Olive, Again
An Oprah’s Book Club Pick
Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions of readers.
Chapter 1
Arrested
In the early afternoon on a Saturday in June, Jack Kennison put his sunglasses on, got into his sports car with the top down, strapped the seatbelt over his shoulder and across his large stomach and drove to Portland – almost an hour away – to buy a gallon of whiskey, rather than bump into Olive Kitteridge at the grocery store here in Crosby, Maine. Or even that other woman who he had seen twice in the store, as he stood holding his whiskey, while she talked about the weather. The weather. That woman – he could not remember her name – was a widow as well.
NAMED ONE OF FALL’S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS BY People • Time • Entertainment Weekly • Vanity Fair • BuzzFeed • Vogue • USA Today • The Seattle Times • HuffPost • Newsday • Vulture • Bustle • Vox • PopSugar • Good Housekeeping • LitHub • Book Riot
Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San Francisco Chronicle).
The New Yorker has said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” and she has never done so more clearly than in these pages, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine.
Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire moments of transcendent grace.
Order Olive, Again
now Available in paperback
and in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
Starred Reviews from Kirkus & Publisher’s Weekly
“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.”
“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.”
“Olive, Again returns to Olive and the town of Crosby to do what Strout does best: find meaning in the tiniest and most mundane details of everyday life.”
“Return to the wonderful world of Strout’s unforgettable Pulizer Prize winning novel, Olive Kitteridge, with Olive, Again. Strout weaves together the stories of the different characters populating Crosby, Maine in her inimitable voice, all tied together by Olive. Olive may be older, but she’s still working to understand herself and the others whose lives touch her own. Lose yourself in the world of Olive, Again. You’ll be so glad you did.”
“Strout aims the spotlight on her wry heroine and the characters of Crosby, Maine, in another book that’s sure to have you flipping pages long into the night.”
“Caught up in scenes of great hilarity . . . and bewildering grief, Olive may offer blunt honesty that defies societal norms, but her clarity is refreshing and never cruel. . . . Strout, who won the Pulitzer for Olive Kitteridge, 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.
”
Audiobook
available Now
▫︎ Order ▫︎
“Olive Kitteridge continues to enrage me, continues to astonish me with her complexities — and she continues to make me love her. I hope the reader does as well.”