When I was reading Olive and Olive, Again, it was clear that although Elizabeth Strout’s books are standalone works, there are also times where older characters or places make appearances in other novels. So, I figured I should probably start at the beginning of the books and work my way through - hence Amy & Isabelle. It’s an interesting story and incredibly well written, supreme and precise observations about life and although a slow pace, you’re never bored.

Until Oprah picked an Elizabeth Strout book as part of her book club, I hadn’t heard of the author but now I have, I’m a little bit obsessed. This was a short and just intriguing stream of consciousness from the eponymous Lucy Barton. She uses the time she was laid up in hospital for several weeks to share stories about her family, her extended family, friends, neighbours and relative strangers.

This was another pick in Oprah’s book club but it took me a while to get to it because I had to read the original Olive Kitteridge book first. I loved that one 100%, and this one lived up to the promise although I’m not sure I loved it quite as much as I did the first. It follows the same lines - a glimpse into the lives of a variety of people in a small coastal town in the US, including the title character Olive, who is getting older and dealing with many changes in her life.

Oprah’s latest book pick is the sequel to this, the original adventures of one Olive Kitteridge. I’m always one to start at the beginning so I dived headfirst into this and I loved it. It’s a series of stories from a small coastal town in Maine, that are standalone but intertwine and gradually tell the story of Olive and those who interact with her.