LA Review of Books: Aging Gently, Messily: On Elizabeth Strout’s “Olive, Again”

“The sense of community that pervades Strout’s writing feels even more expansive when her novels converge, when the various Maines she has depicted with exquisite specificity turn out to be the same. It’s as if Strout is telling her readers that her mission in writing these books has been singular: to portray in luminous detail the messy, secretive, consequential lives of people in a small town.”

— Jonathan Vatner, Los Angeles Review of Books

Jonathan Vatner, “Aging Gently, Messily: On Elizabeth Strout’s ‘Olive, Again’,” Los Angeles Review of Books, October 16, 2019.

Boston Globe: A magnificent achievement

“It is precisely the complicated mixture of emotions she inspires that makes Olive such an endlessly fascinating and irresistibly endearing heroine. “Olive, Again” is bleaker, sadder, more achingly beautiful than its predecessor, and a magnificent achievement on its own terms.”

— Priscilla Gilman, Boston Globe

Priscilla Gilman, “In ‘Olive, Again,’ Elizabeth Strout’s beloved character gets better with age,” Boston Globe, October 10, 2019.

Wall Street Journal: Life Without Illusions in Crosby, Maine

“[T]he raw power of Ms. Strout’s writing comes from these unvarnished exchanges, in which characters reveal themselves in all of their sadness and badness and confusion.… The great, terrible mess of living is spilled out across the pages of this moving book. Ms. Strout may not have any answers for it, but she isn’t afraid of it either.”

— Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

Sam Sacks, “Fiction: Life Without Illusions in Crosby, Maine,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 11, 2019.

Washington Post: Olive Kitteridge is back — and better than ever

“Syllable for syllable, it’s stunning work — arguably better than the original.…

I have long and deeply admired all of Strout’s work, but Olive, Again transcends and triumphs. The naked pain, dignity, wit and courage these stories consistently embody fill us with a steady, wrought comfort.”

— Joan Frank, Washington Post

Joan Frank, “The cranky, bossy, sad, brave, beloved Olive Kitteridge is back in ‘Olive, Again’ — and better than ever,” Washington Post, October 8, 2019.

New Yorker Radio Hour: Elizabeth Strout’s View from the Top

A couple weeks ago, I climbed to the top of Mount David with the New Yorker Radio Hour, a place I visited almost every month when I was in school at Bates College.

It was like ancient history to be there and remember! I’d never talked about Mount David to anyone, but it was such an important part of who I became.

Kala Lea, "Elizabeth Strout’s View from the Top," The New Yorker Radio Hour, October 4, 2019.