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The From-Aways
Fresh talent CJ Hauser makes her literary debut with The From-Aways, an irreverent story of family, love, friendship, and lobsters, in the tradition of J. Courtney Sullivan’s Maine and Richard Russo’s Empire Falls.
Two women come to Maine in search of family and find more love, heartbreak, and friendship than they’d ever imagined one little fishing town could hold.
When Leah, a young New York reporter, meets Henry, she falls in love with everything about him: his freckles, green thumb, and tales of a Maine childhood. They marry quickly and Leah convinces Henry to move back to Menamon. As Leah builds a life there, reporting for The Menamon Star and vowing to be less of an emotional screw-up, the newlyweds are shocked to discover that they don’t know each other nearly so well as they thought they did.
When Quinn’s mother dies, she tracks down the famous folk-singer father she’s never known, in Menamon. Scrappy and smart-mouthed, Quinn gets a job at the local paper, an apartment above the town diner, and tries to shore up the courage to meet her father. But falling in love with her roommate, Rosie, was never part of the plan.
These two unruly women’s work relationship at The Star deepens into best-friendship when they stumble onto a story that shakes sleepy Menamon—and holds damaging repercussions for Leah’s husband and Quinn’s roommate both. As the town descends into turmoil, both women must decide what kind of lives they are willing to fight for.
Two women come to Maine in search of family and find more love, heartbreak, and friendship than they’d ever imagined one little fishing town could hold.
When Leah, a young New York reporter, meets Henry, she falls in love with everything about him: his freckles, green thumb, and tales of a Maine childhood. They marry quickly and Leah convinces Henry to move back to Menamon. As Leah builds a life there, reporting for The Menamon Star and vowing to be less of an emotional screw-up, the newlyweds are shocked to discover that they don’t know each other nearly so well as they thought they did.
When Quinn’s mother dies, she tracks down the famous folk-singer father she’s never known, in Menamon. Scrappy and smart-mouthed, Quinn gets a job at the local paper, an apartment above the town diner, and tries to shore up the courage to meet her father. But falling in love with her roommate, Rosie, was never part of the plan.
These two unruly women’s work relationship at The Star deepens into best-friendship when they stumble onto a story that shakes sleepy Menamon—and holds damaging repercussions for Leah’s husband and Quinn’s roommate both. As the town descends into turmoil, both women must decide what kind of lives they are willing to fight for.
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2014
About the author
C.J. Hauser
5 books335 followersCJ HAUSER is the author of the novels The From-Aways (William Morrow 2014) and Family of Origin (Doubleday 2019).
Her fiction has appeared in Tin House, Narrative Magazine, TriQuarterly, Esquire, Third Coast, and The Kenyon Review, and she is a recipient of The Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award. She holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and a PhD from The Florida State University.
Hauser lives in Hamilton, New York where she teaches creative writing and literature at Colgate University.
Her fiction has appeared in Tin House, Narrative Magazine, TriQuarterly, Esquire, Third Coast, and The Kenyon Review, and she is a recipient of The Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award. She holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and a PhD from The Florida State University.
Hauser lives in Hamilton, New York where she teaches creative writing and literature at Colgate University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
July 28, 2014
The From-Aways is a perfect summer beach read. I was in the mood for that sort of Chic-lit book that is witty, light, and enjoyable to read. It’s a beautiful story of two unlikely women becoming great friends. They meet in an unlikely place, a small town in Maine, each drawn there for different reasons. Both women, prior to coming to this Maine town, were self sufficient, strong, loner types. I enjoyed how C J Houser told her story in chapters from each woman’s prospective. I really enjoyed how the women were quirky and very likeable in their own way. There are four main characters, all women, and all strong women (and of course quirky). It’s chick-lit with an unusual romance (for Chick-lit). I do love stories of women friendships. And I enjoy reading about the struggles of marriage (which this does include). What surprises me most, is that this is a Yankee chick-lit book. I generally favor the Southern Chick-lit books. I hope Hauser writes more.
