OLIVE, AGAIN
By Elizabeth Strout
Oh, Olive, as unlovable as you appear to be, how I adore you! In this follow-up to Olive Kitteridge, we find in Olive, Again that grumpy, often rude, sometimes tender and increasingly introspective character of the book’s title. She has grown in life experiences and continues to grow older in this new volume of interwoven stories set in the tiny town of Crosby, Maine.
The book brings back some individuals from the first novel and introduces us to others whom, in small or large ways, have crossed paths with Olive, as folks from a small town tend to do with each other. We laugh at their eccentricities and mourn with them in their losses. We relate all too well to their issues with aging and how others perceive their sometimes secretive and growing list of quirks.
There were two noticeable parts of Olive, Again that I was taken with. The first is that, as Olive ages, she mostly stays set in her thinking, but carefully opens the door to understanding that her way hasn’t always been the nicest or the best. She tries poignantly to remedy her gruffness, and succeeds when she allows her heart to soften. Other times, she stays stuck in her usual amusing state of “Phooey!”
The second image that struck me may have also manifested in the first novel of Olive. I’m not sure if it was there and I missed it, or if it is just more obvious in this second book. It’s the mention of sunlight in almost, if not all, of the chapters. It’s a subtle mention, but always shone for me, and I can’t help but think that it’s a metaphor for Olive, or even the town of Crosby, Maine, where depression and darkness obscure so much, but gorgeous hints of sunlight slant across and brighten everyone and everything at certain moments. I certainly think it describes Olive and her penchant for gloominess and her outer lack of warmth, yet who is still someone who loves the light and occasionally allows it to brighten her life.
This is a lovely, although seldom pretty, novel of pain, heartache, death, love, hope and hindsight vision. It’s funny in some parts, but primarily it’s about life and how we all live and die, with all the bumps and bruises we encounter on our way. I would love more stories of Crosby, Maine from this exceptional writer, Elizabeth Strout.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. #NetGalley #OliveAgain
Reviewed August 2019
House of Black and Blue 