I enjoyed these stories. Olive reminds me of Fredrick Backman's, Ove, character in many ways. The softening of Olive's personality was a very nice development and made me actually like her.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House and Elizabeth Strout for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Strout and Olive Kittredge. And Olive, Again is another outstanding outing by Strout. It’s a series of quiet stories loosely connected by Olive that creep up on the reader leave yout hungry for more. Set in Crosby, Maine Olive moves through the stories from meeting Jack her second husband; becoming a widow for the second time; to her old age, a heart attack which brings her back from death and life in assisted living. And through all the stories Olive shines as a character frustrating, perceptive and caring. And as Jack describes her, she was “so Olive”. And “so Olive” is just fine with this reader.
While we see drugs, loneliness, infidelity, homophobia, dysfunctional families and death in the stories these are offset by beautiful moments of genuine love, caring and compassion. Much like this beautifully written passage.
“There was a kind of horrifying beauty to the world: The oak trees held their leaves, golden and shriveled, and the evergreens stood at attention as though cold, but the other trees were bare and dark-limbed, stretching into the sky with dwindling spikiness, and the roads were bare, and the fields were swept clean-looking, everything sort of ghastly and absolutely gorgeous with the sunlight that fell at an angle, never reaching the top of the sky.” Everything about this book is beautifully written with believable characters. Loved every moment and so sad to say goodby.

This is the long awaited sequel to the Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Olive Kitteridge." It continues with the stories touched on in her other books including the cleverly written "Burgess Boys." The story takes place in Crosby, Maine and gives the reader a comical yet realistic view of small town America. A must read for fans of Elizbeth Strout.

I loved it! I read and loved a few books from Elizabeth Strout and Olive Again was not a disappointment too.
I was not a big fan of short stories, but I started loving them with authors like Elizabeth Strout. My dislike for short stories was because I felt often that short stories were missing something like a good description of characters or a good plot, or something amiss in the story.
This is not the case with Elizabeth Strout novels, and I must say the books I loved the most are this one and Anything is possible. She successfully describes the characters and they are so human! They are often not very lovable, but this make them real not just a character in a book.
In this book you will find again Olive, but also other personages of previous Elizabeth Strout novels, it may be good reading her previous novel I think but it is not necessary!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Elizabeth Strout does it again with amazing prose and amazing characters. In this book we revisit Olive in her old age. I will not give any spoilers regarding what she's up to, but suffice to say in this installment she is more pensive and self-aware as she reflects on her life and relationships. The book is told in a series of vignettes that focus sometimes on Olive and sometimes on others in Crosby and Shirley Falls, Maine. If you are an avid Elizabeth Strout fan, you will also recognize some old friends among the characters, and I enjoyed seeing what they've gotten up to since their books (and also have a yen to go back and reread a few old favorites!). The book ends bittersweet and a little melancholy. Olive Kitteridge is always a rewarding character, and I further enjoyed having Frances McDormand's portrayal in my mind as I read. Unlike some other film recreations, I think she did Olive justice and her portrayal adds to the reading experience. Enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I haven't read the first book in this series, but that being said, Elizabeth Strout is such a wonderful story teller that I wasn't lost at all in this book.

I have to read the first one, only because of the fact of how much I loved Olive. She vaguely reminded me of Ove from A Man Called Ove. She seems to say things as it is and its a bit much for some people in her life (I believe she is even referred to as a old bag at one point).

This was a great book of just story telling and telling stories of people. Very refreshing!

Skillful character development shows keen insight into human nature. Strout illustrates how we all influence others’ lives, even if only in small ways..

Written and presented as a collection of short stories and snapshots starring Olive and others in her life and family. My rating should not be read as reflecting poorly on the writing, stories or characters (all of which are good)...but solely on my personal dislike for this type of anthology.

When “Olive Kitteridge” first came out, I wasn’t the first to read it. When I did, it took me a bit to really warm up to it—which I did, eventually—and then even longer to realize what all the fuss was about. It was a collection of simple-seeming stories about what seemed to be real people, thinking and behaving in the ways that all of us do, sometimes, but we mostly hope that no one else knows. So I—like, probably, many readers—more than once had the feeling that someone had been looking over my shoulder: that someone had seen, or found about, something I’d thought of doing, or maybe even done, in private. Disconcerting. Revealing. And so well, so mostly seamlessly, written, that the revelation sneaks up on you, unsuspected. And then remains, resonating, for a long time, after.

