The novel follows four women in the Kelleher family during a monumental
summer at their beach house in Maine. Alice, the matriarch, is a strong
willed and loose tongued woman who feels little affection for her
family. She finds it difficult to relate to her children and
grandchildren despite the fact that they are her blood. Her sections
flash back and forth between the current summer at her house in Maine
and an event from her past that still plagues her with guilt after over
60 years. Kathleen, Alice's daughter, is the misfit in the family. She
is a recovering divorce with two children and a worm farm in California
that she runs with her boyfriend. Her and Alice have always butted heads
which was only exacerbated with Kathleen's father died. However, a
momentous event causes Kathleen to uproot herself from her peaceful life
in California and come east one last time to face her demons...and her
mother. Anne-Marie, Alice's daughter-in-law, is the character everyone
loves to hate. She was a stay at home mom who is a stickler for proper
manners and etiquette. Though she was from the wrong side of the tracks,
she has abandoned most of her past in hopes of becoming an upper-class
socialite. Her only problem is her dysfunctional children and distant
husband. Maggie, Kathleen's daughter, has always looked for love in all
of the wrong places. Unfortunately, this last place left her pregnant
and alone. She goes to Maine in an effort to get back to herself and
plan her next move. When these four women are forced to share a house
(or two), fights erupt, skeletons are unleashed from closets, and their
love of family is tested.
Don't be fooled by the rocks that Maine "got", those waters are treacherous! |
I know this sounds like a lot of material, but Sullivan pulls it off
without ever confusing the reader. Each character has her own dynamic
and personality which is a feat when writing a novel that is constructed
of all female narrators. Interestingly, none of the characters are
likeable but I was still hooked on their every word. Perhaps the reason
is that every family has an Alice, Kathleen, and Anne-Marie. The
dynamics between the four women was fascinating and completely real. I
would have enjoyed some insight from the men in the family, but I think
that's another book as this one is all about the Kelleher matriarchy.
Some reviewers were annoyed that the book didn't have more to do with
Maine and wasn't really a beach read. Both of these statements are true.
If you're looking for chick lit complete with a quirky main character
and prince charming, this is absolutely not your book. If you're looking
for a book that drops the names of various town and restaurants in
Maine so if you have been to Maine you can feel like you're "in the
know"...this is not it! This is a reasonably dark family drama that just
happens to be set on the beach. Unfortunately, I could not give this
book five stars because some of the Kathleen sections were a bit cliched
or clunky. I felt that all of the other women were well developed and
unique. However, I felt like I had met Kathleen before in many novels
and Lifetime movies. Still, it didn't hurt my opinion of the novel which
I will certainly be recommending.
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