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Pete and Alice in Maine: A Novel
Reeling from a painful betrayal in her marriage as the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold in New York City, Alice packs up her family and flees to their vacation home in Maine. She hopes to find sanctuary from the uncertainties of the exploding pandemic and her faltering marriage. Putting distance between herself and the stresses and troubles of the city, she begins to feel safe and relieved, but the locals are far from friendly. Trapped and forced into quarantine by hostile neighbors, Alice sees the imprisoning structure of her life in this new predicament. Stripped down to the bare essentials of survival and tending to the needs of her two children, she can no longer ignore all the ways in which she feels limited and lost—lost in the big city, lost as a wife, lost as a mother, lost as a daughter, and lost as a person. As the world shifts around her and the balance in her marriage tilts, Alice and her husband, Pete, are left to consider whether what keeps their family safe is the same thing as what keeps their family together.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published July 4, 2023
177 people are currently reading
11346 people want to read
About the author
Caitlin Shetterly
5 books126 followersCaitlin Shetterly is a frequent contributor to National Public Radio where she reports on arts and culture, food, and lifestyle. She can be heard on both All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. For Weekend Edition, she created a series of autobiographical audio diaries about the Recession under the title Diary of a Recession. These diaries, along with her blog, Passage West, inspired her memoir Made For You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home (Voice, March 8, 2011).
Caitlin's first book, Fault Lines: Stories of Divorce, was published by the Putnam Berkley Group in 2001. For several years, she wrote a bimonthly column, "Bramhall Square," about relationships and love for the Portland Phoenix.
Caitlin is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Winter Harbor Theatre Company, where she produces and directs works that attempt to tackle the important issues of our time. Caitlin graduated with Honors in English and American Literature from Brown University. She lives with her husband, photographer Daniel E. Davis, their young son, and their salty dog, Hopper. When she isn't writing, directing plays, producing radio pieces, cooking, cleaning or childrearing, Caitlin spends as much time as possible reading, watching "Friday Night Lights" and, especially, walking outside in nature.
Caitlin's first book, Fault Lines: Stories of Divorce, was published by the Putnam Berkley Group in 2001. For several years, she wrote a bimonthly column, "Bramhall Square," about relationships and love for the Portland Phoenix.
Caitlin is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Winter Harbor Theatre Company, where she produces and directs works that attempt to tackle the important issues of our time. Caitlin graduated with Honors in English and American Literature from Brown University. She lives with her husband, photographer Daniel E. Davis, their young son, and their salty dog, Hopper. When she isn't writing, directing plays, producing radio pieces, cooking, cleaning or childrearing, Caitlin spends as much time as possible reading, watching "Friday Night Lights" and, especially, walking outside in nature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 372 reviews
June 18, 2023
I don’t care if you’re from Maine. Don’t—do NOT—trivialize folks who were born there by writing their dialogue in comic phonetics to convey localism. It is reductive and offensive. Caitlyn Shetterly’s writing shows enough flashes of brilliance and her character development shows enough nuance to make one think that there was hope of something better from this novel. And these strengths might have overridden quibbles about structure, shifting perspective, and the utter lack of an ending. But add in the gross insensitivity of ridiculous phonetic dialogue and it’s impossible not to complain.
April 28, 2023
There was a lot I hated about this but all I’ll say here is that rendering native Mainers’ speech in dialect is certainly A Choice
December 19, 2023
OH 🦌 !
