Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine: A Novel (Paperback)

Description

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"Brilliant....[The Vietnam era] is vividly captured by Ann Hood."—New York Times Book Review

In 1969, as Peter, Paul and Mary croon on the radio and poster paints splash the latest antiwar slogans, three young friends find love. Suzanne, a poet, lives in a Maine beach house awaiting the birth of a child she will call Sparrow. Claudia, who weds a farmer during college, plans to raise three strong sons. Elizabeth and her husband marry, organize protests, and try to rear two children with their hippie values. By 1985, things have changed: Suzanne, now with an MBA, calls Sparrow "Susan." Claudia spirals backward into her sixties world—and madness. And Elizabeth, fatally ill, watches despairingly as her children yearn for a split-level house and a gleaming station wagon. Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine is Ann Hood's stunning debut novel about the choices we make when we are young, and the changes brought about by the passing of time.

About the Author

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Ann Hood is the author of a dozen books of memoir and fiction, including the best-selling novels The Book That Matters Most, The Red Thread, and The Knitting Circle. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York.

Praise For…

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Memorably stirring and authentic.
— Los Angeles Times Book Review

Accomplished and emotionally affecting.
— Chicago Tribune

Deals with the intricacies of infidelity, cancer, insanity, marriage, growing old, accepting death, and just plain accepting yourself.
— Elizabeth Wurtzel - Seventeen

Not just another 1960's novel... it is the story of life, of living, and of three unforgettable women as they struggle to find their way from one era to another.
— Judy Isenhour - Salisbury Post (N.C.)

A lovely novel... Hood creates characters so arresting one wishes each of them were principals of longer novels.
— Peggy Constantine - Chicago Sun-Times

Provocative... an intriguing work.
— Publishers Weekly