Olive Kitteridge might not be the quintessence of pleasantness. As a teacher she always scared the hell out of her pupils; as a wife she never apologized with her husband; as a mother she made life impossible for her son. However, as the pages go by, we can't help realizing how her image changes according to the points of view. Sometimes Olive touches other lives in ways she'd never imagine, sometimes she can even be a very gentle presence, and some others a very obtrusive one. From time to time, in a few tales, we're allowed the small "privilege" of sharing her deeper thoughts, and that's when all the painful contradictions of her inner self come to light.

I really loved this book. What makes it special to my eyes is the way Elizabeth Strout has to approach people's lives, from the outside and from the inside, big and little events, or better big and little "bursts", as Olive would say:

"Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as 'big bursts' and 'little bursts'. Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin's Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really."

If you're keen on the intimist kind of literature, I strongly recommend it.