Summary and Reviews of Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Media Reviews

Newsday After a No. 1 spot on the bestseller list, the Pulitzer Prize and a TV miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge is surely the most beloved unlikable character in recent literary history...This new collection of stories about Olive's friends and family hits it out of the park.

People Maybe you read the wonderful Olive Kitteridge—or saw the HBO series—and thought you'd had enough of Strout's dour, prickly heroine? Guess again: Her return is a stunner.

The New York Times Book Review [Olive] is as indelible as the ink on Jack Kennison’s paper. If you know Olive, you know how she would respond to the hoopla: with an eye roll and an ‘Oh Godfrey.’ It’s good to have her back.

The Washington Post I have long and deeply admired all of Strout’s work, but Olive, Again transcends and triumphs. The naked pain, dignity, wit and courage these stories consistently embody fill us with a steady, wrought comfort.

The Times (UK) [I] think we all have had an Olive in our lives whom we never got to know. Mine was a teacher named Gertrude. It is Strout’s genius to reveal them to us in all their idiosyncratic glory. Olive, again? Oh yes, I do think so.

Booklist (starred review) Love, loss, regret, the complexities of marriage, the passing of time, and the astonishing beauty of the natural world are abiding themes...Unmissable.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) There's no simple truth about human existence, Strout reminds us, only wonderful, painful complexity. 'Well, that's life,' Olive says. 'Nothing you can do about it.' Beautifully written and alive with compassion, at times almost unbearably poignant. A thrilling book in every way.

Library Journal (starred review) Strout, who won the Pulitzer for Olive Kitteridge (2008), wrote that Olive forced her way back into Strout's consciousness long after the author thought she was done with her. Olive demanded Strout write these new stories. Of course Olive did that. It's so…Olive. Thank goodness Olive prevailed. Exquisite.

Publishers Weekly (starred review) Strout's stories form a cohesive novel, both sequel and culmination, that captures, with humor, compassion, and embarrassing detail, aging, loss, loneliness, and love. Strout again demonstrates her gift for zeroing in on ordinary moments in the lives of ordinary people to highlight their extraordinary resilience.

Reader Reviews

Cloggie Downunder
Perceptive, funny and sad in equal measure.
Olive, Again is the second book in the Olive Kitteridge series by award-winning, best-selling American author, Elizabeth Strout and it follows on almost directly from the first book. Strout again takes us into the lives of the people of Crosby, Maine...   Read More Cathryn Conroy
What a Treasure! This Is a Book About Life and Death That Is Filled with Wisdom and Grace
This is a 10-star book in a five-star world. With an imaginative structure, a riveting storyline, and incredibly vivid characters, this book by author Elizabeth Strout is one to read slowly, fully savor, and treasure. This is the sequel to the ...   Read More Reid
A delightful curmudgeon
As with the first book, Olive Kitteridge, this is the story of a singular woman living her brief life on the coast of Maine, creating wreckage with her acerbic tongue and caustic judgments. She is deeply broken, our Olive, and not very likeable, and ...   Read More

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