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    Maine
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    Maine
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    Maine
    Audiobook17 hours

    Maine

    Written by J. Courtney Sullivan

    Narrated by Ann Marie Lee

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us into even richer territory, introducing four unforgettable women who have nothing in common but the fact that, like it or not, they're family.

    For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials "A.H." At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.

    As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

    By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 14, 2011
    ISBN9780307917300
    Unavailable
    Maine

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    Reviews for Maine

    3.5/5

    465 ratings54 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A mix between a novel and chick literature, focuses on the relationships between three generations of women in a Boston Irish Catholic family told in each woman's perspective. Lots of thoughts on marriage and family. perfect beach read!
    • 5/5
      Great beach read
    • 3/5
      A decent beachy read.
    • 4/5
      One reviewer calls this a comic novel. Although I laughed a bit here and there, I didn't find it that funny. Dysfunctional families are not amusing, not if you have your own. The writer tells the story from the point of view of each of the four women in the family: Alice, the matriarch, Kathleen, her estranged daughter, Maggie, Kathleen's daughter who always tries to keep the peace, and Anne Marie, Alice's daughter-in-law, the hyper-efficient Perfect one who tries to get along with everyone. The four very different women come together at the family summer home in Cape Neddick, Maine, and that is the scene of most of the humor. A very readable story with well-developed characters. A family you would not want to belong to, at least I wouldn't. But gosh, I hated the ending.
    • 3/5
      Maine, by J. Courtney Sullivan, is a sprawling novel, set in the present day but going back as far the forties. Although centered around Alice Brennan Kelleher, the 83 year old matriarch of a large Boston Irish family, the novel alternates among the perspectives of Alice, her daughter Kathleen, granddaughter Maggie, and daughter-in-law Ann Marie. Each woman's chapters focus in depth on her perceptions of this particularly dysfunctional family and how it's everybody else's fault that things are the way they are. This one drinks too much. So does that one. That one's a reformed alcoholic, and what a sanctimonious bitch she is. And so on.That said, J. Courtney Sullivan, author most recently of Commencement, a similarly structured novel, does a really good job of it. Despite my best efforts I was sucked into the drama of the Kelleher women, siding with each in turn as her aspect of the story came round again. And when all four of the women finally came together at the familial vacation home in Maine--well over 200 pages into the novel--the novel, too, came together. Would that we had spent more time in Maine!Maine is Lady Lit (yes, capital L capital L) at its best. Sullivan will have a bestseller with this one, and I'll look forward to each successive novel she brings us.
    • 1/5
      Boring and simplistic despite an interesting setting.
    • 4/5
      I would have liked a more surprising narrative arc, but I thought the women's voices were funny and touching.
    • 3/5
      This book was fabulous until the end - the author clearly ran out of ideas about how to wrap up the multiple characters' narratives, and it just fizzled out. I was disappointed, because I loved her first book, Commencement. I think endings might be a problem for Sullivan - her first one had a surprise ending that was kind of ridiculous.
    • 3/5
      I liked this story of a large, dysfunctional Irish Catholic family.
    • 4/5
      hilarious and heartbreaking, this novel deals with one wealthy family's journey to come to terms with the past secrets, and attempt to heal.
    • 5/5
      Oh, how I love a good family saga! Chapters told from alternating viewpoints by three generations of women, and a large summer home on the Maine coast only enhance the experience. Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan offers both, along with the requisite problems and drama you've come to expect in a multi-generational family story. Just don't expect it to be neatly tied up with a ribbon at the end... life isn't like than anyway.

