Olivia (or, The Weight of the Past) is the penultimate novel by Judith Rossner, author of the critically acclaimed best sellers Looking for Mr. Goodbar and August.

After dropping out of college, she travels to Italy, where she finds work in a restaurant and meets Angelo, a Sicilian in his thirties.

After several episodes of abuse, Caroline divorces Angelo, leaving twelve-year-old Olivia, who prefers her father, in Rome.

When they return, they announce their intention to marry in the Catholic Church in order to please Pablo's family and Caroline reluctantly agrees to cater the event, which angers Leon, who correctly guesses that Caroline is not pushing Olivia to abort the pregnancy because she secretly wishes to become the baby's primary caretaker.

Soon afterward, Olivia gives birth to Donna and sinks into a deep post-partum depression, completely ignoring the baby.

"[2] The Los Angeles Times noted that Olivia is "a remarkable exploration of the intimate, complex connections between food and emotion...."[3] Ruth Reichl of The New York Times wrote in 1994, "Few writers are better than Judith Rossner at describing the agonized ties between mothers and daughters.