Maine- J. Courtney Sullivan

After having read both of J. Courtney Sullivan’s novels within the last six months, I have to say that I am incredibly impressed. And also slightly baffled that I'd never heard of her before this past summer. She is a rare type of author: someone you might label as a chick-lit writer at first, but upon reading further, find that her books are not exactly what they seem.

I think what I like the most about her writing is that her characters are so imperfect. Not in spectacular ways like you see in some books, but in subtle, incredibly relatable ways. Commencement was a nostalgia-fest for college, while Maine was not quite as instantly relatable, but certainly reminded me in a few small ways of my own large Catholic family. I also like how she slips in teases of what’s to come instead of just spilling an entire backstory in one go. It keeps you interested.

I like Maine more than I liked Commencement, which I didn’t think was possible. My only complaint about Commencement was that one of the storylines went completely off the rails near the end, while this one is realistic throughout. Maine tells the story of four women in four different viewpoints, three different generations of the same family (one married in, and three daughters/mothers), all of whom are dealing with their own individual struggles while also attempting to relate with each other, and all of whom eventually come together in the family summer house in Maine. Most intriguing to me was the way that each of the characters viewed each other and themselves, which certainly makes me think of the way that I represent myself in my daily life.

I’m a little put off by the ending though. It seemed abrupt and didn’t provide a lot of closure after spending so much time developing the story and the characters. I’d like a sequel, or at least to see what happens through the end of the summer. I feel invested and now I want to know how things continue in their lives. Technically, I suppose everything was resolved, but it didn’t feel very satisfying. Maybe it’s because all along all I wanted was a chick lit ending, when I should have known that this author wouldn’t give me one just to make everything nice.

Overall, it’s another book somewhere between a 4 and a 5. I think I’d like to own it, so by my self-defined ranking system, I'll call it a 5. Regardless, I look forward to what Sullivan has in store for me next.