Olive Kitteridge

Published in 2008, Olive Kitteridge is an unconventional novel by Elizabeth Strout that interlinks 13 tales about the people of Crosby, Maine. The novel is a collection of short stories tied together by the unifying element of titular character Olive Kitteridge. The novel won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and HBO created a mini-series of the book in 2014. Because of its construction, Strout’s novel is less about its plot than it is about its characters and themes and how they fit into Olive’s life and worldview.

This guide is based on the 2008 Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains discussions of suicide, alcohol use disorder, and eating disorders, and references to self-harm.

Plot Summary

The opening chapter, “Pharmacy,” features Henry Kitteridge, Olive Kitteridge’s husband, who is growing close with his young new assistant, Denise Thibodeau, through their working relationship at his pharmacy. When Denise’s husband, who is also named Henry, is accidentally killed during a hunting trip, Henry strives to assist the hapless Denise adjust to independent life. Eventually, however, despite Henry’s promise that he will take care of her, Denise marries the pharmacy’s delivery man, Jerry, and they move to Texas. The story ends with the revelation that Henry has long been aware, since Jim O’Casey, Olive’s coworker, was killed in a car accident, that Olive had at the very least an emotional affair with Jim.

In “Incoming Tide,” Kevin Coulson returns to Crosby for the first time since he was a child, where he intends to die by suicide. As he sits in his car looking out at the sea, however, Olive Kitteridge, Kevin’s former math teacher, greets him. She invites herself into the passenger seat and forces conversation—they discuss her own father’s death by suicide, Kevin’s mother’s death by suicide, and Olive’s son’s struggle with depression. Outside, they watch Patty Howe, Kevin’s childhood friend, walking beside the harbor. Olive notes that Patty has had several miscarriages. Right as Olive seems about to leave, Patty falls into the water; Kevin dives in after and fights to save Patty from drowning.

In “The Piano Player,” Angie O’Meara is a piano player with alcoholism. On noticing that her ex-boyfriend Simon has come to the bar where she plays, Angie notes that Simon was the only person who ever knew that Angie’s mother had “taken money from men” (55), which the text indicates was for sex work. Angie takes a rare break from her playing to call Malcolm Moody to end their decades-long affair. After Angie returns to playing, Simon reveals to Angie that after they broke up, Angie’s mother propositioned him in Boston and that, as a result, he has always pitied Angie. Angie gives little reaction, losing herself to the music. Although Malcolm berates her when she leaves, instructing her to call him tomorrow, she arrives home certain she will not.

In “A Little Burst,” Olive Kitteridge’s son, Christopher, is marrying a woman named Suzanne. Olive overhears Suzanne mocking her dress and then, worse, implying that Christopher’s childhood was not easy. Furious at what Olive perceives as Suzanne’s know-it-all attitude, she takes a pen, draws over Suzanne’s sweater, and steals a few other items of clothing. The act gives Olive a little burst of joy, and she resolves, if possible, to continue fostering Suzanne’s self-doubt.

“Starving” is told from the point of view of Harmon (no surname given), who is having an affair with Daisy Foster, a local widow. Out one day, Harmon notices Nina White and Tim Burnham, a young couple that strikes him as charming. Months later, he reads in the paper that Tim and Nina were arrested in a drug bust. Harmon finds Nina at Daisy’s house; despite the best efforts of Harmon, Nina, and Olive Kitteridge, Nina eventually dies as a result of anorexia. In the wake of the tragedy, fearing loneliness, Harmon confesses his love for Daisy. She accepts, and Harmon rents Tim and Nina’s old apartment to share with her, though he remains uncertain if he’ll tell his wife or simply wait for the inevitable fallout.

In “A Different Road,” after a dinner with friends, Henry and Olive Kitteridge stop at a hospital so that Olive can use the restroom. After a bit of wheedling from the anxious nurse, Olive consents to the doctor performing a brief check-up. Just as Olive changes into her gown, however, armed men appear and take everyone hostage. The police eventually arrive and break up the situation, but not before Olive and Henry have a pivotal argument.

“Winter Concert” focuses on Bob and Jane Houlton. At the titular concert, during intermission, the couple talks with the parents of their daughter’s friend, who mentions having met Bob in the Miami airport. On the drive home, Jane demands the truth. Bob admits that the woman with whom he had an affair many years ago contracted cancer, so he went to visit her. At home, a stunned Jane admits her fear of mortality, seemingly resolved to stay with her husband despite his infidelity.

“Tulips” opens with Olive’s memories of the Larkin family, who disappeared into their house after their son brutally murders a woman. Olive—her divorced son now in California and her husband nonresponsive after a stroke—receives a letter from Louise Larkin and decides to visit. Louise, who has startling insights into Olive’s state of mind, deeply unnerves Olive. Olive leaves on realizing that Louise’s mental health is impacted, and though Olive tries to phone her son about the event, her son is only disappointed that Olive went at all.

In “Basket of Trips,” Olive helps arrange Ed Bonney’s funeral; his widow, Marlene Bonney, was Olive’s student. Marlene’s relative, Kerry Monroe, gets drunk, and Marlene leaves to put her to bed. Olive finds Marlene holding a knife next to the passed-out Kerry, and Marlene tells Olive that Kerry has just admitted to having had an affair with Ed. Marlene relinquishes the knife, but she is most embarrassed not of having threatened to kill Kerry, but of having ever pretended with her husband who has a terminal illness that they might go on vacations together.

“Ship in a Bottle,” told largely from Winnie Harwood’s perspective, opens with her older sister, Julie Harwood, heartbroken after her fiancée, Bruce, left her on her wedding day. Her mother, Anita, criticizes Julie for crying. Bruce attempts to reconnect with Julie, but when Bruce drives to the house, Anita fires a rifle at him. One day, Winnie finds a note from Julie, asking her to tell her parents that Julie has gone for a walk; Julie is, in fact, catching the bus to Boston to be with Bruce. Winnie lies for her sister, but she quickly understands that this lie has changed her own relationship with her mother forever.

In “Security,” Olive travels to New York to visit Christopher and his new wife, Ann, who is pregnant with Christopher’s child. There, on learning that their upstairs tenant has the surname O’Casey, Olive remembers Jim O’Casey, a man with whom she had an emotional affair. Despite initially doing well, when Olive realizes she has spilled ice cream on herself, her fears of her own uselessness and mortality surface. When she announces that she will leave early, and Christopher does not attempt to stop her, an argument breaks out between them. While Olive rages and weeps, Christopher remains calm, unpacking his perspective of his childhood, which she is not able to hear. A taxi arrives, taking Olive away to the airport.

In “Criminal,” unemployed Rebecca Brown lives with her boyfriend, David. She complains to a doctor about feeling ill, but a series of tests reveal no problems. Rebecca watches the police arrest patrons of a bar outside their home. She gathers some items and a cigarette lighter and leaves the house, pondering her own possible arrest.

In “River,” Olive finds Jack Kennison, an elderly widower who retired to Crosby, collapsed on the ground during her daily walk. She sits with him until he recovers, and from there, the two develop a tenuous relationship. After a brief fight, in which Olive struggles to admit to her feelings and finds fault with Jack’s politics, they do not speak for a time. Then, Jack calls, inviting Olive to his house. She finds him in bed. He invites her to join him, and they reconcile. Olive reflects that she is not quite ready to die.