Wealthy family flees to Maine to escape NYC at height of COVID pandemic, the husband is a POS philanderer, our protagonist/ matriarch of the family is one dimensional and such a BORE, their young daughters are ROTTEN, and the excessive descriptions of menstruation were so wildly bizarre 🫠🫠🫠
Wealthy family flees to Maine to escape NYC at height of COVID pandemic, the husband is a POS philanderer, our protagonist/ matriarch of the family is one dimensional and such a BORE, their young daughters are ROTTEN, and the excessive descriptions of menstruation were so wildly bizarre 🫠🫠🫠
December 29, 2023
Alice learned that Pete had betrayed her just prior to COVID hitting the US hard. They were living in NYC, where COVID was especially bad. For everyone’s safety, they decided to pack up their daughters and the cat, and flee to their summer home in Maine. Sequestered and alone, with no one else for company and too much time on their hands, Pete and Alice bickered frequently—many times in front of the girls. Naturally, this put everyone’s emotions on edge and, as a result, five-year-old Iris regressed, becoming more clingy and whiny, while 11-year-old Sophie became a moody pre-teen, lashing out at everyone. It seemed obvious that Pete and Alice still loved each other, but despite Pete’s claims he wanted to fix the marriage, Alice wasn’t sure she could ever trust him again. It seemed she just shut down, and rather than talking things out, they struggled in silence.
A few months in, Pete announced he had to return to work in the city for a while. Alice said she and the girls would stay in Maine. For a short while before his departure, they softened towards each other. As he was leaving, Pete promised the girls he’d be back, and promised Alice he’d fix things. He really wanted their marriage to work!
Well… a lot of people let their hearts rule their heads. More sensible types prefer to let their heads rule.
As the book ends, a positive resolution is suggested, though I doubt many readers have faith this marriage could last. It’s quite an engaging story, though, so I recommend it, with a brief caveat that the constant, intense bickering may trigger some readers.
4 “Why-is-Love-so-Complicated?!” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A few months in, Pete announced he had to return to work in the city for a while. Alice said she and the girls would stay in Maine. For a short while before his departure, they softened towards each other. As he was leaving, Pete promised the girls he’d be back, and promised Alice he’d fix things. He really wanted their marriage to work!
Well… a lot of people let their hearts rule their heads. More sensible types prefer to let their heads rule.
As the book ends, a positive resolution is suggested, though I doubt many readers have faith this marriage could last. It’s quite an engaging story, though, so I recommend it, with a brief caveat that the constant, intense bickering may trigger some readers.
4 “Why-is-Love-so-Complicated?!” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
July 2, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this tender novel of a family escaping New York City for Maine during the pandemic. You can read my full review here. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/bo...
July 11, 2023
Some nice writing about the uncertainty of the pandemic, but I didn’t finish the book. I’m probably not the right reader, as it was hard to relate to the narrator’s privileged disconnect, and the lens through which she looks at Mainers.
December 10, 2023
If you want to read a well written book about New Yorkers escaping to Maine during the COVID pandemic, read Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout. Don’t waste your time with this dull and predictable plot. Not even worthy of a lifetime movie treatment. Uber-privileged young mom bores the reader with daily chores of caring for 2 young daughters while her cheating-waspy husband works online 18 hours a day.
October 12, 2023
Okay, now THIS is the pandemic story that I so desperately wanted. Yes, yes, yesssss. So much yes. Yup, you read that correctly. I’m one of those freaks who like to read about the Covid-19 pandemic. Why? I explained it in my review for the novel, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, so I’m simply going to cut and paste it here:
“I know a lot of readers refuse to read about that horrible time period, and believe it’s too soon. I get that. I absolutely do. I think I must be an outlier because for some strange reason, reading about it brings me a weird sense of comfort. I really can’t explain it. Maybe it’s the whole, “we’re all in this together” sort of vibe that when reading about it, it brings me peace, proof, and confirmation that it was an absolute shitty time for everyone, not just me. It was a terribly lonely time, but I was not alone in my feelings.”
Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense. In Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly, the reader is fully immersed in that time period. It will take you back to March of 2020 during that state of confusion, fear, and chaos. Pete, Alice, and their two daughters flee from New York City to bunker down in their summer home in Maine, hoping to escape the mayhem embarking the city. The couple’s marriage is crumbling. They were barely holding on to begin with, and then the pandemic hit. Now they’re forced to share the same space 24/7.
