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Maine
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Review
'Rich and exhilarating... The dialogue sizzles... Maine does not falter. You don't want this novel to end.' --New York Times Book Review
'This read will transport you... The cast of quirky characters will have you laughing out loud and aching for their regrets in the same chapter, pining for more pages when it comes to an end.' --Marie Claire
'Whether you're in need of a beach-read or looking for a festive fireside book, Courtney Sullivan's Maine... is just the thing.' --Grazia
'Bittersweet, true to life, Maine is a reminder that every family should be celebrated however dysfunctional.' --Bella Pollen, author of The Summer of the Bear
'Simple yet elegant, sometimes funny, often sad and always convincing. By the end, I felt as if I knew the characters intimately. Their shared history, with all its secrets, guilt, fear and hope, will definitely stay with me.'
--Emma Henderson, author of Grace Williams Says It Loud
'This read will transport you... The cast of quirky characters will have you laughing out loud and aching for their regrets in the same chapter, pining for more pages when it comes to an end.' --Marie Claire
'Whether you're in need of a beach-read or looking for a festive fireside book, Courtney Sullivan's Maine... is just the thing.' --Grazia
'Bittersweet, true to life, Maine is a reminder that every family should be celebrated however dysfunctional.' --Bella Pollen, author of The Summer of the Bear
'Simple yet elegant, sometimes funny, often sad and always convincing. By the end, I felt as if I knew the characters intimately. Their shared history, with all its secrets, guilt, fear and hope, will definitely stay with me.'
--Emma Henderson, author of Grace Williams Says It Loud
Product Description
The Kelleher clan's beachfront holiday house creaks under a weight of secrets. Won in a bar-room bet after the War, it is a place where cocktails follow morning mass, children eavesdrop, and ancient grudges fester. One summer, three generations of Kelleher women descend on the shore. Kathleen, finally sober, hoped never to set foot there again. Maggie, pregnant, has left her hopeless boyfriend. Ann-Marie, bound to the family by marriage, fantasizes about an extra-marital affair. In the middle of all this is matriarch Alice, who drinks to forget her failings as a parent and the events of a single night, decades before. As changeable as the sea in front of their house, the Kelleher family is by turns fierce and loving, cruel and unforgiving. Maine is a novel of sibling rivalry and painful secrets, alcoholism and denial; it lays bare the paradoxical nature of family and the love that we are bound to, no matter how savage the storm.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This book tells the story of the Kelleher family, an Irish-American family living in New England. The story centres around their beach-side holiday home in rural Maine. This is shared by 4 generations of the family all of whom spend part of every summer here. It holds many memories, some happy, some sad. The family is headed by matriarch Alice, aged 83. Alice can be utterly charming but can also be calculating, manipulative and totally self-centred. Above all, she is completely lacking in self-awareness. We meet Alice's 3 children, Patrick, Kathleen and Clare, each of whom has been allocated 1 month each summer in the holiday cottage. All 3 adults have had, and still have, considerable difficulties in their relationship with Alice. Both Kathleen and Clare have chosen to live in other parts of the country in order to escape her. Finally, we meet the 3rd generation - Alice's grandchildren. The grandchildren have just as many problems with their parents as their parents had with Alice.
The message given by the book is that children are shaped by their families and they then go on and shape their children in a similar manner. And so it goes on, generation after generation. In this novel we see how the malign influence of Alice filters down through the different generations. People may try to escape their background, but they cannot do so completely - that background has made them what they are. The circle can never be completely broken.
The great thing about this book is the character development. We are dealing with an extended family but each family member is brought vividly to life. I particularly liked the way each individual chapter in the book is written from the viewpoint of one of the characters. This means we get to see not only how each character views himself or herself but we get to see how they view all the other characters. Every character is multi-faceted - we are presented with multiple views of each family member. In the end the reader has to make up his/her own mind as to which view is the correct one.
I enjoyed the book very much indeed and I am happy to recommend it. It reminded me in some ways of "The Island" by Elin Hilderbrand which told the story of 3 members of a family spending the summer in their beachfront holiday cottage on a small island in Nantucket. There are similarities between both books. If you have read "The Island" and enjoyed it, you will love "Maine".
The message given by the book is that children are shaped by their families and they then go on and shape their children in a similar manner. And so it goes on, generation after generation. In this novel we see how the malign influence of Alice filters down through the different generations. People may try to escape their background, but they cannot do so completely - that background has made them what they are. The circle can never be completely broken.
