Do you think that Olive would be Olive if she lived anywhere else? What makes that part of the country such fertile territory for you as a fiction writer? Olive lives her life in a fictional town in Maine, the state where you grew up and still live some of the time. Olive has failed Christopher in many ways, as parents often do unwittingly.

This news brings out the child in him, as though his father were being replaced.Īt the end, Olive questions how she has been as a mother and thinks of Christopher as a “motherless child.” Do you think she failed him in some crucial way? Why do you think Christopher reacts so badly to the news of Olive’s impending marriage?Ĭhristopher loved his father, Henry. And Christopher-as Ann points out in the story-is not always fully an adult. I love Olive, but I made her. So I suppose I understand her as well as anyone can. But sometimes she makes me a little crazy. It’s an interesting question, and it brings to mind the saying that “to know all is to forgive all”-but I am not sure I agree with that completely. Do you like her? Is understanding her the same as liking her? Olive isn’t always popular with the people she encounters or knows. But one thought I’ve had is that she is very complicated-as most of us are-and her complications are so out there that perhaps people feel connected to her for that reason. Here is the thing: I do not know why Olive Kitteridge has resonated so much with people. I have thought about it, and I do not know why. Why do you think the book-and its idiosyncratic main character-hit such a chord with readers? “Olive Kitteridge” won the Pulitzer Prize, became a New York Times bestseller, and was adapted for a miniseries. She showed up with a force, the way she did the very first time, and I could not ignore her. This time, she was nosing her car into the marina, and I saw it so clearly-felt her so clearly-that I thought, Well, I should go with this. I never intended to return to Olive Kitteridge. I really thought I was done with her, and she with me. But a few years ago I was in a European city, alone for a weekend, and I went to a café, and she just showed up. That’s all I can say.

What made you want to go back to Olive (or move forward with her)? Your story in this week’s issue, “ Motherless Child,” revolves around Olive Kitteridge, who was the protagonist of your 2008 story collection, “ Olive Kitteridge,” and will be the protagonist of a sequel, “ Olive, Again,” which comes out this fall.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout