**Maine
**Courtney Sullivan – Atlantic
*
*Ahh, families. You can’t choose them, nor can you trade them in for a nicer set. You get the feeling that’s what most of the four major characters in Courtney Sullivan’s latest book would dearly love to do. They generally don’t like each other very much (apart from a couple of exceptions) and with good reason – for the most part, they’re not very likeable people.
Maggie Doyle is probably the most endearing of the women at the heart of this book. A writer with confidence issues and a waste-of-space boyfriend, she discovers she’s pregnant but keeps the news to herself because she knows her family is not going to be impressed.
Her mother, Kathleen Doyle, is a former alcoholic, but still capable of causing chaos and disharmony wherever she goes. Kathleen’s sister-in-law Ann Marie Kelleher, on the other hand, annoys her in-laws because she’s such a goodietwo-shoes who seems to look down her nose at everyone else.
Then there’s Alice Kelleher, the family matriarch who is difficult at best. She’s been keeping a couple of huge secrets – one involving the tragic death many years ago of her sister, and the other concerning her beach house in Maine.
This story starts at the beginning of summer, with various family members heading to a house in Maine, or planning their trips there. Not a lot happens until a long way into the book, but despite this slow build-up, and the fact you’re itching to slap the leading ladies, it’s easy to become hooked.
Courtney Sullivan writes with great perception and insight. Her characters are three-dimensional and authentic and she avoids stereotypes and clichés. This novel is by no means a typical page-turner but manages to be riveting because the characters are so easy to relate to.
You can’t help being desperate to know what happens next and the outcomes aren’t always what you expect, making this a satisfying read.
