Olive Kitteridge is a complex woman. Described by some as indomitable and by others as compassionate, she herself has always been certain that she is absolutely right about everything. A retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine, as she grows older she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life.<br /><br />Through different narratives, telling the triumphs and tragedies of those around her, and spanning years, Olive's story emerges.

We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man pained by loss - whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels overwhelmed by her sensitivities.

'So astonishingly good that I shall be reading it once a year for the foreseeable future and very probably for the rest of my life. 'Evening Standard