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Summary
Summary
In this poignant, evocative novel, bestselling author Holly Chamberlin sweeps you into the picturesque town of Ogunquit, Maine, where a family in flux explores their ties to a beautiful beach house, and to each other. Some houses have a personality of their own. Larchmere is that kind of place--a splendid, sprawling home with breathtaking views that open to briny Atlantic air and seabirds' calls. It's the place where Tilda McQueen O'Connell grew up and now vacations each year, and where she and her three siblings--Adam, Hannah, and Craig--have gathered to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their mother's passing. But instead of the bittersweet but relaxing reunion Tilda expected, she finds chaos. Her father's plan to marry a younger woman has thrown the fate of the beach house into uncertainty. For Tilda, the stakes seem the highest. Alone and vulnerable two years after her husband's death, she sees Larchmere as not just a cherished part of her history, but her eventual refuge from the world. Faced with losing that legacy, Tilda must embrace an unknown future. And all the McQueens must reconcile their shared, sometimes painful past--and learn how to love one another even when it means forging a life apart. . .
Author Notes
Holly Chamberlin was born and raised in New York City. After earning a Masters degree in English Literature from New York University and working as an editor in the publishing industry for ten years, she moved to Boston, married and became a freelance editor and writer. She and her husband now live in downtown Portland, Maine, in a restored mid-nineteenth century brick townhouse with Betty, the most athletic, beautiful and intelligent cat in the world. Readers can visit her website at: www.hollychamberlin.com.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Larchmere, a seaside estate in Ogunquit, Maine, becomes a bone of contention for its possible heirs in Chamberlin's predictable but pleasant latest (after One Week in December). Bill McQueen's adult children worry that Dad's much younger girlfriend, Jennifer, might inherit Larchmere if Bill decides to marry her. Eldest brother Adam is livid; less angry but nevertheless concerned are his sisters, relatively early widow Tilda, and Hannah, who's contemplating having children with her wife. Youngest brother Craig, meanwhile, seems unconcerned. After observing the 10th anniversary of their mother's death, life-changing discoveries help the siblings confront their emotional difficulties with varying success. Though poky in spots and annoying in others (particularly when Adam's front and center), it does the trick as a beach book and provides a touristy taste of Maine's seasonal attractions. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The McQueen clan is reuniting in Ogunquit, Maine, at their gorgeous and rambling summer home. It's not quite a vacation, though they're coming together for a memorial service for their matriarch, Charlotte McQueen, and her influence is still felt as each family member has brought more baggage than just their suitcases. Being a newlywed in a gay marriage isn't what worries Hannah about having children; it's her fear of turning out like Charlotte, her mother. Drifting brother Craig is unsure of his place in the family hierarchy. Bitter, angry Adam is working through a divorce and his engagement to his trophy girlfriend; and gloomy, thoughtful Tilda is too wrapped up in mourning her husband to notice much else. When their father invites his new girlfriend to the memorial service, new questions arise in the growing interest over exactly who inherits the beach house; and it isn't long before tensions boil over. Chamberlin's eighth novel is a dramatic and moving portrait of several generations of a family and each person's place within it.--Hatton, Hilary Copyright 2010 Booklist