This book worked so well for me because it’s slow-moving, character-driven, and includes themes of marriage and motherhood. Shetterly’s storytelling really hit home as she described modern parenting perfectly—especially with online learning, zoom, and the constant isolation thrown into the mix. Also, just the stress and adjustment to all of that togetherness! It was a lot, and I can understand why some marriages didn’t survive. Pete and Alice are a couple that I won’t soon forget. 4.5/5 stars for Pete and Alice in Maine. I highly recommend this one for fans (and freaks like me) of pandemic fiction.
“I know a lot of readers refuse to read about that horrible time period, and believe it’s too soon. I get that. I absolutely do. I think I must be an outlier because for some strange reason, reading about it brings me a weird sense of comfort. I really can’t explain it. Maybe it’s the whole, “we’re all in this together” sort of vibe that when reading about it, it brings me peace, proof, and confirmation that it was an absolute shitty time for everyone, not just me. It was a terribly lonely time, but I was not alone in my feelings.”
Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense. In Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly, the reader is fully immersed in that time period. It will take you back to March of 2020 during that state of confusion, fear, and chaos. Pete, Alice, and their two daughters flee from New York City to bunker down in their summer home in Maine, hoping to escape the mayhem embarking the city. The couple’s marriage is crumbling. They were barely holding on to begin with, and then the pandemic hit. Now they’re forced to share the same space 24/7.
This book worked so well for me because it’s slow-moving, character-driven, and includes themes of marriage and motherhood. Shetterly’s storytelling really hit home as she described modern parenting perfectly—especially with online learning, zoom, and the constant isolation thrown into the mix. Also, just the stress and adjustment to all of that togetherness! It was a lot, and I can understand why some marriages didn’t survive. Pete and Alice are a couple that I won’t soon forget. 4.5/5 stars for Pete and Alice in Maine. I highly recommend this one for fans (and freaks like me) of pandemic fiction.
August 9, 2023
The writing in this book is good and I thought she characterized 2020 very well, but this book just did not work for me at all. I usually don’t mind unlikeable characters if I understand their motivations, but gah, it was unpleasant being in all four of these characters heads. (Yes, we get chapters from each character’s perspective.) I found them all obnoxious and annoying, and I couldn’t root for them. I also felt like she tried to shoehorn in all the political issues of 2020, which, sure, was jam packed with these issues in real life, but race and politics felt wedged in the story in a way that didn’t feel like it fit.
August 21, 2023
At first I enjoyed this novel of a wonky marriage during the COVID pandemic. Privileged Manhattanites flee to Maine, lucky enough to own a second house there. But the infighting between husband and wife, as well as the two young sisters got rather predictable. I cared, but I was bored. And then all of a sudden the novel was over. The ending was a cop-out. It felt like the author just added a couple of quick plot twists and quit. I much preferred Elizabeth Strout’s novel set in Maine during the pandemic, Lucy By the Sea.
October 5, 2023
Awful. Story got too political and there was no end. It just stopped.
January 26, 2024
DNF on page one, upon seeing that the opening epigraph is a Harry Potter quote.
Look, I don't begrudge folks who are still emotionally attached to J. K. Rowling's fantasy world despite the author's recent public bigotry. Those books meant a lot to me too, and I know it's a complicated process to disentangle yourself from the art that moves you (or convince yourself you've separated the art from the artist). I'll even grant that some folks in this day and age might still not know that Rowling is a transphobic extremist.
But to write a novel in 2023 that introduces itself with her words? For that to have made it through however many rounds of editing and still been published? That's a specific choice that sends a message, and I can send one right back by refusing to give the work my time.
Look, I don't begrudge folks who are still emotionally attached to J. K. Rowling's fantasy world despite the author's recent public bigotry. Those books meant a lot to me too, and I know it's a complicated process to disentangle yourself from the art that moves you (or convince yourself you've separated the art from the artist). I'll even grant that some folks in this day and age might still not know that Rowling is a transphobic extremist.
