The Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton author branches out with the tale of a Massachusetts teacher haunted by trauma The Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton author branches out with the tale of a Massachusetts teacher haunted by trauma T he American author Elizabeth Strout famously persisted throughout years of rejection to publish her first novel when she was in her 40s, and the hard work has certainly paid off. She won a Pulitzer prize in 2009, and has been nominated multiple times for the Booker