Recommendations

Books Like Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

For readers of Olive Kitteridge in her late years

If you loved Olive, Again — Olive Kitteridge in her late 70s and 80s, her second marriage to Jack Kennison, and the continuing Crosby community — these books share the same interest in old age, late intimacy, and what people finally come to see about themselves and each other.

  1. Olive Kitteridge cover
    1

    Olive Kitteridge

    by Elizabeth Strout

    The essential predecessor — Olive in her 60s and 70s, Henry, Christopher, and the Crosby world; the Pulitzer-winning original that Olive, Again builds on and deepens.

    Buy on Amazon
  2. Our Souls at Night cover
    2

    Our Souls at Night

    by Kent Haruf

    Haruf's final novel — Addie and Louis in Holt, Colorado choosing each other for company in their final years; the most direct companion to Olive's second marriage and late-life reaching toward connection.

    Buy on Amazon
  3. Gilead cover
    3

    Gilead

    by Marilynne Robinson

    Robinson's Pulitzer-winning novel — John Ames's late-life letter to his young son; the companion in American fiction about old age, mortality, and what one can still say and do in the time remaining.

    Buy on Amazon
  4. A Man Called Ove cover
    4

    A Man Called Ove

    by Fredrik Backman

    Backman's bestselling novel — the Swedish companion about a formidable, difficult old person whose community refuses to give up on them; Ove's late-life recovery is the comic, male Scandinavian version of what Olive's aging represents.

    Buy on Amazon
  5. My Name Is Lucy Barton cover
    5

    My Name Is Lucy Barton

    by Elizabeth Strout

    Strout's companion novel — Lucy Barton's hospitalization and her estranged mother's visit; the companion in Strout's fiction about difficult mother-child relationships and the ways the past continues to shape the present.

    Buy on Amazon
  6. Oh William! cover
    6

    Oh William!

    by Elizabeth Strout

    The second Lucy Barton novel — Lucy in her 60s with her first husband William; the companion in Strout's late fiction about old age, long intimacy, and unexpected late companionship.

    Buy on Amazon
  7. The Remains of the Day cover
    7

    The Remains of the Day

    by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Ishiguro's Booker-winning novel — the companion in literary fiction about belated recognition of what was missed; Stevens's retrospective account of his career and what he didn't say to Miss Kenton is a meditation on late-life insight parallel to Olive's.

    Buy on Amazon
  8. The Burgess Boys cover
    8

    The Burgess Boys

    by Elizabeth Strout

    Strout's companion Maine novel — the community portrait and family dynamics that complete the picture of Strout's Maine world alongside both Olive books.

    Buy on Amazon

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