Growing older
can be tough,
but growing
old is much
harderAnd none are more devastating than
the ones Olive reckons with herself.
Growing older can be tough, but
growing old is much harder. Aging and
the anxieties that surround it plague
Olive, who was widowed at the end
of the first novel, especially as she at-
tempts to reconnect with
her adult son Christopher.
Their interactions are
achingly rushed, empha-
sizing a sense that their
time together is limited.
Tension only rises when
Chris discovers that Olive
has found love again.
While Strout fills her protagonist’s
life with exchanges and interactions,
she underlines a poignant sense of dis-
appointment. As Olive is forced to re-
flect on the meaning of her life in old
age, she’s overwhelmed by a sense of
loneliness—a symptom of living that is
perhaps the most crushing of all. morE than 10 yEars havE passEd
since Elizabeth Strout introduced
the world to retired teacher Olive
Kitteridge, a character who is at once
frank, frightening and full of wisdom,
often in a single breath. Now, Strout
brings her beloved protagonist back
in Olive, Again, a follow-
up to her Pulitzer Prize–
winning 2008 novel-in-
stories. The new book
is a nostalgic return to
Crosby, Maine, where
Olive continues to poke
around in the lives of her
fellow townspeople.
The 13 interlinked stories in
Olive, Again embrace both new and
familiar characters navigating the
struggles that arise in everyday life.
Olive finagles her way into each
chapter with her distinct, outsize
presence— whether she’s a central
player in the action (as when
she unexpectedly delivers
a baby) or a scene- stealing
side character (grumpily
ordering doughnuts at the
local shop).
None of the scenarios
is particularly novel: a
mother facing a medical
crisis fears for her family’s
future. Adult brothers re-
alize the sacrifices they’ve
made in marrying very dif-
ferent women, who draw
them apart. An estranged
couple comes closer to-
gether after their daugh-
ter makes a surprising
announcement. But the
stories are rendered in
such delicate turns that
Strout is again able to
portray the subtle heart-
breaks that punctuate
the mundanities of life.
BOOKS
Aging with Olive
By Annabel Gutterman
Olive, Again is Strout’s
seventh novel