Well..... I read Olive Kitteridge and gave it three stars. Olive didn’t win me over and towards the end I was a bit done with all the characters. But I decided to give Olive a second chance with this one and enjoyed it. This book seems to concentrate more on Olive and I felt much more connected with her, the place, the story...all of it.
The things I liked were...
1) most importantly...that age is depicted so well. This book talks about getting old in the most realistic and honest way. I really get a bit fed up with some books and their idyllic visions of age...they almost seem to put a young head in an old body and think that is it...job done. Ageing is much more nuanced than that and Olive Again is 100% excellent at getting it just right. This book shows the wonder and surprise is still there but it is intermingled with hard truths, a certain melancholy and loneliness.
2) the writing is good. The story/stories are told slowly and meticulously...the small pauses are as important as the big plot moments. I felt I was in the hands of a good a story teller.
3) I loved how characters came, went, reappeared...so it is like living in a small town. There was a continuity of daily life.
4) some moments just had me laughing so much. No spoilers, but the story near the end about a daughter who returns home to tell her parents about her career. Oh my goodness I laughed.
5) Olive herself.

As time has gone on the book hasn’t stayed with me.. so I would say, a good book for a holiday read