EW #3 FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

This was an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking collection of stories. I was completely enthralled and also completely satisfied by the ending. The title character, Olive Kitteridge, is a harsh not quite lovable woman who ages through each short story. A few are told from her perspective, but many just feature her as a passing figure in others' lives.

The final story, 'River,' is what catapulted the book from a 4-star to a 5-star rating. Olive says: "Everyone thinks they know everything, and no one knows anything."

One of the final lines reads:
"..oh, what young people did not know. They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly, as if it were a tart on a platter with others that got passed around again."

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT!!!