Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout
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Reading Club Session: 27th Nov. 2019
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Olive Ketteridge is a collection of thirteen short stories that are all tied together by one character and one setting. The character, of course, is Olive. The setting is Maine. In fact, the main character has many roles throughout the book. In each chapter, Olive fulfills a different role (sometimes a fairly minor one) and, as a result, this "novel" can be considered truly "episodic."
Some of the interesting character traits that Olive Kitteridge has should strike the reader. Olive is not truly likeable, but she also isn't the enemy. She is clumsy and not very attractive. And yet, Stout won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction due to the very believable character of Olive. In fact, Elizabeth Stout has a varied background that allows her such intimate glimpses into real life.
She practiced law briefly, but found she did not enjoy it. In addition to the law, Strout has also worked cleaning houses, as a secretary, cocktail waitress, and artist's model. She has served as a project worker on elderly abuse, and worked for Legal Services in Syracuse, New York.
All of these experiences allowed Stout to portray the incredibly realistic character of Olive as she travels throughout her life all the way into the final years. This novel (as a collection) is literally the story of Olive's life: her journey. ​
Elizabeth Strout was born on Jan 6, 1956 in Portland, Maine and brought up in the small towns of Maine and New Hampshire. Born to parents who were both professors at the University, Elizabeth was naturally attracted to books from a very young age and she spent numerous hours in the local library. Elizabeth’s reading habit grew along with her.
As a child, Elizabeth loved poetry and read the biographies of writers and made her mind to become a writer one day. Elizabeth began to send stories to magazines at the age of sixteen. When she reached 26 years, her first story got published.
Although Elizabeth Strout was interested in writing, she did not compromise on her education. Elizabeth graduated in English in 1977 and after two years received a law degree along with a certification in Gerontology. The law degree fetched her job in Legal Services. After working for some period, Elizabeth moved to New York and joined in Borough of Manhattan Community College as an adjunct in the English department. She also taught Creative Writing at Colgate University and was also a faculty of the MFA Program at Queens University of Charlotte.
With so much happening in her life, Elizabeth continued sending more stories to magazines. Many of her novels including Amy and Isabelle, Abide with Me, Olive Kitteridge, The Burgess Boys and My Name is Lucy Barton has received many awards. In fact, ‘Amy and Isabelle’ was made a television movie and ‘Olive Kitteridge’ was adapted into an HBO miniseries that won six awards at the 2015 Primetime Emmy Awards. It also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Olive Kitteridge: HBO TV series
Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout: Reading yourself
Frances McDormand discusses Olive Kitteridge