But to write a novel in 2023 that introduces itself with her words? For that to have made it through however many rounds of editing and still been published? That's a specific choice that sends a message, and I can send one right back by refusing to give the work my time.
August 3, 2023
Selfish people that don’t make for a pleasant read
Alice and Pete are not very likable. Their children are mean spirited and hateful and they lack kindness and discipline. It disturbed me to realize an educated and financially capable family would be such bitter and ungrateful people.
It’s sad to see how deep in to themselves they are that they miss the joy and privileges of their lives. Alice is a pathetically angry and resentful person virtually incapable of forgiveness and I found it difficult to relate to her.
Alice and Pete are not very likable. Their children are mean spirited and hateful and they lack kindness and discipline. It disturbed me to realize an educated and financially capable family would be such bitter and ungrateful people.
It’s sad to see how deep in to themselves they are that they miss the joy and privileges of their lives. Alice is a pathetically angry and resentful person virtually incapable of forgiveness and I found it difficult to relate to her.
October 21, 2023
4.5 / 5 stars
This is a pandemic novel. The virus is an ever-present force, and the novel ends before the vaccine is introduced.
I find family dramas irresistible and this one is really well done. It's set in the author's home state of Maine. Naturally, tension between Mainers and the covid escapees is palpable. Shetterly skillfully navigates a variety of difficult subjects and the result is a propulsive, tight debut novel which I could not put down!
This is a pandemic novel. The virus is an ever-present force, and the novel ends before the vaccine is introduced.
I find family dramas irresistible and this one is really well done. It's set in the author's home state of Maine. Naturally, tension between Mainers and the covid escapees is palpable. Shetterly skillfully navigates a variety of difficult subjects and the result is a propulsive, tight debut novel which I could not put down!
January 17, 2024
this is genuinely one of the most insufferable things i’ve ever read
March 25, 2024
They should have left Sophie in the city.
June 18, 2024
Pete and Alice in Maine
⭐️💫
📚 Fiction
🎶 Bad - Michael Jackson
One sentence synopsis:
Reeling from a painful betrayal in her marriage as the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold in New York City, Alice packs up her family and flees to their vacation home in Maine.
Book Review:
Oooof. This one was NOT good for so many reasons. Every single character was insufferable. They are just rich people who expected to be welcomed to their second vacation with open arms during the height of the pandemic. The book seems to actually make fun of the people who live in Maine which I just don’t understand because Maine and its people are BEAUTIFUL. The husband cheats on his wife and nothing remotely resembling remorse is expressed and they didn’t work anything out.
Under normal circumstances I would have DNF but I was kind just curious how bad it was going to continue to get. Turns out a lot.
⭐️💫
📚 Fiction
🎶 Bad - Michael Jackson
One sentence synopsis:
Reeling from a painful betrayal in her marriage as the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold in New York City, Alice packs up her family and flees to their vacation home in Maine.
Book Review:
Oooof. This one was NOT good for so many reasons. Every single character was insufferable. They are just rich people who expected to be welcomed to their second vacation with open arms during the height of the pandemic. The book seems to actually make fun of the people who live in Maine which I just don’t understand because Maine and its people are BEAUTIFUL. The husband cheats on his wife and nothing remotely resembling remorse is expressed and they didn’t work anything out.
Under normal circumstances I would have DNF but I was kind just curious how bad it was going to continue to get. Turns out a lot.
July 13, 2023
If you scream at a character and it’s not because you’re mad at the author, I think you have to give the book 5 stars. This book is an intriguing way to think back through our minds during the pandemic and to remember how complicated we all are.
October 11, 2024
March 2020: Alice has just learned that her husband Pete had an affair, and she's debating what to do about their marriage and how/whether to tell their preteen and elementary school aged daughters, and then lockdown hits. To keep the family safe, she's convinced they need to move out of New York City to their cabin in Maine. There they figure out their new normal, both in terms of daily life and in terms of whether their relationship can be repaired. The present-day story alternates with Alice's reflections on her relationship with Pete from its inception, how it was changed by having children, and how they have grown in ways both compatible and not. There's also a lot of reflection on parenting and on self-identity/losing oneself as a mother.