May 26, 2014
Do you remember when you were a kid, and you read THAT book, the one that made you stay up all night with a flashlight under the covers (for many I know it was The Hobbit. It was Chronicles of Narnia for me (perfectly respectable) but even more so, a book from the public library called Fifteen and Kissed)? Then after you finished the book, you were so horribly sad that you had to leave that place and those people, and you pined for them and dreamt about them and years later they made a movie which didn’ t get it at all right as far as you were concerned?
THIS IS THAT BOOK.
The From-Aways tells the story of two young women, both new to the small town of Menamon, Maine and both employed on the three-person local newspaper staff. Leah married hometown boy Henry and moves from Brooklyn to Maine and his family home on the strength of his charming stories about singing lobstermen and hard-drinking, warm-hearted women. Quinn comes fresh from the death of her beloved but difficult mother to find the famous folk-singing father who abandoned wife and daughter many years before. Leah is desperate, perhaps too much so, to fall as in love with the town as she is with her new husband, and Quinn lashes about trying to grieve, love again, and rebuild a family. The town is in an uproar over out-of-towners (the “from-aways”) buying up land for exclusive estates, and the two main characters bond over their work at the paper uncovering the seamy side of the development.
So that’s what the book is about, but it is about that in the way the Hobbit is about some short guys and some lost jewelry. Hauser writes with tangible grace about people and towns with enormous hearts and absolutely no ability to know them. There are love stories, adventures, danger, and a bar that I want to find right now, full of muddy-booted fisherman stomping, singing, and swigging right from the bourbon bottle. In parts, this book made me woefully happy and deliriously sad. But even in its most tragic moments, there is so much joy and hope and place here, I could not put it down and then was devastated when it ended.
I have to say, as a fifty-plus year old mother and grandmother, I did not think I would enjoy a book about twenty-somethings learning to love and live, but I was so wrong. I almost wrote that Leah and Quinn have wisdom beyond their years, but they don’t, in fact, just the opposite. But they, and many of the other great characters in the book, have so much heart I can’t believe (in fact I refuse to) that they are fictional and that their crazy-dancing, mistake-making, hard-loving journey ends on that last page.
Also, to throw my two cents in on whether this is a beach book or not, if you mean, is it a light read with a bunch of forgettable characters that float along in predictable romantic entanglements, people and events you have no problem ditching for a 5 pm margarita – then no, it is not a beach book. But if you mean will you be so thankful you took the From-Aways to the beach where you can read it for fifteen hours straight without your boss interrupting with unreasonable demands for work, then yes it is a beach book. Read it at the beach, read it on the bus, stay up all night and read it under your covers with a flashlight. Just read it, you won’t be sorry.
THIS IS THAT BOOK.
The From-Aways tells the story of two young women, both new to the small town of Menamon, Maine and both employed on the three-person local newspaper staff. Leah married hometown boy Henry and moves from Brooklyn to Maine and his family home on the strength of his charming stories about singing lobstermen and hard-drinking, warm-hearted women. Quinn comes fresh from the death of her beloved but difficult mother to find the famous folk-singing father who abandoned wife and daughter many years before. Leah is desperate, perhaps too much so, to fall as in love with the town as she is with her new husband, and Quinn lashes about trying to grieve, love again, and rebuild a family. The town is in an uproar over out-of-towners (the “from-aways”) buying up land for exclusive estates, and the two main characters bond over their work at the paper uncovering the seamy side of the development.
So that’s what the book is about, but it is about that in the way the Hobbit is about some short guys and some lost jewelry. Hauser writes with tangible grace about people and towns with enormous hearts and absolutely no ability to know them. There are love stories, adventures, danger, and a bar that I want to find right now, full of muddy-booted fisherman stomping, singing, and swigging right from the bourbon bottle. In parts, this book made me woefully happy and deliriously sad. But even in its most tragic moments, there is so much joy and hope and place here, I could not put it down and then was devastated when it ended.
