Olive KitteridgeOlive Kitteridge
Score Modern
What it's about
Thirteen linked stories set in Crosby, a small town on the coast of Maine. At the center of many of them, and passing through the rest, is Olive Kitteridge, a retired math teacher who is blunt, prickly, often unkind and fiercely loving, married to a gentle pharmacist and estranged from her son. Over the years, the town's people face loneliness, marriage, aging and grief, and Olive faces herself.
Why it's worth reading
It won the Pulitzer Prize, and the New York Times named it one of the best books of the 21st century. Olive is one of the great characters in modern fiction, and the book is wise about ordinary lives.
You'll love it if you liked
Gilead
The Shipping News
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, MarriageGood to know
Olive appears only briefly in some stories. The HBO series with Frances McDormand is excellent. A sequel, Olive, Again, continues her story.
By the numbers
- Readers18 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics90 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller69 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #107 of the 309 literary novels we rank
- #488 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #933 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
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Quick answers
Is Olive Kitteridge worth reading?
Yes. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and the New York Times named it one of the best books of the 21st century. It ranks #933 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 73.7 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Olive Kitteridge about?
Thirteen linked stories set in Crosby, a small town on the coast of Maine. At the center of many of them, and passing through the rest, is Olive Kitteridge, a retired math teacher who is blunt, prickly, often unkind and fiercely loving, married to a gentle pharmacist and estranged from her son. Over the years, the town's people face loneliness, marriage, aging and grief, and Olive faces herself.
How long does it take to read Olive Kitteridge?
About 7 hours (290 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has Olive Kitteridge won?
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2009).
What should I read after Olive Kitteridge?
If you liked it, try Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx or Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro.