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What I've been reading: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

31/7/2015

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I heard about this because of the TV show that has been made starring Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins. I watched the show first and loved it and then bought the book to read. This book won the Pulitzer prize for fiction, which meant that I knew it was going to be a good read.

Olive Kitteridge is structured like loosely connected short stories about the townspeople in Maine. While most of the stories are in Olive's point of view, there are also quite a few that are from other townspeople with Olive featuring either as a cameo or as a motif.

The book spans 25 years of Olive's life and while the argument could be made that Olive and her life are quite ordinary on the one hand: she is a school teacher, gets married, has a child, etc, her life and Olive herself are also extraordinary. She is a woman who isn't afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve, who feels extraordinary passion, and who is a keen observer of life, including her own.

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This book is beautiful for so many reasons: the writing, the fact that it deals with such extraordinary themes, its depiction of a strong and interesting female character, but mostly because it celebrates ordinary life. Reading it made me realise that just the act of living, making connections with people, and ruminating on the meaning of life is a privilege.

My all time favourite last line is from this book. "It baffled her, the world. She did not want to leave it yet."

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    Author

    I am an author, reader and teacher. My memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me about being parented by a Bi Polar mother from a Non-English Speaking Background will be published by Transit Lounge in 2019. Read more about it here. 
    ​
    Memoir extracts have been published in anthologies
    Meet Me at the Intersection 
    ​and 
    Rebellious Daughters.

    I am co-editor Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia an anthology of Muslim writers.

    I am the author of a novel for children Amir: Friend on Loan, and of award winning young adult novel The Good Daughter. My memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me will be published with Transit Lounge in 2019.

    For teaching notes of all my books go to Teacher resources. If you wish to leave me a message go to my Contacts page, or buy copies of my books go to My Books page and find links. To hear about my writing news please subscribe or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, links below. View my previous newsletters here.

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