Great Summer Reading - MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan

    Finding an actress who can successfully inhabit the voices of three women varying in age from granddaughter to mother to grandmother would seem a daunting tasking yet Random House Audio succeeding beautifully in turning the narration over to Ann Marie Lee.  An accomplished performer on television and stage Lee is well remembered for her roles in TV’s ER, Nip/Tuck, and others.  She brings understanding, humor and drama to this clash of the generations during a summer in Maine.

    MAINE is the story of the Kelleher women and takes place at a beach  cottage that has been in the family since 1945.  There is the matriarch, 83-year-old Alice, who enjoys too much red wine and tries not to remember secrets in her past; 32-year-old Maggie is pregnant and unmarried; Kathleen quit drinking, divorced her husband, began her own business and swore she’d never come near the cottage again; and Ann Marie married to Patrick Kelleher (their marriage is not all she would have others believe).

    The tale becomes compelling on the first night when all have arrived at the cottage and the conversations begin.  Each is remembering past hurts, bent on assessing blame and being good Catholic women are concerned about atonement, reconciliation.  The love/ hate relationship between these women is explored as their individual stories unfold.

    Sullivan (Commencement) is deft at portraying the resentments that simmer in a dysfunctional family and the differences that have taken place in the minds of women with the passing of time.  For instance, Alice can be caustic, “Kids need a slap every now and again.”  She can also offer some pretty good advice, “You all seem to think that you should marry someone when you feel this intense emotion, which you call love.  And then you expect that the love will fade over time, as life gets harder.  When what you should do is find yourself a nice enough fellow and let real love develop over years and births and deaths and so on.”

    Listen as pasts are revealed and wounds given voice during one summer in MAINE