The great thing about this book is the character development. We are dealing with an extended family but each family member is brought vividly to life. I particularly liked the way each individual chapter in the book is written from the viewpoint of one of the characters. This means we get to see not only how each character views himself or herself but we get to see how they view all the other characters. Every character is multi-faceted - we are presented with multiple views of each family member. In the end the reader has to make up his/her own mind as to which view is the correct one.
I enjoyed the book very much indeed and I am happy to recommend it. It reminded me in some ways of "The Island" by Elin Hilderbrand which told the story of 3 members of a family spending the summer in their beachfront holiday cottage on a small island in Nantucket. There are similarities between both books. If you have read "The Island" and enjoyed it, you will love "Maine".
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Courtney Sullivan's "Maine" is quite simply a terrific read. It's the story of three generations of the Irish-American Kelleher family, and more specifically four women and their relationships. Each of the four main characters are brilliantly drawn - there's something quite vile about each but you also sympathise with their plights - which is not an easy trick to pull off. It's touching, dysfunctional and often laugh out loud funny (I know that sounds like a cliche but it genuinely did make me laugh out loud on several occasions).
The matriarch is Alice, a bereaved woman, devoted to the Catholic church and wine in almost equal measure, both driven by the need to forget a painful incident in her past. Her relationship with her three children is strained and she's a difficult woman - elegant and charming one moment and cutting and spiteful the next. Her eldest daughter, Kathleen, is a recovering alcoholic who has fled as far as she can from the family home to live in California where she has gone all New Age and runs a worm farm producing "poop tea". Alice's son, Patrick, is married to Ann Marie whose emotional crutch is the drive to be the perfect, all-American Mom - although the reality is far from that. She is pure in deed if not in thought, fantasising about a relationship with her next door neighbour while designing perfect dolls houses. She's the outsider, as the only non-Kelleher in the story, but does more for Alice than any of the old lady's own children. Then there is Kathleen's daughter, Maggie who is probably the most sympathetic character. Her addiction is to bad relationships and the most recent has left her pregnant but single again.
The characterisation is superb - particularly of the women. If I have a slight reservation about the book it is that the men are less well drawn, but as this is really the story of the females, this is easily forgiven. The dialogue and thoughts of the women are brilliant - often vicious and cruel, with each knowing exactly what to say to bug the others as only families do. The ability to make the reader care about characters even when they behave atrociously is not easy to pull off.
Equally adept is Sullivan's ability to interweave the back-stories into the narrative.
The story is set around the Kelleher summer home in ... you don't really need me to tell you where it is, do you? ... and the story is so vividly told that you can almost smell the sea at times. It's one of those books where you feel you know the characters and where you are saddened at the end, not because of the ending but simply because it has ended. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's kind of a more readable Jonathan Franzen - and if that sounds like high praise, it is. But it's not all light prose, there's genuine depth and thoughtful issues about generational differences and faith, amongst other things, here.
The matriarch is Alice, a bereaved woman, devoted to the Catholic church and wine in almost equal measure, both driven by the need to forget a painful incident in her past. Her relationship with her three children is strained and she's a difficult woman - elegant and charming one moment and cutting and spiteful the next. Her eldest daughter, Kathleen, is a recovering alcoholic who has fled as far as she can from the family home to live in California where she has gone all New Age and runs a worm farm producing "poop tea". Alice's son, Patrick, is married to Ann Marie whose emotional crutch is the drive to be the perfect, all-American Mom - although the reality is far from that. She is pure in deed if not in thought, fantasising about a relationship with her next door neighbour while designing perfect dolls houses. She's the outsider, as the only non-Kelleher in the story, but does more for Alice than any of the old lady's own children. Then there is Kathleen's daughter, Maggie who is probably the most sympathetic character. Her addiction is to bad relationships and the most recent has left her pregnant but single again.
The characterisation is superb - particularly of the women. If I have a slight reservation about the book it is that the men are less well drawn, but as this is really the story of the females, this is easily forgiven. The dialogue and thoughts of the women are brilliant - often vicious and cruel, with each knowing exactly what to say to bug the others as only families do. The ability to make the reader care about characters even when they behave atrociously is not easy to pull off.
Equally adept is Sullivan's ability to interweave the back-stories into the narrative.