      4.5/5
    • 3/5
      If there's one thing I am quite familiar with, it's how different the relationship between a mother and each daughter can be. I attribute this knowledge to the fact that I have five full-blooded sisters and not a single one of us has a relationship with our mother that is the same as the others. So, when J. Courtney Sullivan's book, Maine, was released in 2011, I watched the buzz and talk and praise fly by on various social media sites and I struggled - did I really want to read a story about mothers and daughters? It wasn't until I received a gift card to Barnes and Noble and, seeing the talk about Sullivan's newest book being released, did I decide to take the plunge.Read the rest of this review on The Lost Entwife on July 31, 2013!
    • 5/5
      Maine by Jay Courtney SullivanFamily beach house in Maine where over the years the family membershave assembled. Three generations of females descent upon the houseone summer. Story starts out with how they were first married, and hehad won the land when another couldn't pay their card debt.Alice remained and Daniel had passed away. Each of the kids and theirfamilies would come to the house a different month for each child andtheir family.Very confusing as each person gets their own chapter and you struggle tofigure out who it is they are even talking about. Goes from the presentto the past.It is a very good book, the setting especially.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the relationships in this book. It was an interesting look at the women of one family, their thoughts of one another, their thoughts of themselves and their family relationships. What happens when life throws them curveballs, and how would their lives have been different. And it all revolves around the family vacation home in Maine. Well written, interesting and thought provoking.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book but wish there had been a sequel.
    • 3/5
      I wasn't expecting to like this book at all as I'm not a fan of dysfunctional family drama; however, this one was a pleasant surprise. First, I do believe it is very well written; some of the descriptions are particularly vivid and the characters are all believable (well, except one -- more on that later). Secondly, I did appreciate the story of the Coconut Grove fire which I was not familiar with. I felt that bit of "history" did added a great deal to the story. Thirdly, these are flawed characters, but who isn't. The character of Ann Marie is especially interesting in that working hard to be good is a character flaw. Yet, there is something admirable in each of them as well. I don't think I would want to spend much time with Anne, but she does come across as a crusty old woman seeking consolation from the Catholic Church. The men, however, are not so believable, especially the young priest. We never get to meet Anne's husband but hear much, Arlo is almost a comic drawing, Gabe is just a shallow jerk, but the priest who has such a role in the story is just not credible. What priest spends his time fixing some woman's sink and seems to be available for lunch on any one day?The relationship between the women is the real story with all its tugs and pulls. Being a mother, daughter, and mother-in-law all at the same time can get very tricky and I believe this is a pretty realistic rendering of those intanglements. Our situations may be different, but there is always that love/hate relationship between parent and child; then add a marriage into the mix and things can get even more complicated.In short, nI wasn't expecting to like this book at all as I'm not a fan of dysfunctional family drama; however, this one was a pleasant surprise. First, I do believe it is very well written; some of the descriptions are particularly vivid and the characters are all believable (well, except one -- more on that later). Secondly, I did appreciate the story of the Coconut Grove fire which I was not familiar with. I felt that bit of "history" did added a great deal to the story. Thirdly, these are flawed characters, but who isn't. The character of Ann Marie is especially interesting in that working hard to be good is a character flaw. Yet, there is something admirable in each of them as well. I don't think I would want to spend much time with Anne, but she does come across as a crusty old woman seeking consolation from the Catholic Church. The men, however, are not so believable, especially the young priest. We never get to meet Anne's husband but hear much, Arlo is almost a comic drawing, Gabe is just a shallow jerk, but the priest who has such a role in the story is just not credible. What priest spends his time fixing some woman's sink and seems to be available for lunch on any one day?The relationship between the women is the real story with all its tugs and pulls. Being a mother, daughter, and mother-in-law all at the same time can get very tricky and I believe this is a pretty realistic rendering of those intanglements. Our situations may be different, but there is always that love/hate relationship between parent and child; then add a marriage into the mix and things can get even more complicated.In short, not the best read, but certainly not the worst. The one thing I did like was the author did not include a lot of what I call "internal emotional angst". I've read some "family dramas" which are more like psychological studies and pity parties. Sullivan lets the characters speak for themselves by their words and actions.ot the best read, but certainly not the worst. The one thing I did like was the author did not include a lot of what I call "internal emotional angst". I've read some "family dramas" which are more like psychological studies and pity parties. Sullivan lets the characters speak for themselves by their words and actions.
