Elizabeth Strout, the author of "Olive Kitteridge", January's pick, was gracious enough to email us with answers to several questions that readers had after finishing the book.

Thanks to Ms. Strout, and thanks to all who read along in January.

Q: How did you write short stories over a period of 10 years about the same character? At what point did you decide to incorporate all of them into a novel?

Strout: I worked on many of the stories (in bits and pieces) as I was working on my other books. But I always knew there would be a book devoted to Olive, and I knew it would be a book of connected stories. I felt very patient about it, as I've come to understand that there is some inner timing and rhythm at work that I need to go with. So Olive evolved both slowly, and then in big spurts. I spent a summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, writing most of the stories that make up the bulk of the book.

Q: Was there a particular impetus to turn the stories into a novel, either an incident or a person?

Strout: When I finally completed all the stories, I saw that I had arranged them, not consciously, in a particular order -- the order they are in now. And I understood that I had essentially told the story of this woman's life. So it is a novel in stories. It is not a traditional novel, in the sense that each chapter, or story, can stand on its own. But it is a novel because it has an arc to it, a narrative that follows through the whole book.

Q: There is a great deal of infidelity in the book, do you feel that this is norm for relationships even in small town America?

Strout: Do I feel that infidelity is a norm for relationships? I have no idea. Whether small town or big city, I don't know what the norm is. I think there are sociologists who study such things and present facts and figures, but I don't especially know what those facts and figures are. My own personal observation is that this happens more often than people think or know, and for fiction, it is something that works well. As a reader, and a writer, I am drawn to secrets -- to those parts of the self that are not always exposed as we go about living our "outward" lives.

Q: Is Crosby based on a real Maine town? (Some of the reading group suspected the mid-coast region, Damariscotta area.)

Strout: Crosby is not based on a real town in Maine. I suppose in my mind, I do imagine it more in the mid-coast region, but there is no town it is based on. My college roommate's last name is Crosby, and I asked her if I could use her name for the town and she said, sure.

Q: Where do you think Olive's and Christopher's relationship would be a couple years after the end of the last story?

Strout: Interesting question. I suspect it will be better. Olive has learned a lot throughout her series of losses, and I think she may be mature enough now, and grateful enough, to be able to enjoy the love that she can both give and receive. By seeing how Jack Kennison's daughter has suffered, she will have a greater sense of her own responsibility regarding the breach with her son. And if he stays with his current wife, I imagine they will try another visit, and it will go better.

Q: I understand you visit Maine frequently. Was any of "Olive" written in Maine?

Strout: None of "Olive" was written in Maine.

Q: Other than Olive herself, do you have a favorite character in the book?

Strout: I think Henry is probably my other favorite character in the book.

Q: What are you working on now, and will we see any of the characters from "Olive" in any of your future works?

Strout: I am currently working a large novel that takes place both in Maine and New York. Whether or not any characters from Olive will show up again, I don't know. So far they haven't. But there are always surprises for me. So we'll see.

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