It's definitely a Covid book in the setting, but rather than feeling entirely about Covid, it uses the uncertainty and difficulty of the lockdown period to explore and elucidate the experience, the struggles, and the joys of a marriage and parenthood. All of these fissures and feelings existed already, but then the time period just heightened and brought into focus so many things in relationships and added a new degree of difficulty in approaching them - imagine feeling like you might be leaving your marriage and then being in lockdown with that person and your kids. It's raw at times (and some of the bickering/bitching in the story got a bit tiring perhaps), but it also could be quite tender, a lovely picture of family and motherhood. I really liked Alice's voice, which felt real and strong - a good mix of honest and smart and funny/snarky.
Aside from the broken marriage part, the book felt so real to my experience (and that's something that should be pointed out about the book - and me, of course - priviliged white lady experience, not the same type/level of difficult time that some families had, which maybe docked my appreciation of the book a bit when it felt out of touch) in the anxieties about the unknown and decision making related to our family's/others' safety as well as how the lockdown time brought this strange mix of appreciation for the "enforced" time together but also struggling to deal with a new normal as a wife/mother when suddenly space/routine were no longer my own.
I'd recommend it for fans of Lucy by the Sea - definitely some similarities in terms of setting both in location and time period, theme, and compelling character-driven writing - though of course this has a lot about parenting younger kids whereas Lucy's are grown. Also perhaps for fans of Catherine Newman's novels in terms of voice and thinking about motherhood/marriage.
It's definitely a Covid book in the setting, but rather than feeling entirely about Covid, it uses the uncertainty and difficulty of the lockdown period to explore and elucidate the experience, the struggles, and the joys of a marriage and parenthood. All of these fissures and feelings existed already, but then the time period just heightened and brought into focus so many things in relationships and added a new degree of difficulty in approaching them - imagine feeling like you might be leaving your marriage and then being in lockdown with that person and your kids. It's raw at times (and some of the bickering/bitching in the story got a bit tiring perhaps), but it also could be quite tender, a lovely picture of family and motherhood. I really liked Alice's voice, which felt real and strong - a good mix of honest and smart and funny/snarky.
Aside from the broken marriage part, the book felt so real to my experience (and that's something that should be pointed out about the book - and me, of course - priviliged white lady experience, not the same type/level of difficult time that some families had, which maybe docked my appreciation of the book a bit when it felt out of touch) in the anxieties about the unknown and decision making related to our family's/others' safety as well as how the lockdown time brought this strange mix of appreciation for the "enforced" time together but also struggling to deal with a new normal as a wife/mother when suddenly space/routine were no longer my own.
I'd recommend it for fans of Lucy by the Sea - definitely some similarities in terms of setting both in location and time period, theme, and compelling character-driven writing - though of course this has a lot about parenting younger kids whereas Lucy's are grown. Also perhaps for fans of Catherine Newman's novels in terms of voice and thinking about motherhood/marriage.
February 24, 2024
This is now the 3rd book I’ve read in the genre “Rich white people leave NYC to shelter in a rural town during COVID”. Good genre. But if you only wanted to read 1 or 2 in this genre I would certainly not recommend this one. It is far less about the COVID era, though, than it is about marriage. And I thought this was a powerful story of a marriage in crisis and Alice’s inability to get out of her own way (my interpretation, maybe I am giving too much credit to the husband). One thing I liked was the depiction of food in this book - it reminded me how sacred and special food and cooking became to so many of us during 2020.
February 19, 2024
These characters are so real.
August 29, 2024
Talk about the right book at the right time! Loved this one, every single word resonated with me as a woman, as a wife, as a mother. Beautifully written. Very character driven, with little plot - in the best way. One of the best representations of the COVID pandemic that I’ve read. Highly recommend if you love character driven literary fiction!
