I had heard and read so many great reviews of this book, I finally went ahead and bought it for my Kindle. I tweeted it as my Friday Reads one week, and J. Courtney Sullivan tweeted me back. I find that to be a really cool thing for an author to do. I started reading it when I flew out to San Diego for the BlogHer ’11 Conference. I read just a bit while there [I was busy schmoozing with some amazing bloggers, drinking, and being alone], and then really dug into it on the flight home.
Synopsis: Maine follows the lives of four women in the Kelleher family. For as long as most can remember, they have spent time at the family summer house in Maine. The matriarch, and not very likable on the face of things, is Alice. She is living there full time now and making some big decisions without telling the rest of the family. Her daughter, Kathleen, had finally escaped what she considers her toxic family and run away to California to run a worm farm, much to the chagrin of, well everyone in the family. She returns to the beach house to try to talk sense into her own daughter Maggie that just found out some life changing news. And the fourth family member we get to peek into is Ann Marie, Alice’s seemingly perfect daughter-in-law. There lives are of course not what they seem.
The curmudgeonly Alice has secrets that will make your heart break, while not excusing her horrid behavior. Ann Marie will make you ‘tsk tsk’ at times and at others will have you cringing. Kathleen and Maggie are as opposite and as similar as most mother/daughter teams.
I usually tear through books, wanting to get the whole story as quickly as I can. With Maine, however, I really took my time. I spent almost 3 weeks on it. I wanted to savor it. I wanted to spend some quality time with each of these four women and their supporting players. I wanted to hear their secrets. And then I wanted to un-hear them. I wanted to hug them, and slap them, and explain why they are how they are to those that love them.
I imagine most of us could relate in one way or another to at least one if not all the characters. It definitely reminded me that we all have our own stories. The clerk at the bank does, the school nurse does, you do, I do. And really made me ponder how well we ever really know someone. We don’t know their internal dialogue. We don’t know all of their pain or their joy. We don’t know their heartbreaks, and sometimes we don’t even really know our own.
I do highly recommend this one. It was better than ice cream. ;)
5 out of 5 stars
What are some books that you consider 5 star reads?
Hmmm….books I consider 5 star reads? That is going to be tough, because I usually read 4 to 5 books a week. But lately my 5 star reads are……in no particular order…..
A Man On The Moon, by Andrew Chaikin. A fantastic account of the voyages of the Apollo astronauts. Very informative and interesting. I wish I could read it all over again.
Room, by Emma Donoghue. I’ve already read this three times…….and probably will read it three more times.
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Wow. All I can say is wow.
And the latest book I have read and enjoyed……..
The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown. I lived this along with the sisters….and I saw so much of my family relationships in this book.
Carolyn
I agree with Carmen that the Outlander series is a great read, although I started to lose interest when she moved her characters to the new world in the 4th book.
But for a really gripping read, do check out The Host by Stephanie Meyers. She is best known for the Twilight series, but The Host is definitely a 5-star work. The characters and world she creates are really engaging and incredibly well developed.
Hmmm. this sounds good. I’ll have to download it.
Best book ever? Outlander. It’s the first of (so far) 7 books, soon to be 8 and then 9. Amazing book. Historical fiction, some steamy sex - although maybe you don’t read sex, so who knows - but really, a fascinating, gripping read. I’ve read the entire series at least 5 times and I *still* read it at stop lights - even though I know what’s coming, I still get sucked in.
Each book is more than 1000 pages, so it’ll last you a while.
I love it when you share books you enjoy! Thanks!
“we all have our own stories. The clerk at the bank does, the school nurse does, you do, I do. And really made me ponder how well we ever really know someone. We don’t know their internal dialogue. We don’t know all of their pain or their joy. We don’t know their heartbreaks, and sometimes we don’t even really know our own.”
I try to remember this all the time. If ever there was a reason for the Golden Rule, this is it.