The story is set around the Kelleher summer home in ... you don't really need me to tell you where it is, do you? ... and the story is so vividly told that you can almost smell the sea at times. It's one of those books where you feel you know the characters and where you are saddened at the end, not because of the ending but simply because it has ended. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's kind of a more readable Jonathan Franzen - and if that sounds like high praise, it is. But it's not all light prose, there's genuine depth and thoughtful issues about generational differences and faith, amongst other things, here.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Summer for the Kelleher family means the beach house in Maine, as it has done for years. For Alice, now in her eighties, it holds many memories of summers with her late husband Daniel, and happy times on the beach with their children. It also represents the last bit of power she has over her children - her son Patrick and his wife Ann-Marie in particular, who are nakedly keen to get their hands on the house.
Alice hasn't always been the best mother or grandmother. She is tough and contrary, changes her mood on a whim and often rubs people up the wrong way. Under daughter-in-law Ann-Marie's ordnances, the family have a month at a time to spend with her over the summer - and first to arrive is Maggie, her granddaughter, who is secretly pregnant having just left her feckless boyfriend Gabe.
Waiting in the wings is Ann-Marie herself, driven to create the most perfect dolls' house for a national competition at a time when her own children seem to be letting her down. She's invited along Steve and Linda, family friends, and can't help seeing Steve in an attractive romantic light, convinced that he's been flirting with her.
Finally, there's Kathleen, Maggie's mother, a recovering alcoholic who has issues with both Alice and Ann-Marie. What could possibly go wrong?!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I could really picture the beach house, and found all the characters vivid and well described. I particularly liked how the author shows us how flawed they all are, how weak and vulnerable they have been in the past - but in such a way that we are always sympathetic (even towards Alice!) Put it in your suitcase - it's the perfect holiday read.
Alice hasn't always been the best mother or grandmother. She is tough and contrary, changes her mood on a whim and often rubs people up the wrong way. Under daughter-in-law Ann-Marie's ordnances, the family have a month at a time to spend with her over the summer - and first to arrive is Maggie, her granddaughter, who is secretly pregnant having just left her feckless boyfriend Gabe.
Waiting in the wings is Ann-Marie herself, driven to create the most perfect dolls' house for a national competition at a time when her own children seem to be letting her down. She's invited along Steve and Linda, family friends, and can't help seeing Steve in an attractive romantic light, convinced that he's been flirting with her.
Finally, there's Kathleen, Maggie's mother, a recovering alcoholic who has issues with both Alice and Ann-Marie. What could possibly go wrong?!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I could really picture the beach house, and found all the characters vivid and well described. I particularly liked how the author shows us how flawed they all are, how weak and vulnerable they have been in the past - but in such a way that we are always sympathetic (even towards Alice!) Put it in your suitcase - it's the perfect holiday read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant
Brought up in the 1950's female & catholic, this book will take you back. It is the best read I've had in ages. You can almost hear & smell the ocean. Read more
Published 3 months ago by RC
Chill Out!
A novel which deconstructs three female generations of one family can be a sentimental trial to read, not this one. Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. J. Saxton
Great holiday read
This is a family saga about a New England Catholic Irish-American clan. It focusses on Alice, the elderly, widowed matriarch; Kathleen, her troubled daughter; Anne-Marie, Alice's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Tealady2000
Convincing and Absorbing New England Family Saga
Maine is a saga of the Kelleher family through several generations. There are four main narrators and each chapter is told from the viewpoint of one of them. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Brett H
A difficult read
'Maine' by J. Courtney Sullivan is just one of those books: a book that you feel you should enjoy because of a well-crafted plot and insightful characters but nevertheless a book... Read more
Published 3 months ago by San Diego surfer
A wonderful holiday read
I read Maine on holiday, where I had plenty of time to immerse myself in the characters, and the gentle unfolding of their individual stories and their shared narrative. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mitra
Family saga
A multi-generational family saga of the Kelleher family, Irish-Americans living in New England. The setting for the book is their summer house on Shore Road, Maine, an idyllic... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Clare Mccann
A family summer holiday?
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The story centres round an Irish American Boston family and their summer home in Cape Neddick, Maine. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Freckles
A Beautifully Pitched Family saga
J. Courtney Sullivan's second novel, "Maine", is a superb slice of dysfunctional family drama, set on the beautiful shores of Maine's coast. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Huggermugger
a dysfunctional family summer in Maine makes a good read.
I found this to be a fascinating read, as I love reading multi generational stories with strong female characters. Read more
Published 4 months ago by elsie purdon
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