“Olive, Again” continues the tradition. There are some old and some new characters. It’d be nice to remember the ones previously introduced, but isn’t necessary—I didn’t always. The stories follow Olive and her neighbors as they continue through time, living their lives, making mistakes, living or outliving regrets. There are episodes that make your heart ache, sometimes in pain, and sometimes in recognition: small glimpses of grace, or mercy.

A fine collection by a very fine writer, snapshots of life in all its common, complex, confusing conditions. We are all doing the best we can. This author’s best is very good, indeed.

I definitely enjoyed this novel. I didn't read the book before as I didn't know it was a sequel. However, I was still able to enjoy the characters and the story. Now, I want to go buy part 1!

Thank you for the eARC of this sequel of Olive Kitteridge, with this ongoing view into the lives of Olive and company. This was like revisiting old friends, even when that brings challenges anew. I love this sequel and Strout is as wonderful a writer as ever. This makes me want to reread the original.
Highly recommend!

#OliveAgain #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishingGroupPandomHouse #RandomHouse

Just a magnificent book. Olive got older in exactly the way we all would expect her too. Cantankerous yet wonderful. And Strout's writing is just beautiful. All of the secondary characters are fleshed out magnificently. Perhaps another Pulitzer here?

What a wonderful book. I'm surprised to find out the title of Olive, Again is due to an earlier book by Ms Strout called Olive Kitteridge. Now, I want to read her first book. The characters are well developed and interesting. The story development is unique and once I was two chapters in I wanted to keep reading. I recommend this book to anyone who likes good writing. It was a pleasure to read.

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Elizabeth Strout and Random House through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own.
#Olive,Again #NetGalley

Olive has not changed much since I last spent time in her company, she is still the same opinionated, domineering, judgmental, interfering and needy woman, but time has passed. Time without her husband, Henry, whose quiet, gentle ways and willingness to see the good in people no longer softened the bitterness in their home since his passing, but it is also only in his death that she seems to begin to recognize the value of his ways in her life.

As in Olive Kitteridge, the characters that populate these intermingled stories don’t lead exciting lives; there isn’t much in Crosby, Maine that has changed. There are few opportunities for significant change, since the town seems to hang onto the ways of doing things the way they’ve always been done, while at the same time growing somewhat in social awareness.

Olive is, of course, still viewed by the town as the disagreeably irritable woman that has been crabby so long that she is referred to by such descriptions as “That pickle person. You know ---- what’s like a pickle?” followed by another saying ”That’s just who she is.”

These stories, which are all linked to Olive in one way or another, through past association as students or teachers she worked with before her retirement, longtime neighbors, they share these inner thoughts of Olive, and sometimes with Olive about life in Crosby, and their life struggles, and their lives since leaving Crosby. Still, this is Olive’s story.

With the passage of more years behind than before her, looking back on her life over the years, I loved the subtle growth in Olive, how she begins to see her failures as well as her growth, declaring herself perhaps “oh, just a tiny – tiny – bit better as a person” and finds herself wishing that Henry was around to see her light shine through.



Pub Date: 15 Oct 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Why do I care about Olive Kitteridge? I don't know. But I do. I like her, I'm annoyed by her, I want her to let herself be happy, I want her to get out of her own way, and I want other people to hear her good advice and follow it! I'm pretty sure if she were my neighbor, I would both avoid her and go out of my way to say hi depending upon the day.

Elizabeth Strout has a genius way of writing about everyday life in a way that makes me CARE and want to keep reading about it. She's like Anne Tyler that way.

4.75. I have always loved Elizabeth Strout’s novels, from Olive Kittredge, and others including her most recent, My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible. I was thrilled when I saw that she has written a new novel, Olive Again. This new novel does not disappoint at all. Its a winner! I laughed and cried. It’s a continuation of that whimsical, brusque, judgmental, brutally honest, yet lovable character, Olive Kittredge. As in Strout’s other novels, we see Olive’s interactions through vignettes with other Maine residents throughout the novel.

