Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, 286 pages, short stories.
One of the central themes of this book seems to be that you are going to die. Don't be surprised, you should have seen it coming. Just hope that it is quick and relatively painless. Also, hope that it happens before you find out that one more thing about your child or your spouse or about your best friend; that secret, or betrayal that is going to tear you up and almost destroy you.
Olive knows all this. She doesn't quite understand why everyone else has to keep pretending they don't know this. But they do.
Olive and these stories, sometimes centering on her, sometimes giving her the briefest of cameos, are sweet, and tender, and full of empathy, all the while being sad and true and almost brutal.
The coastal town of Crosby, Maine, with its denizens and their petty grievances, their loves and their shared almost-fear of Olive does come beautifully to life in this fine collection of stories.
I loved the part when she decides to mess with her new daughter-in-law. Actually, I loved most of these stories. Did the book group approve?
ReplyDelete