Saturday, 23 November 2024

Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge #1) by Elizabeth Strout

From Goodreads

Olive Kitteridge: indomitable, compassionate and often unpredictable. A retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine, as she grows older she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life. She is a woman who sees into the hearts of those around her, their triumphs and tragedies.

We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man who aches for the mother he lost - and whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels overwhelmed by her complex sensitivities.

A penetrating, vibrant exploration of the human soul, the story of Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain, and shed a tear or two.

My thoughts

This was a recent read for my local Library Reading group (well a September group read),I didn't get it finished in time, so I reserved a copy from the library so that I could finish it.  To be honest the group didn't really rate it, but I was quite enjoying it, prior to our meeting and me collecting the copy from the Library.

This tells the story of Olive Kitteridge a retired schoolteacher, who has her own opinion on things and isn't frightened of letting others know what she thought.  Olive lives with her husband and their marriage isn't the most stable of marriages, but they're still together despite all that they've been through.  

This book has many chapters and each chapter takes on the basis of a short story, with characters being interlinked among them. Whilst, the book is quite well written it just didn't engage with me as much as it did before I picked the copy back up from the Library.  I found it quite a chore at times picking it up, but I was determined to finish it.

There is a second book in this series by this Author called Olive, Again.  If you enjoy this one, then why not look out the second book.  Personally I won't be looking it out as this one took some reading and life can be short where reading is concerned.  There are far too many books out there that I have my eye on.

This was the first book  by this Author and I may pick a different one up if I come across one, to compare them.








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