First published 2011
Three generations of Kelleher women converge on the family's beachfront cottage in Maine, each carrying secrets that threaten to unravel decades of carefully maintained facades. Maggie, thirty-two and pregnant, struggles with how to tell her unreliable boyfriend about the baby. Her sister-in-law Ann Marie pours her marital frustrations into an elaborate dollhouse while nursing an inappropriate attraction. Kathleen, the family outcast, returns reluctantly to a place she swore she'd never see again. At the center stands Alice, the family matriarch, haunted by a single night from her past that she would give anything to change. The cottage itself holds memories in every corner, from the tree carved with mysterious initials to the rooms built by Kelleher hands. As the summer unfolds, old resentments surface alongside new revelations. The women navigate sibling rivalries, marital disappointments, and the weight of Catholic expectations while discovering that the bonds of family can be both prison and salvation. Their shared history in this Maine sanctuary becomes the backdrop for confronting truths they've spent years avoiding.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, secrets
Setting: Maine
388 pages · Hardcover · Knopf