Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

I read another of Elizabeth's books called 'Olive Kitteridge' on a recommendation of a colleague a few months ago, and I fell in love with her writing. It wasn't what I expected - it read like a collection of short stories, with one character, the titular Olive, being the thread running through them all. I'm not usually a fan of short stories, and I don't like to describe it as such to customers coming into our bookshop in case it puts them off for that reason, but in this case I just loved them. Elizabeth Strout the author is wonderful at character analyses and descriptions, and day to day life and relationships are described in such a realistic and truthful (and sometimes ruthless) way.

I was eager to read her next book 'Lucy Barton', and I was very disappointed. This followed Lucy being visited in hospital by her estranged mother. Even though other characters are alluded to and memories brought to the fore, it mainly deals with the strained relationship between Lucy and her mother, and I missed the other characters and descriptions from 'Olive'.

I was willing to give her another go, and thus read 'Anything Is Possible'. I loved it. It surpassed my love of 'Olive Kitteridge'. This book follows the other characters that were mentioned in 'Lucy Barton', including her brother and sister, her cousins, her aunt, her school janitor - they're all in there, with Lucy being the thread through it all, and I just adored that return to style of 'Olive'. The last chapter is especially moving. Highly recommended.