I have to say, as a fifty-plus year old mother and grandmother, I did not think I would enjoy a book about twenty-somethings learning to love and live, but I was so wrong. I almost wrote that Leah and Quinn have wisdom beyond their years, but they don’t, in fact, just the opposite. But they, and many of the other great characters in the book, have so much heart I can’t believe (in fact I refuse to) that they are fictional and that their crazy-dancing, mistake-making, hard-loving journey ends on that last page.
Also, to throw my two cents in on whether this is a beach book or not, if you mean, is it a light read with a bunch of forgettable characters that float along in predictable romantic entanglements, people and events you have no problem ditching for a 5 pm margarita – then no, it is not a beach book. But if you mean will you be so thankful you took the From-Aways to the beach where you can read it for fifteen hours straight without your boss interrupting with unreasonable demands for work, then yes it is a beach book. Read it at the beach, read it on the bus, stay up all night and read it under your covers with a flashlight. Just read it, you won’t be sorry.
August 20, 2016
CJ Hauser's The From-Aways is a deeply moving, often hilarious and extremely well structured potrait of two women who resettle in the coastal hamlet of Menamon, Maine--one drawn by a father who abandoned her family years before and the other by a husband with deep roots in the local lobster industry. As a self-styled team a la "Woodward and Bernstein," journalists Leah Lynch and Quinn Winters help reveal the town's dark secrets and challenge the wealthy newcomers who threaten the character and integrity of the community. The novel's world is reminiscent of Richard Russo's Empire Falls or Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, but the voices are distinctly Hauser's.
Why this book didn't receive more attention when it first came out in 2014 is a puzzle--and a literary tragedy. Let's hope this review is the pebble that launches an avalanche of renewed interest, as this is a lovely, richly-textured book and a literary jewel.
Why this book didn't receive more attention when it first came out in 2014 is a puzzle--and a literary tragedy. Let's hope this review is the pebble that launches an avalanche of renewed interest, as this is a lovely, richly-textured book and a literary jewel.
July 8, 2014
OK, so I didn't really finish this book. It got great reviews on here, but I was so bored with it. I really didn't care or like any of the characters. I couldn't get myself to care about what they were doing it what happened to them. It was about two women who end up in a small Maine town for very different reasons. I just couldn't keep reading. I finally skipped to the last couple chapters and read the end. Wasn't worth it to my time.
August 29, 2014
This book is advertised as a breezy summer read, but it's not. It's much more than that. The From-Aways actually has depth to it, and wit. The story reads a bit slow at first. But fifty pages in, around Chapter 6, the characters wake up, and I was hooked; the more I read, the more I wanted to keep reading.
Hauser displays some pretty impressive writing skills. There were more than a few lines that had me chuckling or thinking or mm-hmming or admiring:
"The ground inside rattles with gravel. Rosie lies down and stares up at the steely forest buzzing around her. I lie down too because she's f*cking crazy and I might want to get close to that."
Once it gets going, the story moves along effortlessly. And the characters, especially the female ones, are very engaging. They are unique and alive, entertaining and funny. Quinn is one of the best characters I've ever seen in (read from?) a novel. She's opinionated and irreverent, crass, but surprisingly tender and protective. She's solid. Honest. She feels like a complete character to me, someone I can imagine meeting (and would want to meet) in real life.
I think that's what I appreciate most about this book: the realness, the honesty. I like characters who are who they are and who don't apologize for it. These characters know themselves, for better or for worse, and when Hauser lets me peep into their world, I feel like she's letting me see the whole intimate picture.
Ultimately, this was a wonderful read--especially for a book that initially had me thinking it was going to be a chore to slog through. Even the ending, which was just slightly more melodramatic than I think it needed to be, was still satisfying and complete. I loved this book, and I look forward to reading whatever Hauser decides to publish in the future.
