Book #3: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I loved this book. I truly, truly did. Initially, I worried that the linked stories were a cop-out...a way to get around writing a novel. But instead, this collection of stories about the characters living in Crosby, ME ultimately accomplished everything a novel could and more.

Olive Kitteridge, a quirky and bitter old lady, is at the heart of the collection, though often at the periphery of the stories. But the portrait that is painted of her is vivid and complete. I found myself in tears after the final story...and close to it in many of the others.

Strout writes without sentimentality about aging and marriage, love and disappointment. I will absolutely seek out her backlist.