Et cetera : What We’re Reading: Olive Kitteridge

Halfway through 'Olive Kitteridge', and I already feel like Elizabeth Strout has dethroned my last favorite novel (The Wedding People by Alison Espach). This book is a gem-thirteen interconnected stories revolving around the unforgettable Olive Kitteridge. Strout's writing style reminds me of Anne Tyler: she elevates the ordinary into something extraordinary, revealing how we're all subtly bound together, much like the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon."

Each joy, hurt, sadness, and fleeting moment feels tied to a larger communal story, one that we all help create-whether we mean to or not. I just adore Strout. She even weaves in one of my favorite poets, John Berryman, with the line: "I've made this awful pilgrimage...I've come back for more..." That one line encapsulates so much-the return to pain, the search for meaning, the sheer persistence of living.

Olive Kitteridge herself is a character built around this tough business of life. She's flawed, sharp, and often difficult-but deeply human. Strout doesn't shy away from showing her rough edges, and in doing so, she makes Olive unforgettable.

This is a book that quietly changes you. Happy reading, friends.

~Heather