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  • Olive, Again (Oprah's Book Club)

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Elizabeth Strout
  • Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
  • Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (159 ratings)

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Olive, Again (Oprah's Book Club)

Written by: Elizabeth Strout
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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Publisher's Summary

New York Times Best Seller

Oprah’s Book Club Pick

Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions.

“Strout managed to make me love this strange woman I’d never met, who I knew nothing about. What a terrific writer she is.” (Zadie Smith, The Guardian)

“Just as wonderful as the original...Olive, Again poignantly reminds us that empathy, a requirement for love, helps make life ‘not unhappy.’” (NPR)

Named one of The Ten Best Books of the Year People and one of The Best Books of the Year by: TimeVogue The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune Vanity Fair • Entertainment Weekly BuzzFeed • Esquire Real Simple Good Housekeeping The New York Public LibraryThe Guardian Evening Standard Kirkus ReviewsPublishers WeeklyBookPage

Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San Francisco Chronicle). The New Yorker has said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force”, and she has never done so more clearly than in this book, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire us - in Strout’s words - “to bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can.”

Praise for Olive, Again:

“Olive is a brilliant creation not only because of her eternal cantankerousness but because she’s as brutally candid with herself about her shortcomings as she is with others. Her honesty makes people strangely willing to confide in her, and the 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.” (The Wall Street Journal)

©2019 Elizabeth Strout (P)2019 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"Kimberly Farr, who performed Elizabeth Strout's previous Olive Kitteridge novel to fine effect, does it again.... Farr has the plain accents and often abrupt speech down pat. She hints at personality without overplaying, and reads the stories with sympathy. They are full of tragedy and joy and life's flotsam and jetsam. Prepare to savor every word." (AudioFile Magazine)

“In the first chapter of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive, Again...the man who will become Olive’s second husband writes, ‘Dear Olive Kitteridge, I have missed you and if you would see fit to call me or email me or see me, I would like that very much.’ Jack Kennison might be speaking for fans of Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, which inspired an Emmy-winning HBO mini-series and now this sequel. However, like its iconic heroine, this book is capable of standing alone.... [Olive] is as indelible as the ink on Jack Kennison’s paper. If you know Olive, you know how she would respond to the hoopla: with an eye roll and an ‘Oh Godfrey.’ It’s good to have her back.” (Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times Book Review)

“Strout dwells with uncanny immediacy inside the minds and hearts of a dazzling range of ages: the young (with their confusion, wonder, awakening sexuality), the middle-aged (envy, striving, compromise), the old (failing bodies, societal shunning, late revelations).... 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.” (The Washington Post)

“In thirteen poignant interconnected stories, Strout follows the cantankerous, truth-telling Mainer as she ages, experiencing a joyful second marriage and the evolution of her difficult relationship with her son. In her blunt yet compassionate way, Olive grapples with loneliness, infidelity, mortality and the question of whether we can ever really know someone - ourselves included.” (People (Book of the Week))

What listeners say about Olive, Again (Oprah's Book Club)

Average Customer Ratings
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Olive Again truly touched my heart . A great read

I loved it. I was so sad to finish it! I loved this imperfect woman! We all have a little Olive in us.

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  • A&G
  • 2023-08-10

Wonderful

Wonderfully told stories all woven together beautifully. This was one of my favourites in a while.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not for me

I loved the narrator just not the story. I couldn’t stay connected. Perhaps if I start over however I can see how sone might enjoy.

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exceptional

I want to listen to it again immediately. So moving and so funny. Highly recommend.

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Didn’t expect to love this as much as I did

This book very succinctly and powerfully drops you into the shoes of a woman you’ve seen or known from afar. Her view out on the world is foreign yet achingly familiar and one gently understands the disassociation Olive Kittridge feels for herself as she is able to decouple from her own lived experience. It’s an uncomfortable yet deeply human story of what creates distance between us and the perspective shifts needed to bring us closer.

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Great read

I thoroughly enjoyed Olive Again. I felt drawn into her emotions and the lives of the people in the town. I empathized with Olive’s reflections on marriage, raising children and the realities of our mortality. It made me reflect upon my own life as I age. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

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Loved it!

As with the first book, I loved it! I think the author did an amazing job of creating the main character, Olive in all her perfect imperfectness. The book came alive to me through Olive and all the other characters throughout the book that made "regular" life so interesting. The Narrator was top notch and I laughed and grew close to tears on numerous occasions. What a treat!

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Loved it!

I read the book Olive Kitteridge then listened to Olive, Again. Enjoyed both- so much! Strout develops this characters so beautifully. The voices suit the characters and the storytelling perfectly. Enjoy!

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Olive Again Does It Again

Good read. I really appreciated reading about an older character and some of the family dynamics were written with exquisite honesty and realism. I enjoyed this book a lot, except for one chapter which went a bit over the top and I wondered why it was actually there, but overall, a good read.

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Absolutely wonderful

I don’t know where to begin. I’m just so glad I chose to listen to this book. It was narrated absolutely beautifully by Kimberly Farr, which I think gave the story just that much more beauty. A moving book that I will not forget. Elizabeth Strout truly knows how to take you into a world that you don’t want to leave and allow you to ponder the little things in life.

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