We meet Olive in her senior years, retired from teaching and after the death of her husband Henry, still living in Crosby, Maine. Between reminiscing on her life, including her marriages (yes, Olive marries again in this novel), and as a mother, and her various interactions with people in the community we see an imperfect person who is really trying to come to grips with her shortcomings. Yet we also see a compassionate Olive, in her “Olive” way, for example, in helping a pregnant woman ready to give birth unexpectedly at a baby shower for someone else, empathetic to a cancer patient/former student and her home health nurses, and to a young lawyer coming to grips with her own family history. Ms Strout’s writing is breathtakingly beautiful and concise, all characters well developed. I can’t wait for the movie and hope that Frances McDormand once again plays Olive as that is who I saw throughout the novel. This is a novel of loneliness, the complexities of marriage, motherhood, addiction and alcoholism, love, forgiveness, redemption, aging, and just a realistic picture of ordinary people. A beautiful rendering of the human spirit in all of its perspectives. Thank you Ms. Strout. Keep on writing these winners!

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I was thrilled to have the chance to revisit Olive Kitteridge and the people of Crosby, Maine. I don't want to give anything away, but if you loved Olive Kitteridge you will enjoy this book!

I did not read Olive Kitteridge, but I assume that "Olive, Again" takes up from where the last book stopped. Olive does not dominate the pages of this new book. Her story from re-marriage to living in a retirement community at the age 0f 86 is a part of the book, but just as much, this book is about the lives of many different people and families from Crosby, Maine. The characters and the details are too many for me to do justice to the story; I'll leave that to others.

This is a wonderful book, well-written and well-told. The book comes up to the current political moment with a mention of the orange-haired guy that Olive didn't care for and her befriending a Somali immigrant (or daughter of an immigrant). In certain respects the lack of the current political moment makes this book somewhat a fairy tale. It simply ignores the racial animus governing a lot, but not all, of the people in Maine and the rest of the United States.

This is still a great book, to be read and enjoyed by all.

Oh Olive! The fact that this sourpuss of a character grew on me is a testament to Ms. Strout's writing ability. However, I must admit that this was a more enjoyable read for me than the first installment of <i>Olive Kitteredge</i>. Olive softened in her old age, and became a joy to get to know. Elizabeth Strout made me laugh, made me cry, and made me truly ponder how I treat my children, my husband, and the rest of my family and friends.

Olive Kitteridge lived her life never holding back judgment and was unapologetically blunt. Her ability to judge social cues was absolutely lacking. By the same token, she was incredibly astute and amusingly witty. While Strout provided her readers with an abundance of cringeworthy moments, these were softened by tender instances of realization, and were what ultimately endeared me to dear old Olive.

Once again, we are presented with a melange of stories written about a myriad of characters, some familiar and some newly introduced. At first glance the stories seem so random, until one realizes a theme of loss and loneliness, and their connection back to Olive.

Strout does a good job of continuing Olive's story with enough of a subdued summary that even readers who didn't read the first novel can enjoy it.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for gifting me with the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Look for this great read to hit bookshelves on October 15, 2019.

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*** as an addendum, I should have pointed out that there are some highly sensitive topics that made me uncomfortable at times. One such story dealt with a young girl who cleaned the house of an older couple, and exhibited some very disturbing behavior in front of the husband. So although the novel really was an excellent read, I thought this is something I should mention.

I really wanted to love being with Olive, Again, but it wasn’t the greatest journey.

Olive, in the second of the Olive Kitteridge series, covers her senior years as she maneuvers life in her own socially-awkward, quirky way. Complete with the overdone “Ay-yuh’s”, she persists as an endearing character. In telling Olive’s story, Elizabeth Strout touches on loneliness, companionship, aging, and death, that is accompanied with its regrets as her life is recalled. There are some touching scenes, but they erode into cynicism which is actually not too far off from reality as the true Mainer Olive is.

Olive goes places in this book that will have you wishing to un-remember reading - sort of like wanting to un-see that picture of Bill Clinton in the blue dress. You’ll know what I mean when you read them.

Elizabeth Strout has taken a risk with Olive, Again when she dives head first into revealing a political leaning. Reviews will determine whether that risk was worth taking. Frankly, I wish she hadn’t gone there as delving into that realm distracts from her work rather than enhancing it. Politics is such a pivotal touchstone these days that it may end up costing more than it was worth. I love the originality of the characters in Olive, Again, but not the stereotype box some of them were painted into.

Thank you NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group for access to Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout for this freely given review with opinions that are entirely my own.