"Maine" by J. Courtney Sullivan Alfred A. Knopf 385 pages $25.85
This is one of the story types I love -- multi-generations fighting it out amongst themselves. In this case, it's three generations of Kelleher women, an Irish family with city residences, but roots in a summer home in Maine, won by the grandfather in a post-war bet.
Portrayed is the summer home life many of us would fancy. Bare feet, grubby clothes and idle fancies. The Kellehers haven't forgotten their Irish roots. Cocktails follow Sunday Mass, lobster rolls are eaten left and right. Swimming and sunning are the order of the day.
This book is the story of why and how the various estrangements came about. Grandmother Alice is rigidly Catholic, atoning for an act she was responsible for committing many years ago. Her daughter-in-law is closer to her than her two blood daughters.
One daughter fled long ago to California where she and her live-in boyfriend own and run a worm poop farm. She swore never to come back...but, of course, what's the point of saying "Never" if you don't break that vow? Kathleen is as bitter-toned and combustible as her mother, Alice.
Granddaughters figure into this stew of warring women and a good time is had by the reader.
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