Standalone experience
Ridhima explains that readers do not need to have read the first book to enjoy or appreciate this installment, as both novels stand well on their own.
Reviewed
Updated
Read Time
7 min read
Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
4.4 · 28,825 Amazon ratings, as of Nov 2026
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks scoreShare This Review
Our review
Olive, Again
Olive, Again Review: Strout's Prickly Heroine Returns, Praised but Uneven (Elizabeth Strout)
Olive, Again is Elizabeth Strout's sequel to Olive Kitteridge, 13 linked stories following the prickly Mainer into her eighties. Reviewers praise its clean prose and unsoftened heroine, while some find it more uneven when attention leaves Olive.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers who want quiet, character-driven literary fiction about ageing, grief and family regret, read at an unhurried pace, and who are ideally coming to Olive after the first book.
Worth it if
Worth reading if you want a portrait of a difficult older woman who grows more compassionate without being softened, told in spare, clear prose across linked Maine stories.
Skip if
Skip it if you want plot momentum or a clean standalone, or if the linked-story format wears on you when the focus leaves Olive, since Bookmarks Reviews' roundup found it more uneven than the original and The London Magazine found one story ('Heart') tailing off into a clunky plea for compassion.
Where reviewers agree and split
Readers rate it 4.4 on Amazon. The reviews we read that discuss it in depth agree:
Only The London Magazine and Kirkus Reviews discuss its prose: both praise the clear, spare prose.
Who says what
Prose
Praise
“The writing in Olive, Again is never less than beautifully clear.”
— The London Magazine · Book blogPraise
“Beautifully written and alive with compassion, at times almost unbearably poignant.”
— Kirkus Reviews · Trade reviewWhat readers & critics say
Reviewers lean strongly positive: The Guardian called it a deeply affecting book, Kirkus Reviews found it beautifully written and alive with compassion, and Fiction Writers Review praised its guileless, spare prose. Reservations are narrower: Fiction Writers Review noted the tidy resolutions risk papering over dark family history, and The London Magazine judged one story a failure.
“a deeply affecting book that cements Strout’s reputation as one of the best writers of her generation”
— The Guardian“Beautifully written and alive with compassion, at times almost unbearably poignant.”
— Kirkus Reviews4.4from 28,825 Amazon ratings, as of Nov 2026— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
Ridhima from The Old Trunk reviews Olive, Again
Ridhima shares a detailed, spoiler-free review and thematic analysis of Elizabeth Strout's 'Olive, Again'.
A BookTube review by The Old Trunk, 2025 · 167 views · 2.9K subscribers · Watch on YouTube ·
Their views, not ours. The points are our AI summary of what they say, each playing from where they say it.
Sharp and evocative prose
Ridhima highlights Strout's writing technique, which combines punchy sentences with patient pacing to deliver unvarnished truths about life.
Themes of aging and loneliness
Ridhima discusses how the novel tackles the physical decline of growing older alongside the universal craving for companionship despite interpersonal friction.
Interconnected narrative structure
Ridhima details how the thirteen distinct stories weave around other townspeople to create a broader tapestry that enriches Olive's personal journey.
Ask LuvemBooks
Was this helpful?
Olive, Again follows the prickly Mainer of Olive Kitteridge through 13 linked stories in her seventies and eighties. It is quiet, spare and unsoftened, best for readers who want a late-life character portrait rather than plot; the main caveat is that some reviewers find it more uneven when attention leaves Olive.
- Is it worth reading?
- Reviewers largely say yes. The Guardian found it affecting, and one reviewer gave it five stars as an essential partner to the first book. The dissent is about unevenness and sentiment. Worth reading if you want a difficult older woman who becomes more compassionate without being softened.
- Similar books
- The natural companion is Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer-winning first book that this one continues. Strout's Tell Me Everything is another of her Maine-set books worth reading alongside. Beyond Strout, The Remains of the Day offers a similarly restrained portrait of a character confronting regret, and Unaccustomed Earth offers quietly observed family stories. The Burgess Boys is worth knowing too, since the Burgess siblings reappear in a chapter called 'Exiles'.
- Who should read this?
- It suits readers who will read reflectively. It points away from readers who want fast-paced narrative or a self-contained story: The Bibliofile blogger admitted it isn't a page-turner.
- What age is it for?
- It is written for adults, and no source we found gives a specific age. The reviewers' notes point to dark subject matter around loneliness, sickness and death, handled in a quiet, interior register rather than a plot-driven one.
- About Elizabeth Strout
- Elizabeth Strout is an American novelist and author. This book is her sequel to Olive Kitteridge, and NPR called her a master of the story cycle form.
- What are the main themes?
- Reviewers point to loneliness, with the tension they keep circling being comfort against bleakness. Strout's admirers call it consoling, while John Phipps judged her vision of life 'not a cheerful one'. Fiction Writers Review noted that the sequel format's tentative resolutions offer insufficient reckoning with family dysfunction.
- How does the prose read?
- Prose is the most consistent point of praise. The London Magazine wrote that the writing is 'never less than beautifully clear', and Fiction Writers Review praised prose that is 'and truth-telling'. Kirkus Reviews called it 'alive with compassion'. One reviewer warned that the unsettling quality of her prose won't be for everyone.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
What age is it for?
About Elizabeth Strout
What are the main themes?
How does the prose read?
