Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout: A review

I've sometimes thought that Maine would be a great place to live. Land of four seasons; summers that do not feature 100 degree days with 90% humidity and the threat of devastating hurricanes; autumns that feature brilliant colors; and winters with snow. Sounds ideal. 

But then I think about all those white people who live there. Not that I'm prejudiced against white people; after all, I'm one of them. But I do enjoy living in a place where, on any given day, one might encounter any color and any language available in the human condition. Diversity rules!

Still, Crosby, Maine sounds like an idyllic place and it does have its town character, Olive Kitteridge, to recommend it. Yes, I would love to live next door to Olive. She speaks her mind bluntly. She's irascible and does not suffer fools gladly. Or at all. In short, she is everything I aspire to be.

Olive loves her home town, but she recognizes its lack of color diversity and is delighted that a group of Somali refugees has settled in a neighboring town. One of the stories in the linked tales that feature Olive in Elizabeth Strout's latest book features one of these Somalis.

Strout once again uses the same method of storytelling that worked so well in Olive Kitteridge. She gives us what is essentially a series of short stories highlighting a large number of unrelated characters whose lives are touched in some way by Olive. Some of the early stories focus on Olive and her new husband, Jack Kennison, who those readers familiar with the first book will remember. But some stories only have Olive making a cameo appearance while in others she plays a more prominent role. Each of the stories in its own way reveals some aspect of Olive's life and personality. I personally think it is a brilliant way to write about such a formidable character.

Strout has said that she did not intend to write about Olive again, but the character kept nagging at her, and, in the end, she had to acknowledge that there might be more of the story to tell. 

In this book, we see Olive age and face many changes in her life, most of them unwelcome. She goes from around 70 at the beginning to well into her 80s and has health issues as well as relationship issues to deal with. She's not happy with the world she sees changing around her, and yet she retains her love of Nature and the changing seasons and her tough-love empathy for the people around her. She is a marvelous character and I am so glad that Elizabeth Strout decided to write about her once again.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars