Finding a new book by Elizabeth Strout is like receiving an invitation to some kind of reunion, because once you open the pages, old friends appear. There's Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge and good old Bob Burgess and before you know it you feel as though you'd never been away. Olive has reached the grand old age of ninety one in this novel, and although she doesn't have the lead in this story, she still manages to make herself the most important character just by letting other people come and tell her things. Olive has heard that the novelist Lucy Barton has moved nearby, and knowing that she is a writer, Olive invites her to visit her in her retirement home to hear a story that may be of interest. Lucy is happy to come along and Olive is pleased to find that she seems genuinely interested in her story. Not many people know how to properly listen to someone's story, but those that do ask questions to show they have absorbed the information and are keen t...