Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" is the Pulitzer Prize Winner Fiction for 2009. Because I have so greatly adored the previous few winners I had to pick this up as soon as the winner was announced. It did not disappoint!

This book has depth! Be prepared to immerse yourself in the world created in this novel. It's not a quick read, it takes focus to get through it. I even took notes in the back few blank pages of the book.

The book is centered around Olive Kitteridge, yet most of the chapters and stories are not directly about her. Each story is about someone that was affected by her, or involved with her somehow. There are a few sections that are directly about Olive herself as well.

The characters are referenced in other chapters other than their own, so I opted to keep a chart of characters with a little blip about them and their relationships with other characters, as a reference. This came in handy! I would recommend keeping a character chart so that you can full experience the depth of the novel.

The stories are so real, its small town America! All of the people in the town know each other, they know each others secrets and have crossed each others paths on many occasions. Their lives are intertwined whether they like it or not.

The mothers and fathers desire so greatly to have their children in their arms forever. They want the best for their families and can't understand their children's need to run away all the time. They resign to the fact that all children hate their parents, but have a hard time understanding why.

Spouses find themselves having their needs fulfilled by people they never expected to want or need. They wonder how their relationships have gotten to the places that they are today. They wonder who they have become and why they should need another person to complete them.

The book deals with issues such as anorexia, divorce, aging, disaster, marriage, family and love.

The relationships are complex, and the writing is introspective. This is by far the best book I have read in 2009.