Hauser displays some pretty impressive writing skills. There were more than a few lines that had me chuckling or thinking or mm-hmming or admiring:
"The ground inside rattles with gravel. Rosie lies down and stares up at the steely forest buzzing around her. I lie down too because she's f*cking crazy and I might want to get close to that."
Once it gets going, the story moves along effortlessly. And the characters, especially the female ones, are very engaging. They are unique and alive, entertaining and funny. Quinn is one of the best characters I've ever seen in (read from?) a novel. She's opinionated and irreverent, crass, but surprisingly tender and protective. She's solid. Honest. She feels like a complete character to me, someone I can imagine meeting (and would want to meet) in real life.
I think that's what I appreciate most about this book: the realness, the honesty. I like characters who are who they are and who don't apologize for it. These characters know themselves, for better or for worse, and when Hauser lets me peep into their world, I feel like she's letting me see the whole intimate picture.
Ultimately, this was a wonderful read--especially for a book that initially had me thinking it was going to be a chore to slog through. Even the ending, which was just slightly more melodramatic than I think it needed to be, was still satisfying and complete. I loved this book, and I look forward to reading whatever Hauser decides to publish in the future.
January 28, 2014
3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this ARC titled "The From-Aways" (maybe the title will be changed for publication?). It follows two interesting and unique early 20 somethings moving for the first time to a small Maine town. It examines what makes the town quaint--and is it really so adorable and idyllic? Most of all it follow these young women through their relationships and challenges connecting with people in their new town where they are viewed as outsiders. This is an enjoyable read.
I enjoyed this ARC titled "The From-Aways" (maybe the title will be changed for publication?). It follows two interesting and unique early 20 somethings moving for the first time to a small Maine town. It examines what makes the town quaint--and is it really so adorable and idyllic? Most of all it follow these young women through their relationships and challenges connecting with people in their new town where they are viewed as outsiders. This is an enjoyable read.
May 20, 2014
I think this book will make the perfect beach read for the summer. I am a sucker for small town books set near the beach. This story has two great characters moving to this quaint Maine village to find love and themselves. Friendships develop and the neighbors envelope them into the life of a small town.
December 1, 2021
Two disparate young women move to a small coastal town in Maine -- Manhattanite Leah is in love with her husband's hometown, while Quinn is trying to fulfill her mother's dying wish that she connect with her estranged father. In this highly entertaining, heartfelt buddy story, both begin working at the Menamon Star, a tiny local paper owned by Leah's sister-in-law. Add a dollop of soulless property development, love trouble, and voilá! A novel that is well written, nicely plotted, and a real delight.
May 28, 2014
The From-Aways
by
C.J.Hauser
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Leah and Quinn both end up living in Maine and working for the same small town newspaper.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Leah and Quinn...hmmm....Leah is the rich New Yorker who fell in love and married a boy from Menamon, Maine. Leah convinced her husband Henry to move back to his roots and his inherited old house. Quinn...after her mother dies...moves to Menamon to find the father she has never known. Her taste in men is absent but her taste in women is prevalent...she thinks she is in love with her roommate, Rosie. Menamon is a smallish fishing lobstering kind of town where people work hard but resent the "from-aways"...basically rich summer people who buy up old houses to tear them down to build massive beach front ones. Oh...and Leah and Quinn end up working for the town newspaper...whose editor is Henry's sister...it's complicated!
So...there is a sort of mini riot/protest going on within the town that is all about saving the town's carousel and keeping the "from-aways" out...people get fined, Leah runs away...Quinn...still has issues with her father...her non existent in her life father. Leah...seems to want Henry scruffier...she gets nervous when he is normal. She also has issues with the way he knows the townspeople see the town...Henry says that they are protesting to keep the town the same...no changes allowed!
So...some good things happen...some bad things happen...and some sad things happen...to Leah and Quinn and this strange little town in Maine.
What I loved about this book...
I loved the subtle humor...I loved Leah and Henry and their sudden marriage and relationship. I loved the way Leah felt about this town.
