Book Review: Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This series of short stories revolves around life in a small town. There is no single viewpoint (some stories are told from Olive Kitteridge's point of view, some told by other residents) ... there is no set time frame (some take place when Olive is an old woman, some while she is still teaching junior high) ... and there is no central action (each story stands on its own and tells a different tale). The only unifying thing is the setting (Crosby, Maine) and Olive Kitteridge, who makes an appearance (or at least gets a mention) in each story.

Despite all this, it works. I enjoyed the book and felt that author Strout had at times really captured the essence of everyday human life with all its struggles. Life is messy and confusing (even when it's going well), and she didn't shrink away from that. She just wrote about it simply and honestly.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 12/22/07) as part of its Early Reviewers program