Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout

Random House, Apr 2008, $24.95

ISBN: 9781400062089

In the 'Pharmacy' in a small coastal Maine town, Olive and Henry Kitteridge are opposites. Whereas she is a reserved school teacher, he is an extroverted pharmacist; she is attracted to a younger man while he likes 'The Piano Player', but neither so far act on their feelings. Over time they raise a child, Christopher, who becomes a podiatrist, marries Suzanne, and moves to New York in "A Little Burst" of next generation. He does all this while his ethical mom watches the "Incoming Tide" chatting with her former student Kevin Coulson about is that all there is. Now a septuagenarian, Olive has financial "Security", but is lonely so she visits her son, her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren in New York, but is disappointed in the behavior of the children. After she dies, her family and townsfolk think of Olive as a 'River' flows.

Each new tale builds off the previous tale so that the audience obtains thirteen related short stories that enable fans to get deeply inside the soul of Olive. The tales have differing leads, as Olive is the prime player in most of the entries, but also plays a secondary role in a few or serves as a memory of another person like her son relating his fears of his mom. Well written, OLIVE KITTERIDGE is an enjoyable 'novel in stories' that provides a deep character study of the life of a woman told from a 360 degree feedback perspective.

Harriet Klausner