What I did not love about this book...
I didn't like parts of the ending...but you will have to read the book and decide about that on your own.
Final thoughts...
I found this to be a uniquely different book about Maine...with interesting quirky characters...but still lots of fresh blueberries and lobsters!
by
C.J.Hauser
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Leah and Quinn both end up living in Maine and working for the same small town newspaper.
My thoughts after reading this book...
Leah and Quinn...hmmm....Leah is the rich New Yorker who fell in love and married a boy from Menamon, Maine. Leah convinced her husband Henry to move back to his roots and his inherited old house. Quinn...after her mother dies...moves to Menamon to find the father she has never known. Her taste in men is absent but her taste in women is prevalent...she thinks she is in love with her roommate, Rosie. Menamon is a smallish fishing lobstering kind of town where people work hard but resent the "from-aways"...basically rich summer people who buy up old houses to tear them down to build massive beach front ones. Oh...and Leah and Quinn end up working for the town newspaper...whose editor is Henry's sister...it's complicated!
So...there is a sort of mini riot/protest going on within the town that is all about saving the town's carousel and keeping the "from-aways" out...people get fined, Leah runs away...Quinn...still has issues with her father...her non existent in her life father. Leah...seems to want Henry scruffier...she gets nervous when he is normal. She also has issues with the way he knows the townspeople see the town...Henry says that they are protesting to keep the town the same...no changes allowed!
So...some good things happen...some bad things happen...and some sad things happen...to Leah and Quinn and this strange little town in Maine.
What I loved about this book...
I loved the subtle humor...I loved Leah and Henry and their sudden marriage and relationship. I loved the way Leah felt about this town.
What I did not love about this book...
I didn't like parts of the ending...but you will have to read the book and decide about that on your own.
Final thoughts...
I found this to be a uniquely different book about Maine...with interesting quirky characters...but still lots of fresh blueberries and lobsters!
October 17, 2016
A literary read with two alternating viewpoints and different voices. In Menamon, Maine we find a newlywed couple, one a native to Menamon and one from NY, a young gay woman moved there to be near her absent father, and assorted other locals. The small local newspaper hires both of the females, neither a native, making a staff of 3. The problem is that wealthy people "from away", and the two recent additions to the newspaper staff, also "from-aways", are at odds over the wealthy couple's enormous new house. Their new property encompasses a historic carousel and park that residents of the town don't want to lose. The new owners plan to destroy it. The newlyweds, Leah and Henry, are at odds, quietly, because he is doing landscaping for the new owners and she is helping report what is wrong with the purchase of the land, thereby jeopardizing his job. There's more at stake for the little town and for each person and their relationships.
Characters in the book are all over the place and charming, and real. Details are exquisite. If you enjoy literary work, don't miss this book.
Characters in the book are all over the place and charming, and real. Details are exquisite. If you enjoy literary work, don't miss this book.
July 6, 2014
As with many books by female authors, this novel was given a cover that made it out to be a light and fluffy read, a beach book or "chick lit", if you will. The cover to me belies the intensity of the subject matter: a small town fighting to preserve their traditional way of life against those who want to come in and develop it into something new, shiny, and modern. Hauser narrows her scope so that this conflict, which would be nothing but a blip on the national news landscape, if it made it there at all, consumes the lives of her characters, to whom the town of Menamon is everything. The dual narratives of Leah and Quinn provide different perspectives on the situation, and each of their experiences informs the events differently. The climax of the novel is shocking, but not in a cheap-twist sort of way whatsoever.
This book starts out slowly, but stick with it, because it is well worth it in the end.
This book starts out slowly, but stick with it, because it is well worth it in the end.
December 17, 2015
I'm giving this book five stars because I was floored by the writing. I thought C.J.'s descriptions of small town Maine and characters were so entertaining and I felt like I was right there with them. This was one of those books that I was sad to finish.
September 5, 2016
Very Mainely--feels realistic.
