Book review: Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout

A contrary character who continues to charm her enthusiastic readers

Elizabeth Strout writes beautifully about life’s cruelties and mis-steps

Fiction: Olive, Again, By Elizabeth Strout, Penguin, €17.95

Revisiting beloved fictional characters is not always advisable. The risks of tainting the entire endeavour are great if the sequel doesn’t live up to readers’ often unrealistic expectations.

Or the author may have used up all of that particular brand of magic dust on the first book, with the result that any subsequent attempts to reconnect with the spirit of the original fall flat on ...