You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
shelleyrae 's review for:
Maine
by J. Courtney Sullivan
My own relationship with my mother is complicated so the tag line for this novel -"What if the person you love the most hurt you more than any other? What if that person is your own mother?" grabbed my attention. Using alternate points of view, Courtney Sullivan explores the difficult relationships between the female members of the Kelleher family.
What I found most difficult about this novel is that I could barely tolerate any of the protagonists, Alice, Kathleen, Anne Marie and Maggie. These are complex women whose flaws dominate their personalities. These are not women you would want to become or even befriend and while I appreciate the honest portrayal of their issues, I wanted to be able to connect to at least one of the four.
The story flits back and forth in time to reveal the events that have shaped these women. It is a fascinating character study however I generally found them increasingly distasteful people as Sullivan attempts to elicit sympathy for tragic events and poor choices. While I understand how family dysfunction becomes a generational legacy that is difficult to escape, I wanted to tell these women to grow up, to walk away and be honest with themselves.
Still, their stories are compelling if only because their truth is (hopefully) to lesser degree our own. Families are rife with conflict, drama, tragedy, long held resentments and grudges yet we never stop hoping things will change, and no matter how bad it gets, severing the ties of family is the hardest thing to do.
Maine is not a light read for a summer afternoon, though the title that may suggest otherwise. There really isn't much of a plot to this novel and in the end, for me, I was left vaguely unsatisfied. There is surfeit of drama, angst and emotion but very little action or resolution. I think this is a novel you will either love or hate depending on your own experience of family.
What I found most difficult about this novel is that I could barely tolerate any of the protagonists, Alice, Kathleen, Anne Marie and Maggie. These are complex women whose flaws dominate their personalities. These are not women you would want to become or even befriend and while I appreciate the honest portrayal of their issues, I wanted to be able to connect to at least one of the four.
The story flits back and forth in time to reveal the events that have shaped these women. It is a fascinating character study however I generally found them increasingly distasteful people as Sullivan attempts to elicit sympathy for tragic events and poor choices. While I understand how family dysfunction becomes a generational legacy that is difficult to escape, I wanted to tell these women to grow up, to walk away and be honest with themselves.
Still, their stories are compelling if only because their truth is (hopefully) to lesser degree our own. Families are rife with conflict, drama, tragedy, long held resentments and grudges yet we never stop hoping things will change, and no matter how bad it gets, severing the ties of family is the hardest thing to do.
Maine is not a light read for a summer afternoon, though the title that may suggest otherwise. There really isn't much of a plot to this novel and in the end, for me, I was left vaguely unsatisfied. There is surfeit of drama, angst and emotion but very little action or resolution. I think this is a novel you will either love or hate depending on your own experience of family.