Image from Amazon
It's a tale of two collections of short stories. Elizabeth Stout and Amanda Ward, both novelists, have recently released collections of short stories about strong-willed women. Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with Olive Kitteridge, stories that follow the a Maine school teacher and the town people she has made an impact on. Ward's Love Stories in This Town is divided into two parts: a collection of six stand alone stories and six stories that chronicle nearly two decades of Lola's life and family. Both collections are impressive and engrossing, but which one is better?
As much as I hate to pit books against each other, I couldn't help it this time, especially after reading the collections back to back. While the books are similar in concept, they differ in perspective and character development.
Oprah loved Olive Kitteridge (as did the Pulitzer Prize people) and it is evident why. Strout has created a complex woman. Olive Kitteridge, a seventh grade math teacher, is far more compassionate than she appears on the surface, as evident of her relationship with an anorexic teenage runaway and how she reacts when her husband, Henry, has a stroke. She's the type of woman who will complain about something but do it anyone. She is a contradiction- she hates to be alone, but she also hates to be with people. As the thirteen stories progress we see a change in Olive. She's not the bitter woman she first appears to be. The most telling of all of the stories is probably "Security" when she goes to visit her son and his new wife in New York. The fight between them is cringe-worthy. This was the point when I began to feel anything for Olive.
Love Stories in This Town also explores small town life and the the impact a person has on their community. The first six stories follow six different women in Montana and Texas and Savannah. There's Annie, a librarian in a mining town who is torn between her high school sweetheart and settling down or seeing the world. Or Kimmy and Greg, who days after losing a child, fly to Houston to look for a new home. There are common threads in these stories: motherhood, love, and terrorism. Ward recreates the hope of the late '90's and the fear post 9/11 in her stories. The most heartbreaking and beautiful story in the collection is "The Way the Sky Changed." Kent and Casey are set up on a blind date after both of their spouses die on 9/11. They struggle to fill the shoes of a deceased partner. The last six stories in the book follow Lola Wilkerson and who she wants to be. We meet Lola right after her college boyfriend dumps her for Miss Montana and watch her navigate being a mother, wife, and a daughter. Her growth really becomes apparent when she finally stands up to her thrice-divorced father in "Grandpa Fred in Love."
If I had to make a choice between Olive Kitteridge and Love Stories in This Town, I think Love Stories would win, hands down. I find Ward's characters to be better developed and more interesting than Strout's. Perhaps I might have enjoyed Olive more if all the stories were focused on her or if they all were about how she made the lives of those around her better/ more miserable. The combination of the two hinders her development and frankly, some of the stories are a little dull.
Would I recommend Olive Kitteridge? Of course. It was enjoyable and I devoured it (though not in the same frenzy I did Love Stories). Both books are excellent beach reads and would make good gifts or selections for a book club. If you read them, I recommend you read both and judge for yourself which collection is the strongest.
Sound Off: Have you read either of these? What did you think?
Follow my reading habits on Twitter!
Comments