy, thoroughly opinionated and totally lovable. The stories that Elizabeth Strout uses to tell us about Olive are so well written and so detailed that you really get to know the character. Just When you think you...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Margaret McCrank
Top Recommendation!
Every year in June, our book club has a get-together to choose our books for the up-coming season. We live an hour's drive away from the closest book store, so all our books must be chosen- which we do by voting - before we all disperse to do our...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Duane
Olive Kitteridge
This book brings to light the plight of facing the results of life choices. Told through thirteen different character's stories, which in their own way speak of small town American. Each have their unique connection to Olive. As she struggles to...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Lynn
Wonderful stories
I always read the Pulitzer Prize winners, but rarely seem to enjoy them. This was an exception. I loved this collection of 11 short stories. Depending on the story, Olive Kitteridge was sometimes the main subject, sometimes she was only...   Read More

Readalikes

If you liked Olive Kitteridge, try these:

---

---

These are 2 of the 11 readalike suggestions for Olive Kitteridge. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.

Books with similar themes

• Short Stories & Essays
  
• USA 
  
• Mid-Atlantic 
  
• N.H. Vt. Maine 
  
• 20th Century (multiple decades) 
  
• Strong Female Leads