July 9, 2019
Based on the cover and the first page, I thought that I was going to like this book a lot. Thought, is the operative word here. Told in two different points of view, both of which are 1st person in alternating chapters, "The From Aways" is a a story of two women and the seaside town that they call home. One is newly married Leah, the other is motherless Quinn. They settle in Menamon, Maine and their paths cross at the local paper where they have both been hired as journalists. They have to work together to discover the secrets of their fishing town, and in doing so they set a series of events in motion that changes everyone and everything.
The only good thing that I can say about this book is that the two POV's are very distinct. Leah, coming from a wealthy family in NYC speaks as though she is used to life going easy to her while Quinn, who has had it rough, curses a lot and is very blunt.
Other than the two POV's, the meandering plot takes too long to get going, and when it should finally come to a climax, it fizzles out, leaving an open ended finish which may be realistic, but not what I would call a good ending for a work of fiction.
2.5 stars, bumped down to 2 because of the lack of resolution for the characters in the end.
The only good thing that I can say about this book is that the two POV's are very distinct. Leah, coming from a wealthy family in NYC speaks as though she is used to life going easy to her while Quinn, who has had it rough, curses a lot and is very blunt.
Other than the two POV's, the meandering plot takes too long to get going, and when it should finally come to a climax, it fizzles out, leaving an open ended finish which may be realistic, but not what I would call a good ending for a work of fiction.
2.5 stars, bumped down to 2 because of the lack of resolution for the characters in the end.
November 30, 2020
After reading this book I am left with a heart-warmed feeling. The book is about a woman named Leah who has grown up in the fast pace of New York city, however, she meets and man named Henry and he tells her wonderful stories of his childhood in Menamon Maine. They decide to move there and live in his childhood home. The entire story deals with the struggles of relationships (friends, family, intimate) and the idea of change. There is a very strong theme of change and what happens when you try to stop things from changing.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I loved how it had real life and honest meanings and expectations that most books don't have. I also liked how each chapter switches between a couple of characters. I also loved how the end of this book contained authentic Maine recipes that were mentioned throughout the book, I thought that was very creative, engaging and unique.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I loved how it had real life and honest meanings and expectations that most books don't have. I also liked how each chapter switches between a couple of characters. I also loved how the end of this book contained authentic Maine recipes that were mentioned throughout the book, I thought that was very creative, engaging and unique.
July 27, 2017
Das war leider nichts für mich. Am Anfang fand ich Leah als Charakter erfrischend, anders, die Art, wie aus ihrer Perspektive erzählt wird, ist zum Teil wunderbar poetisch. Aber je länger die Geschichte angedauert hat, desto weniger konnte ich mich mit ihr identifizieren, sie wirkt einfach so unglaublich naiv und realitätsfern. Das wäre an sich ja kein Problem, aber ich glaube nicht, dass so jemand tatsächlich einen guten Journalisten abgibt, dass man da so trennen kann, zwischen journalistischem Gehirn und restlicher Denkweise. Quinn als Charakter gibt mir leider auch nicht viel. Der Plot an und für sich war interessant und es werden auch gute Themen angesprochen, aber der Schluss war dann leider auch überhaupt nicht nach meinem Geschmack, zu offen, zu schnell. Deswegen gibt es leider nur zwei Sterne.
June 5, 2022
A good first novel. Like many good first novelists, Hauser includes too much that should have been left in the notebook in which she first wrote this novel. We didn't really need the recipes, jukebox collection, or song included at the end of the book. The novel itself was well written though occasionally self-indulgent. An editor with a firmer hand may have cleared away some of the stodgier parts of the story. I enjoyed the characters and the settings but some of the situations were kind of eye rolling. I'm sure she will get better with book #2 and I would suggest this book as a beach read for some.
