Book Rating (144)
Narrator Rating (32)

Olive, Again (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel

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Kimberly Farr

12 Hours 16 Minutes

Random House (Audio)

October 2019

Audio Book Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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.

“Strout managed to make me love this strange woman I’d never met, who I knew nothing about. What a terrific writer she is.”—Zadie Smith, The Guardian

“Just as wonderful as the original . . . Olive, Again poignantly reminds us that empathy, a requirement for love, helps make life ‘not unhappy.’”—NPR 

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PEOPLE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • Vogue • NPR • The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • Vanity Fair • Entertainment Weekly • BuzzFeed • Esquire • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • The New York Public Library • The Guardian • Evening Standard • Kirkus Reviews • Publishers Weekly • BookPage
 
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 us—in Strout’s words—“to bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can.”

Praise for Olive, Again

“Olive is a brilliant creation not only because of her eternal cantankerousness but because she’s as brutally candid with herself about her shortcomings as she is with others. Her honesty makes people strangely willing to confide in her, and the raw power of Ms. Strout’s writing comes from these unvarnished exchanges, in which characters reveal themselves in all of their sadness and badness and confusion. . . . The great, terrible mess of living is spilled out across the pages of this moving book. Ms. Strout may not have any answers for it, but she isn’t afraid of it either.”—The Wall Street Journal

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Reviews

  • Lauren W.

    It took me awhile to get used to the authors style in Olive 1, but then I loved it so starting Olive 2 was just like picking up where I left off! Olive just kept opening up as a character and person , her gruff loud personality with her vulnerable sometimes insecure moments in which I could relate to, those bits of her humanity and tenderness. Her impatience and shame over feeling diminished, but most importantly the insights she had about herself. I think the other stories let me see her from a distance in a way.. from another characters perspective , as she just “ shows up” in another story of the people living in her town, or frequently, she shows up years later through a former student. It’s like a tapestry of her life weaving in and out through these parallel stories. I loved the book- her humanity and the inner growth and insights she has. Her second husband and a second chance at love. Even a second chance with her son. She’s funny, loud, critical and inpatient, a little bit of a “ snob” as her second husband points out- but also at times so tender and emotional. She sees her flaws. She opens her heart better. She is all of us.

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  • Jill S.

    Very good wonderful characters love the stories

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  • Talita A.

    Bitter old people who cheat on their spouses, nothing interesting happens. And the many characters I could not find a connection between. I would not recommend it

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  • Rhonda W.

    I enjoyed much of this book, but it went off the rails when it became partisan political propaganda.

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  • Judy P.

    Hard start and at times I was confused on what was going on. I don’t know if it’s my age made me relate to Olive’s story but I would recommend reading.

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  • Lisa G.

    Confusing plot

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  • Molly B

    It was almost as if the writer had changed her style completely with this book. It was was a chore to finish and the thread that wove Olive through the original story so beautifully was alarmingly thin this time. The odd influx of gratuitous sex throughout was a turnoff. Bummer. Is the lesson here to never write a sequel? Maybe.

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  • Connie P.

    No plot and hard to make myself finish. Would not recommend.

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  • Paris A.

    This book was really hard to keep up with. I was not impressed with this selection.

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  • Krysta G.

    Great book- if you liked the first Olive this one is right up there with it! Loved it! Such a complicated character, flawed but human/ real.

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