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Olive, Again
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Series: Olive Kitteridge, Book 2
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
An extraordinary new novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning, number one New York Times best-selling author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton.
Olive, Again follows the blunt, contradictory yet deeply loveable Olive Kitteridge as she grows older, navigating the second half of her life as she comes to terms with the changes - sometimes welcome, sometimes not - in her own existence and in those around her.
Olive adjusts to her new life with her second husband, challenges her estranged son and his family to accept him, experiences loss and loneliness, witnesses the triumphs and heartbreaks of her friends and neighbours in the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine - and, finally, opens herself to new lessons about life.
Critic reviews
"One of America's finest writers." (Sunday Times)
"A powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships." (Observer)
"Strout really can write you into a world until you feel you are there with her, in that house, that life, that little Podunk of a place." (The Times)
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What listeners say about Olive, Again
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 13-11-19
Every-day lives made to matter
Eleven years ago Elizabeth Strout published "Olive Kitteridge" set in ordinaryville, Crosby, in Maine, which finished with strident, all-seeing Olive at 70.
"Olive Again" takes Olive further: widowed, into a second marriage with Jack (overweight and not the man he was since his prostate surgery); into old age with all its alone-ness, frustrations and indignities - and a second widowhood. That sounds beyond depressing, but these inter-linked, powerfully charged stories in which characters come and go tug at the heartstrings with such poignancy, such insights - and humour - that we're drawn right in.
These are ordinary characters living ordinary lives but Strout makes them matter, and makes us feel the magnitude of their apparently insignificant disappointments and sadnesses. A grandmother plagues her uninterested visitor with pictures of her grandchildren on her phone, rattling on at length about their cuteness. "Oh I talk too much about them," she gushes. "Yes, you do," replies the visitor and the grandmother's world collapses.
The tragic failures of relationships are explored with infinite subtlety - between Olive and her grown-up son and his hostile step children who stare sullenly; the silent, alienated old couple who have divided their living space with tape. "Tell your father to take you out because I'm not!" says the wife to the dog.
I loved this and the narrator Kimberly Farr's presentation of the dialogue and Olive's thoughts is masterly..
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Aardvark
- 28-07-20
You will love Olive and get weepy at the end
The first Olive book depressed me. This one had hope and understanding and I loved it. The ending was truly moving and made me think about where I'm going in my life. The narration was very good and really captured the different characters. Wish there was another book to listen to.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-01-20
Absolutely loved it
This book made me laugh and cry, Olive was such a snob and yet I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.
I loved the way the author involved her in other stories as we got to know other characters.
Most wonderful narration by Kimberly Farr...I could listen to any book narrated by her, she has a great voice and protrayed the story so well.
Would definitely recommend this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 007row
- 05-09-20
Poignant
Read this book twice, back to back, as it was so difficult to put down... so moving and touching. It really grips the heart.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Karin E. G. Lorenc
- 24-10-21
LOVED THIS BOOK IMMENSELY!!
"Olive Again" reached all my deepest emotions and silly worries with wonderful humour and realism! Above all it impacted me with its insights of true and patient LOVE! An unforgettable book, a life-changing one with the complete expression of our human condition, in all it facets, so lyrically and concisely expressed. Anyone who has paused for deep thought as they gradually age and experience losses will be hilariously entertained one moment and the next they will feel a deep, recognizable sadness but finally they will be filled with a sense of gratitude and love for the writing of Elizabeth Strout! I will listen to the beautiful narration again and again! Somehow this book is COMFORTING, like one's most beloved piece of BACH's music!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Collins
- 18-09-21
Beautifully written and narrated
A touching and realistic depiction of Olive Kitteridge’s life as an ageing woman and the people who influenced and entered that life - not a “feel good” book but one to savour and remember after the last chapter has finished.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Drama Queen
- 15-07-21
Wonderful
I loved this. The stories were so entertaining, although sometimes sad, and the narrator was perfect
(I pictured Frances McDormand speaking the whole way through!).
I'm sorry we won't hear any more about Olive, I could listen to her forever!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rosemont
- 15-07-21
Beautiful
So compassionate, perceptive and moving. I think there's something of Olive in all of us. And the reading is perfect.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MRS WENDY SMALL
- 17-05-21
Engrossing
Loved this book more than the first Olive one. Great insights into our humanity and self awareness.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jaine Minnis
- 10-05-21
Emotional spaghetti!
Such a mixture of experiences!
Emotions all over the place but ended with contentment. Brilliant!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz B
- 08-01-21
Olive Again
Kimberly Farr's mssterly narration brings to life Olive and the host of attendant characters in both unforgettable Olive novels.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T Jones
- 09-12-20
A Masterpiece
Elizabeth Strout writes love letters to all of us with these two novels. Olive Kitteridge, and the people in Olive’s orbit, are mundane, flawed, and often frustrating. Yet in Strout’s eyes they are beautiful. We are beautiful.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dra Clara Pracana
- 21-11-20
Very good
It’ astonishing how Elizabeth Strout manages to convey the ambiance, the smells, the colors of day-to-day life. You can feel yourself there, in that town of Crosby, Maine.
I have been to Maine once and I just loved it.
My congratulations to the author and to the narrator. She’s excellent. A must-read, absolutely.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Catherine
- 17-04-20
Indomitable Olive
Elizabeth Strout does it again
Strout is such an insightful and generous writer and in Olive she has created someone we can all relate to. Olive has insight enough but no real inclination to change her ways and it is, I think, this unwillingness or inability to people-please I admire most about her. There are many poignant moments in this book and I will never forget the visceral thwack I felt as I listened to the chapter entitled The Poet. The poem is brutal and honest but Olive really is indomitable and she always picks herself up, dusts herself off and starts all over again.
Walking with Olive, I feel less out of step with the world. Strout shows us human nature in all its complexity and shines a light on all of us.