J. Courtney Sullivan's Maine
Sullivan (author of Commencement, which I liked a lot) manages a surprisingly entertaining sophomore effort. I say surprising b/c the description--three generations of women converge in a beach house--might sound kind of cliched and boring, but here, it isn't. Our women are 80-something matriarch Alice, plagued by past secrets and disappointments; her daughter Kathleen, a hippie-slash-recovering alcoholic; daughter-in-law Ann Marie, striving for perfection; and Kathleen's daughter Maggie, who's just discovered she's pregnant but is in a pretty lame relationship. I read a review complaining that Sullivan takes too long to bring the characters together, but I found her narrative effective--lots of backstory on their family dramas, and then things rachet up once they're together. Anyway, I liked the characters a lot, but thought the ending was a bit too abrupt--I'd have liked to see more resolution. I thought there'd be at least another chapter but then suddenly there were the acknowledgments and a reading group guide. A-.
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