Olive, Again

I can't think of another author who writes so simply and yet so powerfully, and who captures the small but important details of everyday life. Maybe even better than its predecessor, [b:Olive Kitteridge 1736739 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1) Elizabeth Strout https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320430655l/1736739.SY75.jpg 3263906], because it gives Olive a bit of warmth and insight (not too much warmth of course, she's still Olive). I can't say I cared much for the chapters that focused on other characters; they seemed to be trying too hard to make a point unlike the effortless prose of the Olive vignettes (granted, it is harder to fully flesh out a character in 20 pages, while Olive's personality is already well-established). But sometimes Strout made these stories more shocking than they needed to be (the old man voyeuristically watching the teenaged housecleaner touch herself, the nice couple's daughter telling them she was featured in a documentary film about being a dominatrix) when the absurdness of normal life would have sufficed. The last few chapters as Olive ages and moves to a senior living facility just about broke my heart, as I could imagine my 95 year old mother having the exact same feelings and reactions. I initially hesitated about reading this book because I didn't think a sequel to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Olive was necessary, but I should have trusted that Elizabeth Strout wouldn't continue the story unless she could do it justice.