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Description
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
The presence of Olive Kitteridge, a seventh-grade math teacher and the wife of a pharmacist, links these 13 stories. A big woman, she’s like a planetary body, exerting a strong gravitational pull. Several stories put Olive at the center, but in a few she makes only a fleeting appearance. It’s... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters
- Olive Kitteridge: Junior High math teacher, volunteer for the American Red Cross and a museum in Portland, Maine
- Henry Kitteridge: Olive's husband, a pharmacist
- Dr. Suzanne Bernstein-Kitteridge: Christopher's first wife
- Ora: Olive's aunt
- Christopher Kitteridge: Olive and Henry's son, a podiatrist
- Ann Kitteridge: Christopher's second wife
Memorable Quotes
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“Don’t be scared of your hunger. If you’re scared of your hunger, you’ll just be one more ninny like everyone else.”
Julie (quoting Olive) -
“In the doctor's waiting room she sat, reading a magazine. After an hour, the nurse came out and said, "Mr. Kennison's worried about you waiting so long." "Well, tell him to stop it. I'm perfectly comfortable." And she was. In fact, it had been a long time since she'd been this comfortable. She wouldn't have minded if it took all day. It was a news magazine she was reading, something she hadn't done for quite a while-she turned one page quickly, because she couldn't stand to look at the president's face. His close-set eyes, the jut of his chin, the sight offended her viscerally.”
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“A block of winter sun was splayed across the glass of the cosmetics shelf; a strip of wooden floor shone like honey.”
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“The dresses there make her feel violent, though. She wants to snatch them down, twist the expensive dark fabric of these small dresses hanging pompously on wooden hangers. . .The beige sweater is thick, and this is good, because it means the girl won't wear it until fall. Olive unfolds it quickly and smears a black line of Magic Marker down one arm. Then she holds the marker in her mouth and she folds the sweater hurriedly, folding it again, and even again, to get it as neat as it was at first. You would never, opening this closet door, know that someone had pawed through it.”
First Sentence
For many years Henry Kitteridge was a pharmacist in the next town over, driving every morning on snowy roads, or rainy roads, or summertime roads, when the wild raspberries shot their new growth in brambles along the last section of town before he turned off to where the wider road led to the pharmacy.
Table of Contents
Pharmacy
Incoming Tide
The Piano Player
A Little Burst
Starving
A Different Road
Winter Concert
Tulips
Basket of Trips
Ship in a Bottle
Security
Criminal
River
A Reader's Guide
Authors & Contributors
- Elizabeth Strout (Author)
Awards
- Pulitzer Prize (2009: Fiction)
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