Brunswick author Elizabeth Strout will speak Friday at Stone Mountain Arts in Brownfield. Photo by Leonardo Cendamo

Not that she needed a sales boost, but Elizabeth Strout got one Thursday when Oprah Winfrey named Strout’s latest novel, “Olive, Again,” as her latest book club pick.

Strout, who splits her time between Brunswick and New York, said the plainspoken Olive Kitteridge would be pleased with the news. “Olive would say, ‘Godfrey Mighty!'” Strout told The Associated Press in an email. “But even Olive would be impressed with Oprah onboard with her story. Olive – who would not admit to it publicly – would be really pleased that Oprah finds her life so worthy of respect.”

“Olive, Again” follows Strout’s “Olive Kitteridge,” which was published in 2008 and won the Pulitzer Prize. “Olive, Again” is Winfrey’s second pick for her new partnership with Apple. Her first pick, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel “The Water Dancer,” in September, topped the Apple and Amazon.com bestseller lists.

“Olive, Again” debuted at No. 6 on The New York Times’ hardcover fiction bestseller list.

Strout retweeted Winfrey’s announcement, writing, “Oprah has done so much to support readers and writers over the years. I am really thrilled and honored that she choose OLIVE AGAIN as her next Oprah’s Book Club pick!”

In her tweet, Winfrey wrote, “As cranky as Olive is, she teaches us so much about loneliness, empathy & loss. All the things that make us human.”

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