Vacationland A novel

Meg Mitchell Moore

Book - 2022

Louisa has come to her parents' house in Maine this summer with all three of her kids, a barely written book, and a trunkful of resentment. Left behind in Brooklyn is her husband, who has promised that after this final round of fundraising at his startup he will once again pick up his share of the household responsibilities. Louisa is hoping that the crisp breeze off Penobscot Bay will blow away the irritation she is feeling with her life choices and replace it with enthusiasm for both her family and her work. But all isn't well in Maine. Louisa's father, a retired judge and pillar of the community, is suffering from Alzheimer's. Louisa's mother is alternately pretending everything is fine and not pretending at all.... And one of Louisa's children happens upon a very confusing and heartfelt letter referring to something Louisa doesn't think her father could possibly have done. Louisa's not the only one searching for something in Maine this summer. Kristie took the Greyhound bus from Pennsylvania with one small suitcase, $761, and a lot of baggage. She's got a past she's trying to outrun, a secret she's trying to unpack, and a new boyfriend who's so impossibly kind she can't figure out what she did to deserve him. But she can't keep her various lives from colliding forever. As June turns to July turns to August, secrets will be unearthed, betrayals will come to light, and both Louisa and Kristie will ask themselves what they are owed and what they owe others.

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Subjects
Genres
Domestic fiction
Published
New York : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Meg Mitchell Moore (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
373 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9780063026117
9780063026124
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Lousia McLean and her kids are spending the whole summer at Ship's View, her parents' vacation house on the coast of Maine. Her husband, Steven, in staying in New York to try to get his podcast company off the ground, while Louisa needs help from Annie, her mother, if she's going to get any writing done on the book that is due at the end of the summer. Louisa's father, Martin, a retired Maine Supreme Court judge, is suffering from Alzheimer's, and Annie is facing the reality of putting him in a home. To do that, though, they'd have to sell Ship's View. Meanwhile, Kristie Turner takes a bus from Pennsylvania to Maine, on a mission. She gets a job waiting tables and meets a handsome gardener who works at Ship's View, and things seem to be looking up until she discovers that she's pregnant. Moore's latest (after Two Truths and a Lie, 2020) captures the breezy feel of a summer in Maine while addressing a variety of problems, from work/life balance to paternity, that will resonate with readers.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Moore (The Islanders) follows a family's tribulations while summering in Maine in her delectable latest. NYU history professor Louisa McLean brings her three children to her parents' summer home in Rockland without her husband, Steven, who stays behind and continues putting in long hours in chasing his dream of selling his podcast company. Louisa, resentful at having to deal with the kids herself, also hopes the time away will help her stop procrastinating on writing her book. Tensions mount as her mother reveals that paying to care for Louisa's father, Martin, a judge who now has Alzheimer's, might require them to sell the family house as soon as the following year. Then a young woman named Kristie Turner arrives by Greyhound after her mother's death, determined for reasons that are only revealed later to gain an audience with Martin. She decides to stay a while, gets a job as a waitress, and worries about money after learning she's pregnant. Kristie's life is detailed in sharp contrast to Louisa's leisurely days, as Louisa weighs a desire to help Kristie with her parents' needs. Steven's lack of understanding over how much the house means to Louisa, meanwhile, causes tensions to flare. Moore details the dicey situation with nuance and grace. Readers are in for a treat. (June)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Two half sisters who have never met--a New York University professor and a waitress--spend the summer in the small town of Rockland, Maine. Louisa Fitzgerald McLean, a tenured NYU history professor, is almost done with her sabbatical and feels like a complete mess. She hasn't been working on her planned book, her three children are taking up all her energy, and her husband, Steven, is so consumed with getting his new podcast company up and running that he has no time for her or the family. A decision is made: She and the children will spend the summer in Maine with her mother, Annie, and father, Martin--retired chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine--at her family's vacation house while Steven stays in Brooklyn and works. Over the course of the summer, Mattie, 12, falls in love; Abigail, 10, writes letters to her father and loses herself in Bridge to Terabithia, board games, and the water; and Claire, 7, listens, watches, bosses people around, and has a tremendous time learning secrets and suffering the tragedies that only a youngest sibling can suffer. Everything looks--and is--wonderful, but Louisa and Steven's marriage is under strain, her book isn't coming along, her father's Alzheimer's is getting worse, her mother's endless reservoir of money is drying up, and she discovers that her father is not perfect. Kristie, a half sister Louisa never knew about, arrives in Maine, three years sober and looking for her own closure after her mother's recent death. Author Moore has expertly woven together first-person narratives from Louisa; Kristie; Martin; the family's housekeeper Pauline; and the children to create an engrossing story of one summer, many summers, multiple lives. A truly lovely tale of families, love, mistakes, forgiveness, and, yes, happiness. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.