Maine

This book had been on my TBR list for a while--how could it not be when it's a story about a dysfunctional family spanning three generations set in a summer home on coastal Maine? I say this because I, too, have spent summers up on the coast of Maine in the midst of dysfunction spanning generations, and I, too, have recognized the setting as good fodder for fiction. 

Title: Maine

Author: J. Courtney Sullivan

Year: 2011

Genre: Fiction

Setting: Ogunquit, Maine

Characters: Alice (matriarch), Daniel (Alice's husband), Kathleen (eldest daughter), Clare (middle daughter), Pat (son), Ann Marie (Pat's wife), Maggie (Kathleen's daughter), Father Donnelly (priest)

Plot: Alice once dreamed of living abroad in Paris as an artist, and being a wife and mother did not factor into that vision. However, when her sister died in a tragic fire in downtown Boston, Alice blamed herself and vowed to live the life her sister would've lived--that of a dutiful wife and mother. She married Daniel and they had three children. Alice drank to avoid her feelings and regret until a car accident forced her to give up that outlet, too. The only pleasure she had was the lot in Maine Daniel had won in a bet; they had their own cottage on the beach, a place to escape to every summer. Over the years, Alice's children grew and had children of their own, and everyone loved the cabin in Maine. Alice was hard to get along with, and each of her children and grandchildren dealt with her in their own way, some by running away, others by glossing over the insults and pain. This summer, three generations of Kelleher women have to face each other and accept or reject the inevitable pain and abrupt awakenings that come with reunion. 

Verdict:  In dedicating each chapter to a character, we could live in the bodies of these women as they faced each other and themselves. This allowed us to give grace to some pretty unlikeable characters. In one chapter you would despise a person for being so callous and in the next you'd learn what she was thinking or what she dealt with afterward. Sullivan brilliantly revealed how family dysfunction is never the sole responsibility of one person; all members contribute. The descriptions of Maine didn't quite come alive to me, but the setting wasn't a character in the same way it was in Sweetland, so maybe that's okay. I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with generational barriers in their families or to those who are interested in the Irish Catholic immigrant experience in New England. 8/10