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jr3083
Dec 15, 2019jr3083 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Like the original Olive Kitteridge book, Olive, again is a series of linked short stories where Olive Kitteridge appears at some stage- a bit like Alfred Hitchcock in his movies. The stories are all set in Crosby, Maine which appears to an Australian reader as the quintessential East Coast American town. Sometimes the chapter is about Olive’s life, at other times she just has a walk-on part with the focus on someone linked to her. What is common to all chapters is a clear-sighted wisdom about human limitations and frailties.... I absolutely loved these stories, and found myself rationing them out to just one chapter a day to make it last longer. Frances McDormand, who starred in the HBO television series now completely inhabits the Olive Kitteridge in my mind as the large, ungainly, abrupt and socially awkward woman who is almost oblivious to her (often negative) effect on other people. But this is an older Olive, who remarries after her first husband dies, and now needs to negotiate her estranged son and his new second-marriage family, with all the nuances of step-vs-natural children. Her health is failing; people are dying; she moves into aged care. Finally, after all these changes, she mellows somewhat. For my complete review, please visit: https://residentjudge.com/2019/12/15/olive-again-by-elizabeth-strout/