J. Courtney Sullivan is the author of the New York Times best-selling novel Commencement. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, the Chicago Tribune, New York, Elle, Glamour, Allure, and Men’s Vogue, among others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
“Ah, family. Isn’t it satisfying to leave your own briefly behind
to drop in on another—and see how thoroughly they bungle it all up?
This is the pleasure of Maine, J. Courtney Sullivan’s second novel,
which delves into the secrets and simmering emotions of one
dysfunctional family over the course of a single summer month. . .
. The dialogue sizzles as the tension between the women’s love and
anger toward one another tightens. . . . You don't want the novel
to end.” —Lily King, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] ruthless and tender novel about the way love can sometimes
redeem even the most contentious of families. Like all first-rate
comic fiction, Maine uses humor to examine the truths of the heart,
in New England and far beyond.” —The Washington Post Book World
“Sullivan beguiles us again. . . . Crackling-smart.” —Elle
“By the time you’re through with Maine, you’ll be craving a lobster
roll and a trip to Kennebunkport.” —The Oregonian
“Sullivan presents women who may be stubborn and difficult, but she
does so with such compassion and humor that we, too, end up rooting
for them.” —Chicago Tribune
“A gem. . . . Sullivan gives us three sunny, alcoholic acres of
Maine coastline and three generations of Kelleher women.” —Time
“I have never stayed at this cottage in Maine, or any cottage in
Maine, but no matter: I now feel I know what it’s like being in a
family that comes to the same place summer after summer, unpacking
their familiar longings, slights, shorthand conversation, and ways
of being together. J. Courtney Sullivan’s Maine is
evocative, funny, close-quartered, and highly appealing.” —Meg
Wolitzer, author of The Uncoupling
“A wonderful page-turner. . . . Sullivan narrates the tale with
verve and precision, drawing the reader into a compelling portrait
of a specific family as it changes with the values and accidents of
each era.” —Providence Journal
“Nostalgic at times, up-to-the-minute at others, this meaty novel
proves that Sullivan understands family.” —Newark Star-Ledger
“Gives us . . . characters we can care about, despite their
sometimes too-familiar flaws.” —USA Today
“Maine’s brisk storytelling and the unfurling of its central
mystery . . . sweep readers along with gratifying
sink-into-your-deck-chair ease.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A powerful novel about the ties that bind families tight, no
matter how dysfunctional. Sullivan has created in the Kelleher
women a cast of flawed but lovable characters so real, with their
shared history of guilt and heartache and secret resentments, that
I’m sure I’ll be thinking about them for a long time to come.” —Amy
Greene, author of Bloodroot
“Curl up with this wry, absorbing novel and eavesdrop on a summer’s
worth of secrets, feuds, and misunderstandings.” —Parade
magazine
“A wonderful page-turner.” —Providence Journal
“Maine covers a lot of multigenerational emotional ground and a lot
of family history. As the story progresses, it’s intriguing to see
the current dysfunction trace its way back through the generations
to its roots in Catholic guilt, alcoholism and bad decisions. . . .
Sullivan captures the beauty of the coast, the magic of a
black-as-velvet sky lit with stars, the pleasures of a seaside
lobster pound.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Articulate, insightful, profound.” —The Free Lance-Star
(Fredericksburg, VA)
“A keeper! . . . Sullivan has done a bang-up job showing us a
family full of dysfunctionals who remind us of people we may just
know or be related to.” —Naples Daily News
“Sullivan’s smarts shed light on topics all families deal with, but
her tasteful approach on the tough ones (particularly modern-day
religious issues) shine through. The cast of quirky characters will
have you laughing out loud and aching for their regrets in the same
chapter, pining for more pages when it comes to an end.”
—MarieClaire.com
“[Sullivan] validates the old adage that you can pick your friends,
but you are stuck with your relatives. This is a powerful,
evocative story, beautifully written to reveal raw human emotions.
. . . Fresh and lively.” —The New Maine Times
“Sullivan turns from friendships to family, writing with the
same warmth and nuance as Commencement, but pushing her characters
farther, creating an even more complex and satisfying whole.”
—BookPage
“A delectable beach read as vast and sprawling in scope as the
Kellehers’ three-acre family property it details. . . . In Maine,
Sullivan explores with grace, depth and good humor what it means to
belong to an Irish-American family.” —Irish America magazine
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