If, like me, you loved Olive Kitteridge, you will not be disappointed in this sequel, Olive, Again. All the stars for this one! In this novel we meet an older aging Olive and an array of characters in Crosby, Maine. Characters from Strouts other novels also make an appearance. Extremely sad at times, the stories are enormously entertaining in a quiet, tender and emotional way. The writing is superb and Strout yet again does not waste a word. A truly skilful author and a perfect follow up to Olive Kitteridge. Loved it! Highly recommend.

My thanks to NetGalley & Penguing Books (UK)

How to describe this sequel to ‘Olive Kitteridge’? If you’ve read and loved the first book, you’ll love this one too. If you haven’t, this second book would stand alone but you’ll miss out on the pleasure of catching up with established characters - Elizabeth Strout gives a little of their back stories here (thankfully not overly much). It also features characters from her other novels - the Burgess boys, Amy and Isabelle - all considerably older now. I would say that the two Olive books are similar, certainly in structure - a series of short stories really, in some of which Olive is centre stage and in others she is a peripheral player, just as before.

The tone is darker, though. Olive is in her 70s now, friends and family are falling away, she is conscious of her own decline and she can’t help wondering what she has been doing with her life, regretting much but remaining hopeful of learning to do better, to understand herself and others better. She is hard on herself but in my opinion and to quote Jerry Skyler, ‘she’s doin’ excellent’. She is not as active as she once was, but that doesn’t prevent her having a profound effect on many of those around her, in her forthright, ‘Olive’ way. I found the stories poignant in all different ways - people facing challenges, struggling with poverty, abuse and, most of all, loneliness.

The writing is sublime, as ever. One passage that struck me particularly:

‘The truth is that Olive did not understand why age had brought with it a kind of hard-heartedness toward her husband. But it was something she had seemed unable to help, as though the stone wall that had rambled along between them during the course of their long marriage - a stone wall that separated them but also provided unexpected dips of moss-covered warm spots where sunshine would flicker between them in a sudden laugh of understanding - had become tall and unyielding, and not providing flowers in its crannies but some ice storm frozen along it instead. In other words, something had come between them that seemed insurmountable.’

Elizabeth Strout writes the most gorgeous, densely populated stories and can convey so much in often tiny gestures or brief exchanges. I became completely immersed in the little town of Crosby, Maine and its people. I could read any amount of them and still want more.

The long awaited follow up to Strout's bestselling Olive Kitteridge, Olive, Again chronicles another decade of Olive's life and those around her in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine, and it does not disappoint.

As one may expect given Olive's advancing age, Olive, Again sees our stubborn and headstrong protagonist confront the realities of ageing - partners and friends dying and the deterioration of one's health, along with the restriction of freedom and lifestyle change which comes with the latter of those. All of this is very well done and in no way saccharine (as these things often can be), but it's the nuanced observations of people and relationships that won me over in the end... not that I needed much winning over. I especially loved Olive's friendship with Isabelle who she meets in the assisted living facility and the tender moments that arose between them.