August 20, 2017
i think there are some book snobs on this site because this book got a lot of negative reviews yet i found it to be a real page turner, engaging, easy to read, enjoyable. and books that i find boring and dry get rave reviews on this site. so, if a book has an average rating of 2-3 stars i'll like it?
this book was good. a story of friendship, lost love, the unfairness of having 1% super rich people in this world of 99% poverty. and not shying away from a lesbian relationship was a nice touch too.
this book was good. a story of friendship, lost love, the unfairness of having 1% super rich people in this world of 99% poverty. and not shying away from a lesbian relationship was a nice touch too.
August 14, 2019
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would when I first atarted it. After reading so many books set in New England and the coast (admittedly my favorite setting) that are light-hearted and present a unnatural image of perfection it is paradoxically refreshing to read a book with an homest presentation of the real Maine. Unemployment, low income, blue collar, tiny towns facing a bleak future unless they bring in new jobs. And there's the rub. At what cost to history, family memories, culture? How much do we forfeit of a way of life to the whims of the wealthy?
June 14, 2020
I ordered myself up a used copy of this after reading the author's "The Crane Wife" piece. Good world building and although I did not really like any of the characters, I found the story readable enough to see how things ultimately turned out. I was as surprised by the (welcome) queer characters as I was hugely disappointed that Hauser opted to go the tired route of burying one of her gays. I had been pushing myself forward to finish the story but that choice really brought the entire book down for me and colored my overall experience with this title.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2017
I wanted so much to like this book simply because, while I do not live in Maine any longer, I am a Mainer at heart and wanted to be transported back through this story and their experiences. I found this book confusing the way it was written from each characters perspective and I think it’s because I couldn’t differentiate between them clearly enough for me to remember who I was reading, they were all boring characters. This book was a lot of work to finish.
September 14, 2017
Just could not get into this which is sad considering it's just the type of book (from the blurb) that I love, and the reviews here. Something about it did not grab or hold my interest in the slightest. Might be, in part, the first person present voice. Major pet peeve of mine. It has to be done really well to make me ignore the voice, but this wasn't.
August 31, 2019
This book reads like YA fiction. I think the author was quite young when she wrote it. I finished it but I also could have abandoned it. I liked a memoir piece she wrote for The Paris Review and then heard her read from her new novel Family of Origin. I think she will be a writer to watch. And read...
October 10, 2019
Very disappointed by this book. Don't bother. Had trouble keeping the 2 main characters apart, even though they should have been distinct. Thought the romantic relationships were really poorly drawn, esp. the marriage. Found the frequent references to Woodward and Bernstein annoying and overreaching. Slogged through to the end, but still didn't care.
June 17, 2020
I just finished reading this book. It took some perseverance. I learned nothing from this story - except, maybe, how much alcohol Mainers drink on a daily basis. So, if you are looking for a light read, one that you can easily put down and never feel curious about what happens next, I can recommend this book to you.
August 11, 2019
Not good
I really didn't enjoy the plot. I only kept reading because I thought it had to get better. It didn't. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and I certainly didn't understand them. Too much out-of-control drinking.
I really didn't enjoy the plot. I only kept reading because I thought it had to get better. It didn't. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and I certainly didn't understand them. Too much out-of-control drinking.
August 31, 2019
Good Maine storyline but f_bomb distracts
I liked the story line about the mega house and buyout and the newspaper angle but using vulgar language to get your point across that Quinn is a punk only cheapens the writing.
I liked the story line about the mega house and buyout and the newspaper angle but using vulgar language to get your point across that Quinn is a punk only cheapens the writing.
December 29, 2019
I think everyone who read Hauser's Crane Wife essay wants to read more by her. This was a decent place to start. It's a little bit precious, but also pretty beautifully written. Reminds me a little bit of Laurie Colwin (high praise indeed).
January 18, 2022
I thought this was gonna be an easy win for the lobsters and bisexual girls but it turns out it was a crying-and-feeling-big-vast-big-girl-feelings type of win, which is inevitable and yet even better!!!!!
July 20, 2018
Great summer book! Very easy to read and loved the characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews