Elizabeth Strout's 'Olive Kitteridge'

But don’t look here for lighthouses and quaint charm — for Lake Wobegon with lobsters.

Strout’s big, blunt heroine and the book’s namesake, Olive Kitteridge, is tough, wounded, wounding. She’s a force of nature — and nature creates and destroys. And endures, here in the face of infidelity, suicide, hostage-taking and life’s bewilderment.

This hour, On Point: Pulitzer Prize-winner Elizabeth Strout and “Olive Kitteridge.”

You can join the conversation. Have you read it? What did you learn from Olive Kitteridge? What can we learn from these stories of small-town interconnectedness? In our go-go-go fast-paced global world, how important is it to know our neighbors? Our community? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guest:

Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her latest book, "Olive Kitteridge." Previous works include "Abide with Me" and "Amy and Isabelle." She is on the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Read an excerpt from "Olive Kitteridge."