Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

First I’ll start on a side note.  I love the cover photograph of this book.  It’s the main reason I picked it up.  The premise on the back got me to purchase it.  The story is from four points of view: Alice, an 80 year old grandmother who decides to donate the family home to the Catholic Church after she dies, Kathleen, Alice’s estranged daughter who lives on a worm farm with her hippie husband out in California, doll house design competitor, Ann Marie (Alice’s daughter-in-law), who assumes the family home along with the beach front property around it will be hers someday, and writer Maggie, Kathleen’s daughter, who broke up with her boyfriend just before vacationing with her grandmother.   This tragicomic novel never really does anything daring but it’s an enjoyable read, enjoyable if you find dysfunctional families confronting each other while on the verge of discovery entertaining.   There were a couple laugh-out-loud moments and while none of these women stand out as very engaging characters I don’t think they were badly formed.  Sullivan is a gifted storyteller and I have a feeling she has many better books in her.  Grade: B