I’m writing this report from a personal point of view for the first time; normally I try to be objective. This is because I have to confess that I was wrong in my conclusion having read our book, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, that it was about mostly inconsequential events in a world where trauma is common and on the whole pretty mundane. In fact it was pointed out to me that there were actual traumatic events in people’s lives portrayed by the author but in an understated way, such as the hospital siege or the young man arriving with the intention of committing suicide and then ending up rescuing a woman in the harbour. Death by anorexia, mature age adultery and child neglect also feature in the book. How more wrong could I have been!

   Others in our small group (only 5 on the day) were very impressed by the book. I call it a book rather than a novel as it is composed of a number of short stories written over many years about a small coastal town In Maine, threaded together by that location and the presence of Olive at the centre of events or as a peripheral character. I did enjoy the style of Strout’s writing, agreeing with others who used such adjectives to describe it as sublime, subtle, restrained, gentle, minimalist, atmospheric, moving and compassionate. We enjoyed her clever phrases such as “thin milk”, the characterisation of Olive - gruff, flawed, complex. We noted that her writing is full of hints, subtext and leaving things to a reader’s imagination.