Maine

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Alice and her husband, Charlie Kelleher, and their three children. They are the quintessential Irish-Catholic family living in Canton, Massachusetts. Early in their marriage Alice and Charlie come to own beach property in Maine and Charlie and his family build a cabin on the property, which becomes the mainstay for the family’s summer vacations. Summertime, for the Kellehers, becomes the stuff that dreams are made of: kids running around, sand play, swimming and lots of family time. The house itself changes and gets added to over the years as does the family itself. This story is told by a narrator from the perspectives of Alice, the grandmother, Kathleen, her oldest daughter, Anne Marie, her daughter-in-law and Maggie, her granddaughter, also Kathleen’s daughter. This is story of the ever-changing landscape of a family and learning to navigate the difference between our memories and reality.

I love this story. It’s not perfect, but Sullivan does a great job getting and keeping your attention. Perhaps I like it so much because the story is told through the perspectives of the women in the family, "Lately...she had become painfully aware of the pairs of old ladies everywhere she went...The men didn't last. That was something they never told you when you were young and desperately searching for one...in the end it was only women. In the end, it was just sisters". I'm not sure if this sentiment is entirely true, but I like having the story told from the view point of four strong women, each with her own story and baggage. It makes for a rich, well-developed story. It’s my second summer reading this book and I’m thinking this might be the start of a good tradition!