September 18, 2023
One version of How Life Happened In COVID. These were the second home outsiders that we resented for bringing their city germs and expectations to our vulnerable rural communities. Good to be reminded that they were suffering just like everyone else.
Listened on Audible pretty happily - a story you can have going in the background and not lose track of what's going on.
Listened on Audible pretty happily - a story you can have going in the background and not lose track of what's going on.
October 27, 2023
Here's the thing: if a book has a cover like this, I'm going to read it. If it has the word Pete in the title, even more so.
The other thing is that I don't know what it is that compels an author to explain their work. It's not just today's day and age: Richard Adams insisted Watership Down was just about rabbits, Hemingway insisted that the Old Man and the Sea was just about an old man and a sea, Bourdain wrote his little paragraphs justifying his work in his medius opus, and there's an author's note at the end of this that I really don't think does it any favors. The thing about this day and age is that we have so much access to information about the author and their life and thoughts and opinions etc that already makes New Criticism verrrry hard to actually do (I for one cannot resist a good Google and/or Instagram search of most authors that I read) that the last thing we need is an author's commentary about their own work; in my opinion. Leave something to the imagination!
Certain aspects of this book gave me the ick, and I could have justified them to myself if the author hadn't ended up saying that the novel was basically a writing exercise in trying to experience sympathy for a certain kind of person: a person, by the way, who is so very not sympathetic. She swears at her kids, cries about racism because it makes her feel bad (then never mentions it again), can't seem to figure out how she feels about her philandering husband who Is Sorry, Kind Of. The changes in perspective between chapters are too few and far between to be effective.
I stopped writing this review and came back to it and can't remember what I was going to say...clearly, not that memorable. This novel might have worked well for the author as a writing exercise, but it needed something more to get me to care about these extremely unlikable characters.
The other thing is that I don't know what it is that compels an author to explain their work. It's not just today's day and age: Richard Adams insisted Watership Down was just about rabbits, Hemingway insisted that the Old Man and the Sea was just about an old man and a sea, Bourdain wrote his little paragraphs justifying his work in his medius opus, and there's an author's note at the end of this that I really don't think does it any favors. The thing about this day and age is that we have so much access to information about the author and their life and thoughts and opinions etc that already makes New Criticism verrrry hard to actually do (I for one cannot resist a good Google and/or Instagram search of most authors that I read) that the last thing we need is an author's commentary about their own work; in my opinion. Leave something to the imagination!
Certain aspects of this book gave me the ick, and I could have justified them to myself if the author hadn't ended up saying that the novel was basically a writing exercise in trying to experience sympathy for a certain kind of person: a person, by the way, who is so very not sympathetic. She swears at her kids, cries about racism because it makes her feel bad (then never mentions it again), can't seem to figure out how she feels about her philandering husband who Is Sorry, Kind Of. The changes in perspective between chapters are too few and far between to be effective.
I stopped writing this review and came back to it and can't remember what I was going to say...clearly, not that memorable. This novel might have worked well for the author as a writing exercise, but it needed something more to get me to care about these extremely unlikable characters.
October 10, 2023
4 for the writing and 3 for the story (which was pretty depressing). Seemed like it took a deliberately long while for us to learn about why this marriage wasn’t working.
And Pete and the Her!! Pete. 🙄
And Pete and the Her!! Pete. 🙄
January 29, 2024
Not a fan. I disliked all the characters in this book.
March 13, 2024
My First DNF
The politics and agenda was too much for me! I really wanted to like this story but I couldn’t find enough to hang on to and finish.
The politics and agenda was too much for me! I really wanted to like this story but I couldn’t find enough to hang on to and finish.