Summarize this book
The book gathers 13 interconnected stories set in Crosby, Maine, tracking Olive Kitteridge in the years after her husband Henry's death. Several stories centre on other residents, such as fourteen-year-old Kayley Callaghan, with Olive present only in passing or in spirit.
Follow up
Who is the first story about?
Does Olive appear in every story?
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
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What would you like to know about Olive, Again?
Answers come from our editorial notes on this book. If we haven't covered something, we'll say so.
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Our Review
We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.
Elizabeth Strout's sequel to the Pulitzer-winning Olive Kitteridge earns strong praise for its clean prose and its refusal to soften its heroine, though one reviewer also finds it "more uneven" than the original when the focus drifts from Olive. Read it for a late-life portrait of a prickly woman who grows, slowly and imperfectly, more compassionate.
What happens in Olive, Again?
The book is 13 interconnected stories set in Crosby, Maine, following Olive Kitteridge from her seventies into her eighties.
The opening story belongs to Jack Kennison, a retired Harvard academic who drives to Portland for whiskey rather than risk meeting Olive at the Crosby grocery store. Later stories bring Olive to a baby shower that ends with her delivering a baby in the back of her own car, and to a visit from her son Chris and his family that, per one reviewer, "doesn't go well".
Others centre on different residents. Kayley Callaghan is a fourteen-year-old grieving her father who finds a queasy connection with an elderly man while cleaning houses, and a grown woman learns hard truths about her parents.
In several of these Olive appears only in passing or in spirit.
What did critics find in Olive, Again?
The praise is strong. The Guardian called it "a deeply affecting book that cements Strout's reputation as one of the best writers of her generation".
Critics called it "arguably better than the original", and one reviewer described it as a perfect novel: as compelling and unsettling as anything Strout has written. NPR called Strout a master of the story cycle form who has "pretty much out-Winesburged" Sherwood Anderson.
One reviewer gave it five stars and called it "an essential partner to Olive Kitteridge". John Phipps of The London Magazine named The End of the Civil War Days Strout's funniest story and the final story, "Friend", a tender study of the indignities and consolations of very old age.
The book's reception was also strong in the trade press. Wikipedia's summary of the reception reports that critics quoted there praised it as beautifully written and "almost unbearably poignant".
Where does Olive, Again fall short?
The dissent is mostly about structure and sentiment. One quoted review found the linked-story device grows tiresome when attention leaves Olive and Jack: "Who are all these other people, we wonder?"
John Phipps found one story that fails. "Heart opens well with Olive waking from a heart attack but, he writes, tails off into a too-obvious plea for compassion across political boundaries".
On sentiment, Fiction Writers Review judged that Strout "mostly avoids the dangers of diminishment and too-easy sentiment, though it noted that the sequel format's tentative resolutions risk papering over dark family history. One reviewer, who received a publisher copy, preferred the first book, finding this one a bit more maudlin, while allowing that readers wanting heartwarming stories may prefer it.
How does Strout's prose and Olive herself hold up?
The most consistent point across reviewers is the writing. Fiction Writers Review praised prose that is "guileless, spare, and truth-telling", and Phipps wrote that the ornaments in it are there to communicate, not to dazzle.
Olive herself draws admiration for staying difficult. Fiction Writers Review pleaded, "Please, keep Olive weird", and Phipps described her as "resplendently, helplessly herself".
San Francisco Book Review saw her reveal a new vulnerability as her nurturing side grows more pronounced.
The sequel also widens Strout's world. Jonathan Vatner in the Los Angeles Review of Books noted that the Burgess siblings from The Burgess Boys reappear in a chapter called "Exiles", and that Isabelle Goodrow from Amy and Isabelle brings comfort in the closing stories.
Is Olive, Again worth reading?
Weighing these reviews, the tension they keep circling is comfort against bleakness. Strout's admirers call it consoling, while Phipps judged her vision of life "not a cheerful one" and one reviewer warned that her unsettling prose "won't be for everyone".
That points the book toward readers who want quiet, character-driven fiction about ageing, grief and family regret, and who will read at an unhurried pace. Several reviewers say Olive Kitteridge should come first, since Olive's growth means more with it behind you.
It points away from readers who want plot momentum or a clean standalone. The Bibliofile blogger admitted it isn't a page-turner, and a reader quoted there who found the first stories boring was told the rest are similar.
For book clubs, even the weaker stories give discussion a starting point. Likely friction is the structure: whether the stories beyond Olive earn their place, and whether the comfort feels earned or sentimental.
For comparison, Judith McKinnon, a book blogger who rated it four out of five, links its recurring theme of quiet desperation to The Burgess Boys, whose brothers reappear here.
The sources give no prize ranking for Olive, Again beyond the publisher's own labels.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
en.wikipedia.org
- 2
bookbrowse.com
- 3
thelondonmagazine.org
- Further reading
- 4
Elizabeth Strout, LuvemBooks
- 5
- 6
- 7
elizabethstrout.com
- 8
- 9
fictionwritersreview.com
- 10
- 11
judithmckinnon.com
- 12
penguinrandomhouse.com
- 13
- 14
sanfranciscobookreview.com
- 15
Kirkus Reviews
Age & Reading Level
Our age band
Adult
Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.
3 content notes · who it suits
Content to know about
grief after a spouse's death
loneliness and serious illness in old age
family estrangement and regret
Skip if you want plot momentum or a clean standalone rather than quiet, interior linked stories.
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