Now THIS one I woulda paid for

Olive Kitteridge
Elizabeth Strout

This is another book that I received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program, and at first I was worried it would prove to be another Larryisms. This belief was aided by the cover, which just gave off a whiff of boring (I’m glad to see they changed the design for the final edition). But still poor Olive sat for weeks on end as I delayed and delayed reading it.

I finally picked it up and scanned the first few pages. I was hooked immediately. It’s rare when a book grips me from the opening pages; usually at least at least 20 pages are needed before I start to really care about what I’m reading. Olive was so good that I was able to read it in just a few hours; I simply could not put it down.

Olive Kitteridge is a novel told in stories; some center around Olive herself, while others only peripherally involve her. I enjoyed watching my own perception of Olive change during the course of my reading; the first story, “Pharmacy,” which concerns her husband Henry’s relationship with his co-worker, presents Olive as mean-spirited and shrewish. My opinion of Olive as a cold-hearted bitch who treats her poor husband like shit would change as Strout further develops the character. After a few more stories, Olive became a real person, and I was ultimately saddened to finish the book.

The stories are presented in chronological order, and we watch Olive progress from middle-aged wife to elderly widow. Subsequent stories involve her son’s marriage to a selfish you-know-what, the loss of a neighbor’s husband, her own husband’s stroke. Through it all, Olive maintains her uncompromising attitude, even as she is surprised by the turns life takes.

I only wish that they had changed the design of the cover a bit more: Strout's name is uncomfortably large, the title uncomfortably small. I kept getting the two confused, wondering who this Olive Kitteridge person was. It also smacks of pride to have the author's name so large, although this is probably less Strout's doing than the publisher's. Minor gripes aside, I'd love to read more of her. (Again, the cover was changed upon publication.)

In a nutshell: A wonderful surprise, these stories do not waste a single word. Would-be writers would do well to study Strout's prose.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars