Perhaps Shirley could jump in and shed some background on how the library committee chose the location for Crosby on the Literary Map of Maine. Were you relying on the references to Cook's Corner & Portland being nearby? Were there other clues that helped?

Perhaps Shirley could jump in and explain how the committee worked in deciding where to place Crosby on the Literary Map of Maine. Were you relying on the references to Cook's Corner, or what other clues did you use?

And if you need help locating where any of the books chosen for the Literary Map of Maine took place, check out the link to the map at the top of this page!

I'm responding to Angie's message about the Maine location we chose for Olive -- Cook's Corner. Like Olive, many of the books in the Literary Map have fictional settings; sometimes the actual location of the town could be guessed based on clues but other times it was a real puzzle. In the case of Olive the committee based the choice of a town on some of the places mentioned in the book but certainly the real location is known only to the author. In this case, I imagine the real location is a composite. What do other people think about the location?

I was wondering how the location of the stories of "Olive Kitteridge" works with the stories. Where does Olive live and how does that affect her?
In the case of this book, the location is one which exists in the people as well as the geography. The conversations in this book has me listening to other conversations around me and wondering how they, whoever is talking, would fit into this book. That has been the effect of the book on me. I'm listening to other talking around me...I'm not sure why that is how I'm effected either. Just something that has brought up an awareness. As for location, the coast, and everyone has coast in them, in one form or another, if they live in Maine. Sooner or later they all come to the coast. So, I think the coast is in us. I lived on the Kennebec growing up and now live on the Penobscot, tidal water river, and the sea gulls are always present reminding us of the coast...so, even if we are inland, we have the ocean nearby somehow.

And beyond the physical situation of the story, what did Olive and Henry say to each other that altered the way they saw each other? I think they said what might have been dormant for a long time...or not even real, but the dark side of their moon came to the surface...and almost to a point of no-return. The event would have also made their words more cutting and emotional. Had they said those things to each other while driving down the road they might not even have felt them, but because they were in a crisis situation, the words were magnified emotionally. They were more tense than normal, and the words became more weighty as a result.

I suspect it's a fictional location--I have been seeing it someone where in the Bailey's/Orrs Island area or nearer to Freeport. I don't see it as Portland but it's between Cooks Corner and Portland. Except for the references to Portland, just about any small coastal community in Mid-coast would do. The reference to the small hospital put me in mind of Damariscotta. I really can see this town the way Strout paints it, but I'd never find it in my Delorme.

Olive lives on the coast of Maine, and knowing any more than that is unimportant to me. The reason I feel that way is because Olive, and all the other people we meet in the book, represent people all over Maine, or for that matter, all over the world. In reading about the people of Crosby, Maine, I feel I am reading universally, about how people feel about and interact with one another, the hardships they face, and the silent pain they endure.

I had to chuckle in the grocery store this week, as I saw a woman I thought must be Olive!

The hospital story was shocking to me, and even scarier when I realized that such an incident could easily occur, given the addictions to prescription drugs that exist in our society.

What did Olive and Henry say to each other that altered the way they saw each other?

They each articulated and accused each other of the worst fear each had about him or herself --- Henry that he was not as good of a Christian as he would like to be because of his views about Catholics, and Olive that she had driven her son away from her.