Olive, Again

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout, was published in 2019 by Random House. Elizabeth Strout is the author of nine novels, many of which take place in or near the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. Olive, Again is the sequel to Olive Kitteridge, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was published in 2009. Olive Kitteridge was also made into a limited television series by HBO, starring Frances McDormand, in 2014. Critics praise Strout for her ability to create characters that illustrate the depth and complexity of the human experience, and her compassionate treatment of them. Oprah’s Book Club chose Olive, Again in 2019.

This study guide refers to the e-book edition of the text, published by Random House.

Plot Summary

Olive, Again is a collection of thirteen interconnected stories that take place in or near the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. The book follows Olive through her seventies and eighties after the death of her first husband. In several of the stories, Olive or her second husband, Jack Kennison, are the protagonists. A number of the stories feature other characters, although Olive often appears momentarily as well. The book always returns to Olive; it is her character that undergoes a transformation, and gives the book its sense of a cohesive whole.

At the end of the previous book, Olive Kitteridge, Olive experienced a moment of connection and deep intimacy with Jack Kennison, a man that she had previously disliked. They are an odd couple with opposing qualities—she is a Democrat; he is a Republican—but they somehow seem to understand each other. As Olive, Again opens, Jack wonders why Olive has completely avoided him since they connected just a few weeks back. After he has a run-in with the police, he writes Olive a letter, telling her that he would like to be in touch with her again, and that he misses her. In the next story, “Labor,” it is clear that he sent the letter, and that Olive has gotten past her fear of emotional intimacy. When she delivers a baby at a baby shower, she calls several people to tell them, but Jack is the only person who, to her, responds appropriately. She stays at his house that night, in a separate bedroom. When she wakes up in the morning, she is terrified, but also elated by her sense of relief and freedom.

When we next see Olive, she has invited her son, Christopher, and his family to visit her for several days. The visit is tense, and when Olive announces that she is marrying Jack, Christopher gets upset. He is barely civil to Jack when they meet the next day, and his wife yells at him in front of Jack and Olive. Christopher apologizes and they leave. Olive has a revelation: In Ann, she sees a reflection of how she treated her first husband, Henry.

Soon after, Olive befriends a woman named Cindy Coombs, who is undergoing cancer treatment. Their conversations are honest, sometimes brutally so, yet Cindy finds them a welcome change from people avoiding her situation. Olive will not only speak uncomfortable truth; she is also receptive of others’ honesty. Through her interactions with Olive, Cindy develops empathy for what her husband is going through as a result of her illness. She also begins to think more openly about illness as part of the life and death cycle and human condition.

One night, Jack and Olive go out to dinner in a neighboring town. They run into a woman who Jack had an affair with years ago. After they leave, Olive is upset with Jack. She says it is not because of the affair, but what it says about him that he had an affair with such a terrible person. Later that night, Jack thinks about his past. He realizes that he doesn’t really know himself, and never has. He has a nightmare, and as Olive walks him around the house to wake him up, he realizes that he is essentially alone, that we all are.

When we see Olive next, Jack has died. At the marina, Olive runs into a local woman who is a famous poet. They have breakfast together, and Olive tells people about it wherever she goes. Several months later, someone leaves a copy of a poetry magazine in Olive’s mailbox with a marked page featuring a poem by the famous poet. The poem is about Olive, and the breakfast they had together. Olive realizes that the poet is more insightful than she is, even though she prides herself on her own awareness.

The narrative jumps ahead to Olive recovering in the hospital from a heart attack. Afterwards, she has several home health aides, but is still scared to be at home alone. She moves into the local senior apartments, and is initially her irritable, taciturn self. She gradually befriends a woman named Isabel, with whom she forms a deep connection. Olive sifts through her memories by writing them down. At the end of the book, Olive says that she does not know herself, or understand anything. Still, she seems to have found happiness.