    • 3/5
      Characters made me want to finish this book. However, don' t think it was well-written and hated the ending. Don't think I would ever have read it if I knew how it would end.
    • 3/5
      The book had a good base story and excellent character development.But after the first 100 pages it got so bogged down in details,it just got boring. The story centers around the cottage in Maine and the family. It had very good parts to the story that kept me reading and it had its long,boring dragged out parts.
      I realize Ann Marie was naive and quite a perfectionist,but I did not need to know about thread count for the sheets in her doll house.
    • 3/5
      I found this slow going mainly because I never really connected with the characters.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book, which centered on the relationships between three generations of women in a Boston Irish Catholic family. For the most part the characters rang true, several of them feeling familiar to this nice Jewish girl from the Midwest. The cover of this book makes it look like chick-lit, and it is not that at all. If I had just seen the cover I would likely have skipped over this book. Luckily I read the New York Times book review before seeing this on the shelf. The misleading cover, I think, accounts for many of the negative reviews. Many reviewers seemed to want nice characters and neat resolution rather than complex characters, and messiness. This is more Jonathan Franzen than Marian Keyes. If that appeals to you, I recommend this book unreservedly. I took off a star for a rushed ending, and for one primary character I thought was underwritten.One note, I read this one and listened to the audio in the car, and absolutely recommend the audiobook. So often bad readers ruin books, but this reader was really excellent, and brought life to all the characters.
    • 4/5
      A mix between a novel and chick literature, focuses on the relationships between three generations of women in a Boston Irish Catholic family told in each woman's perspective. Lots of thoughts on marriage and family. perfect beach read!
    • 5/5
      Although I really love the way Sullivan writes, she did it again---the ending leaves me with question marks---wanting more and yet a little confused with what she meant with the ending provided. The characters were beautifully spelled out---I felt as though I could picture and understand each of them with their conflicting points of view. I listened to all three of Sullivan's books, but not in order----Maine being the last of the three. I would love a sequel, as someone else has already mentioned.
    • 3/5
      I agree with a lot of the other comments posted that this book was a big let-down. I was very disappointed with the ending and really had to force my self to actually keep reading it all the way through. I already knew after several pages that this would not be "keeper" book. Some of the characters in the book were very complex, but it seems like the author was paid to write a certain amount of pages or words, and when that number was reached the book was brought to a sudden end.
    • 2/5
      In the beginning I felt like I needed an illustrated family tree to keep track of all the characters and their relationships. That said, I did not enjoy this one. I was hoping the ending would redeem it for me, but it was a let down after all.
    • 4/5
      Lots of family drama - very relatable.
    • 2/5
      Was really looking forward to this book. Not only did it sound interesting but we often vacation in the area. The book had interesting characters but I felt that the story/plot never really took off for me. It seemed a bit flat and ended abruptly without resolving most of the family drama.
    • 5/5
      fter reading all the glowing reviews of Maine when it first came out a couple of years ago, I finally got around to reading (listening to) it. I’m so glad I did. Sullivan shows herself to be an expert at character development. The characters are richly and carefully written. Things that happened to Alice as a girl have a major impact on her life as a mother and grandmother and we are shown clearly how she came to be the person she is now, in her 80s. Other characters are written the same way.I liked how Sullivan showed how differently people interpret other’s actions. Someone thinks that someone else prefers to eat alone and therefore doesn’t invite them to dinner while the uninvited person wonders why she was snubbed. Sullivan is able to weave these kinds of misunderstandings in expertly, and sometimes unexpectedly.Another thing I liked was that historical events were included and accurately described. I can’t say too much about that without giving up a major plot point.This book was real life through and through. Although I’m usually a fan of tidy endings, I loved how in this case, some things were left hanging. Because in real life, not everything wraps up at the same time.Maine is definitely a must read.Note on the audio book: I found the narration pleasant and the different characters each had their own distinct voice. The only concern that I had was that the narrator used a Boston accent for Alice’s dialogue. I checked with a friend who has a print copy and Alice’s accent is not written phonetically in the book. In the audio I found it distracting because I didn’t think the narrator’s accent was that great. I also wondered why Alice had the accent but her children, who had been born and raised in Boston did not.
    • 1/5
      Book on CD narrated by Ann Marie Lee

