Book Review: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Publisher: Vintage
Paperback Release Date: May 29, 2012
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.” At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.
As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.
By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.
After reading all the glowing reviews of Maine when it first came out a couple of years ago, I finally got around to reading (listening to) it. I’m so glad I did. Sullivan shows herself to be an expert at character development. The characters are richly and carefully written. Things that happened to Alice as a girl have a major impact on her life as a mother and grandmother and we are shown clearly how she came to be the person she is now, in her 80s. Other characters are written the same way.
I liked how Sullivan showed how differently people interpret other’s actions. Someone thinks that someone else prefers to eat alone and therefore doesn’t invite them to dinner while the uninvited person wonders why she was snubbed. Sullivan is able to weave these kinds of misunderstandings in expertly, and sometimes unexpectedly.
Another thing I liked was that historical events were included and accurately described. I can’t say too much about that without giving up a major plot point.
This book was real life through and through. Although I’m usually a fan of tidy endings, I loved how in this case, some things were left hanging. Because in real life, not everything wraps up at the same time.
Maine is definitely a must read.
Note on the audio book: I found the narration pleasant and the different characters each had their own distinct voice. The only concern that I had was that the narrator used a Boston accent for Alice’s dialogue. I checked with a friend who has a print copy and Alice’s accent is not written phonetically in the book. In the audio I found it distracting because I didn’t think the narrator’s accent was that great. I also wondered why Alice had the accent but her children, who had been born and raised in Boston did not.
Other books I’ve reviewed by J. Courtney Sullivan:
The Engagements