June 27, 2023
I received a copy of this book from the publisher
Any stories set in 2020 will have to reference the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is just how they will do it. Future readers may find the references informative but current readers will likely be divided. Some may yearn for these stories while others turn away. It's a divisive topic and can quickly enrage a reader depending on the trajectory of the story and the intentions of the author. In Pete and Alice in Maine, debut novelist Caitlin Shetterly focuses on a certain type of family that we vaguely heard about in the first days of national news coverage of the pandemic--the privileged city dwellers fleeing to their vacation homes. After struggling to get to their Maine home and dealing with their not-so-friendly neighbors the family looks at their time there as a bit of an adventure before the novelty wears off. Alice and Pete's marital problems are still present even if they've changed their geographical location.
While it's easy to dismiss this situation as "rich people problems," Alice is relatable in that she acknowledges her privilege of essentially sticking their head in the sand:
I liked this novel and after reading some other reviews I learned the term "pandemic-lite." Yes, the pandemic is what has driven this family to flee to Maine, but the heart of the story is the shifting family dynamics. I also want to note that this is some of the most authentic young sibling rivalry writing I have ever read. I recommend this to lovers of Pineapple Street and readers who like character driven novels.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram
Any stories set in 2020 will have to reference the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is just how they will do it. Future readers may find the references informative but current readers will likely be divided. Some may yearn for these stories while others turn away. It's a divisive topic and can quickly enrage a reader depending on the trajectory of the story and the intentions of the author. In Pete and Alice in Maine, debut novelist Caitlin Shetterly focuses on a certain type of family that we vaguely heard about in the first days of national news coverage of the pandemic--the privileged city dwellers fleeing to their vacation homes. After struggling to get to their Maine home and dealing with their not-so-friendly neighbors the family looks at their time there as a bit of an adventure before the novelty wears off. Alice and Pete's marital problems are still present even if they've changed their geographical location.
"We didn’t have time to talk or fight anything out. We couldn’t go to therapy. The kids were with us constantly. There was no space, or time, to fix what had been broken, even if it could be fixed."
While it's easy to dismiss this situation as "rich people problems," Alice is relatable in that she acknowledges her privilege of essentially sticking their head in the sand:
"When I forget, I think Covid has leveled the playing field for all of us; then I remember that I have a second house, a husband making a pile, I’m not Black. I can afford to not know and not know and not know and not know."
I liked this novel and after reading some other reviews I learned the term "pandemic-lite." Yes, the pandemic is what has driven this family to flee to Maine, but the heart of the story is the shifting family dynamics. I also want to note that this is some of the most authentic young sibling rivalry writing I have ever read. I recommend this to lovers of Pineapple Street and readers who like character driven novels.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram
December 30, 2023
I was braced for the "non ending" as some other reviewers complained, but I found the ending as good as many others I have read, which is to say, plausible and realistic. As for the complaints about the injection of politics into this story set during the pandemic, how could there NOT be mention of politics? I found that very refreshing. Of course, I agree with the politics, but I would have been intrigued regardless of the character's family's leanings.
This book was emotionally intense and I had to step away from it for maybe an hour sometimes before coming back to it, but it was amazing. The chapter on the addition of a second baby to the family totally resonated. Very powerful.
I got impatient with Alice but I'd say that when you are in the midst of the aftermath of a betrayal, you aren't thinking with a cool head. Pete and Alice were not caricatures, but seemed to be real, normally flawed, people. Quite amazing. And Pete certainly had his flaws.
This book was emotionally intense and I had to step away from it for maybe an hour sometimes before coming back to it, but it was amazing. The chapter on the addition of a second baby to the family totally resonated. Very powerful.
I got impatient with Alice but I'd say that when you are in the midst of the aftermath of a betrayal, you aren't thinking with a cool head. Pete and Alice were not caricatures, but seemed to be real, normally flawed, people. Quite amazing. And Pete certainly had his flaws.
September 10, 2023
This vacillated between 3.5 and 4 stars. It was appropriately sad and melancholy. But I felt like we never really got to know Alice and why she was so discontent. The whole “mothering two kids” thing is just so shallow and played out, though, true… And we never really got to really see Pete be the asshole that was supposedly at the root of all the problems.
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