      Three generations of Kelleher women descend on the family’s beach-front property one summer. The four women around whom the story revolves have little in common except that they are all part of this dysfunctional family. Their relationships are as rocky as the coast of Maine.

      I finished this only because it is a book-club selection. Terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE. The characters are cardboard cutouts. Not a single one of them is anyone I would want to know – even casually – let alone spend significant time with. Matriarch Alice is a closet alcoholic with a huge burden of guilt. Angry at the world, and (with good reason) at herself, she lashes out at everyone in a classic passive-aggressive manner. Daughter-in-law Ann Marie is more concerned with appearances, and decorating her designer doll house, than she is with examining her own relationships and actually connecting with anyone in a meaningful way. Daughter Kathleen is a recovering alcoholic who has fled across the country to escape her crazy family, but obviously hasn’t set aside her anger; she seems intent on alienating and picking fights with everyone while demonstrating her “holier than thou” attitude. Granddaughter Maggie (Kathleen’s child) is a 32-year-old loser who is clinging to a complete jerk of a boyfriend; she needs to grow up and become an adult.

      I didn’t like any of them. I wasn’t interested in their stories. I didn’t care what happened to any of them.

      Ann Marie Lee does an adequate job performing the audio. Her talent as a voice artist is evident with four women who have to be differentiated.

    • 5/5
      The backstory: After liking J. Courtney Sullivan's first novel, Commencement, I finally got around to reading her second novel, Maine. The basics: Maine traces the story of the Kelleher family one summer at their Maine beachhouse. Four women share narration: Alice, the matriarch, whose husband Daniel, died ten years ago; Alice's daughter Kathleen, who lives with her boyfriend and runs a worm farm in California; Alice's daughter-in-law Anne Marie, who has become obsessed with dollhouses; and Kathleen's daughter Maggie, who is thirty-two, unmarried and pregnant.My thoughts: In recent years I've realized how much I enjoy family sagas. I've always enjoyed multiple narrators, so Maine was right up my alley. I love the way Sullivan writes, and she's grew as a writer between Commencement and Maine. There's a maturity to Maine and its characters that I quite enjoyed. While Maine takes place over the span of a little over a month, the action is split equally between the present and explaining the family's history. In many cases, the four narrators had quite varied perspectives on the same events, which made the reader the most knowledgable person in the room. This technique can frustrate me to no end, but Sullivan does it well--the knowledge helped explain each character's perspectives and actions more thoroughly.Sullivan's characters have interior monologues that kept me laughing out loud: ""What on earth would we talk about?” Arlo asked, as if most people interacted with their families for the riveting conversation." While it's expressed in humor in this passage, the theme of how, why, and when we spend time with family is a powerful theme in this novel.Favorite passage: "The joy and spontaneity of summers past were gone now. Daniel’s death had ended them as a family. Each had pulled away from the others, and at some point without realizing it, Alice had gone from the matriarch—keeper of the wisdom and the order—to the old lady you had to look in on before the day’s fun could begin."The verdict: Maine is not a book that made me wish I were vacationing at their Maine beach house alongside the Kelleher family, but I loved the day I spent with them. I kept changing my mind about which narrator or storyline was favorite, which is a testament to Sullivan's characters.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. Just as I loved her first novel, Commencement. Sullivan is such a lovely, intuitive writer. Her stories are character driven, which I love, and she writes about a wide variety of people in such a compassionate way. I can get easily and pleasantly lost in her writing, as I did in this on, to the point where I am truly sad to see it end.

      A lovely, elegant, summer read.