The Olives

Olive Kitteridge is a 2009 novel in linked short stories by Elizabeth Strout about a crotchety older woman named—well, Olive Kitteridge. A retired math teacher in Maine who interacts somewhat peevishly with her fellow humans. She is deeply flawed and deeply relatable. The love Strout has for her is evident and most of my favorite readers were likewise enthralled by the book. 

I’m a bit of an Olive Kitteridge evangelist. Over the years I’ve bought several second-hand copies to give away to the yet uninitiated. In fact, I probably still have an extra copy lying around. If you want it, let me know and I’ll ship it! (It is one of my true thrills in life to gift books to people who want them.) 

So why didn’t I rush out in 2019 to read Olive, Again when it dropped? Because despite my enthusiasm, I was afraid. I’ve been burned by too many lackluster sequels in my life (Land Before Time IV, anyone?) and I didn’t want to diminish my love for the original. So I waited. When the paperback came out in 2020, I asked for it for Christmas. But I didn’t dive in right away. Finally, last month, I cracked it open and was yanked inside like Bastian in The Neverending Story. (Not to be confused with Neverending Story II, which was an embarrassment.)

I’ll just say it: I think I like Olive, Again more than the original. And you can see how much I loved the original.  

Here Olive is older. Her husband is dead. And she’s a little more open to self-reflection as she deals with the difficulties of aging and living and human interacting.  

In an interview at the back of the book, Strout says that she has “always been interested in elderly people.”

Maybe this is why I love Olive so much. I grew up near a rest home and our church group always sent us to visit the residents there. Their bodies and their stories and their histories deeply fascinated me. I volunteered painting nails at a rest home in my 20s and during an early homeschool stint with my children, I dragged them along to the local retirement home to play dominoes. They did not share my enthusiasm for the environment. 

Even if you don’t have an affinity for old people, the compassion and hilarity and direct writing style in this book will probably win you over.  

Have you read any of the Olives? If so, let’s gush about them.

Cheers,
Lacy

P.S. I recently found a nonprofit called Social Call, which matches you to an elderly person in the U.S. to call once a week for 30 minutes. And honestly, if you’re into that kind of thing, it’s a sheer delight. 

P.P.S. The HBO adaptation of Olive part 1 is incredible.

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