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Jun
14
Read It Now: MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan
2011 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Published June 14, 2011 by Knopf
Tolstoy may have been right when he said that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, but J. Courtney Sullivan’s new novel Maine reminds us that some things—like our tendency to revert to long-ingrained behaviors and ways of being when we’re with our families—are universal. In Maine, Sullivan brings three generations of women from the Kelleher family together at their summer house, where they dredge up old disputes, incite new ones, and search for the love that underlies their chronic dysfunction.
At the head of the family is Alice, the matriarch, who at 83 is haunted by guilt from a mistake she made more than half a century prior and is struggling to reconcile her devout Catholic faith with her feeling that her sins are unforgivable. Alice’s middle-aged daughter Kathleen, a recovering alcoholic who escaped to California to raise worms with her ex-Dead Head boyfriend, is returning to the family’s home for the first time in ten years to confront her own daughter Maggie, who is pregnant and newly single. And then there’s Alice’s daughter-in-law Ann Marie, who threw herself headlong into marriage and motherhood and doesn’t seem to know what to do with herself now that her children are out of the house and are proving not to be as perfect as she’d hoped. She’s trying but floundering, and if she, like Alice, needs a glass (or four) of wine to get through the afternoon, well it could be worse.
In chapters that revolve between the four women’s perspectives, Sullivan delineates sixty years of family history and demonstrates remarkable narrative skill as she inhabits Alice, Kathleen, Maggie, and Ann Marie’s very different worlds with equal command and insight. Most compelling is her portrait of Alice, who easily charms strangers but reserves an “iciness” for her family and “sometimes slipped into venomous moods with warning.” Alice, like all of the Kelleher women, is a product of her time, and her synthesis of eighty-three years of life reveals both the monumental differences between women of her generation and women of Maggie’s and the timeless threads of common experience that connect them.
Sullivan’s feminist identity (you may recall my raving about her 2010 essay collection Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists) informs her characterization and suffuses the story with subtle but pointed commentary on the ways in which women’s lives are shaped by the options they perceive are available to them. Maine is being billed—not altogether incorrectly—as a “beach book for smart women,” but to leave it at that is to sell the book short. This is an emotionally rich examination of family and the landscape of relationships that readers male and female alike will find applicable and appealing.
Learn more at J. Courtney Sullivan’s website and follow her on Twitter @jcourtsull.
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I just picked up a copy of this at a used book sale, which was crazy because the book had yet to be released *It was an ARC, one of four that I found at said sale!). Plus, I had no idea that Sullivan had a new book coming out. I read Commencement and was kind of ambivalent about it, but I definitely want to give her another try. Glad you liked this one!
Stephanie´s last [type] ..Book Review- The Long Journey Home
I had seen this book mentioned elsewhere today but skipped past it because of the “beachy” cover. Had you not said to read it now, I may have continued skipping.
Thanks!
jenn aka the picky girl´s last [type] ..The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson
Jenn, the beachy cover almost deterred me as well. In fact, it DID deter me until a trusted friend recommended that I pick it up.
I just ordered a copy last night! I am so excited.
Jill´s last [type] ..A little of this- a little of that
I really enjoyed your wonderful review. I’m thrilled to read a blogger’s review of Maine after reading a terrific review of this book in yesterday’s New York Times! Sullivan’s Alice as well as Maggie and the other characters sound engaging, funny and intriguing Along with a wonderful setting, Maine sounds like a perfect summer read!
Thank you!
Amy´s last [type] ..The London Train by Tessa Hadley
Wow, sounds like a very interesting story! I think I’ll get myself a copy (gotta keep myself busy while breastfeeding
)
Thank you!
Larissa´s last [type] ..Looking better Feeling better
I agree with the above comments- I definitely judge books by their covers and this one would not have made it onto my list. I wonder what the not-smart women will think of this “beach” read…
Christine @ BB´s last [type] ..This is Very – adjective
This is sort of my favorite kind of bait and switch—use a cover to reel in a reader looking for something light and subtly slip them something high quality.
I’m hearing such sexy buzz about this book— you and Jennifer Pooley for the win! I’m supes intrigued!
Wow, this sounds TOTALLY different from Sullivan’s other book, Commencement. Which I have to admit I didn’t like very much…but this one sounds intriguing. Kudos to her for trying something new!
I love the idea of a beach read for smart women: a book that is both entertaining and thought provoking. I am always looking for something deeper in books. This sounds like the perfect summer read for me. Thanks for sharing!
Super excited to read this one — especially after your review! I have a shiny copy waiting in my bookcase and will be sure to grab it soon. Though the “family returns to the beach house” trope isn’t something totally new, glad to hear it’s done in an excellent way.
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This book sounds wonderful. I love the way you described Sullivan’s writing of the 4 women & Alice sounds particularly interesting and fun! I read another good review of Maine in last Sunday’s NY Times Book Review. And I was hoping to hear Sullivan read and possibly meet her Tuesday night when she was ta a Brooklyn bookstore. I didn’t make it as I was delayed at an earleir appointment. But after reading your review of Maine, I know this is a book I want to read…great characters, terrific setting and a compelling, insightful author! yay
)
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Thanks for the love! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I’m extremely excited for this one! Have you read her first novel, Commencement? It’s the same type of book – very high quality, smart women’s fiction. I really loved it.
Heather @ Book Addiction´s last [type] ..The Red Umbrella vs Tell Us We’re Home – Nerds Heart YA
The first line has already caught my attention and I can’t agree with it any more than that. All families have different problems, but the interesting factor is that this book focuses on the generation of the entire family and shows their struggles. The book cover totally doesn’t resemble what you have described, which is pretty interesting. It’s like the hidden message of Sullivan to make you think deeper than what is shown on the surface.
More like the publisher’s not-so-hidden (but totally defensible) agenda to make this a popular summer read, despite the heavier-than-expected subject matter.
I see your point as well. Sounds like a lovely book to enjoy outdoors!
This amazing book is spot-on about Irish American Catholicity, mean mothers who turn their charm on outsiders but have none for the folks at home, middle-aged daughters trying to make sense of the tight wire act between placating Mom and understanding Daughter. I wish I hadn’t read it yet and had the experience ahead of me. Every third page or so, I’d hoot with laughter or close my eyes with a momentary sharp pain of recognition. Wonderful book. Wonderful writer.