It feels like a coming-of-age novel in a world of perpetual adolescents.

I'm not certain that even the two parents in this story were adults. Maybe Scarlet. ( )

This is the story of a mildly dysfunctional family comprised of four adult children and their parents, who although they are dead, are very much a part of the family and the story.

Tom, the oldest, is struggling with a marriage that is failing and carrying the burden of his parents’ secret which he has never shared with his siblings.

Gwen – free-loving, unmarried, struggling artist closing in on forty is secretly pregnant;

Libby – an uncertain lesbian in a long time relationship with a woman who wants a commitment Libby is not prepared to give;

Danny – ten years younger than Libby, is tormented, depressed and has no clue what to do with his life;

The siblings gather for their annual summer weeks together at the iconic family summer home on an island off the coast of Maine. The mother has just recently died and this will be their first summer without her.

Each of the characters has significant problems/challenges and linking it all is the house, which someone has offered to buy for three million dollars. They love the house and all the memories it holds for each of them, but it is a falling apart and it will cost a lot to maintain.

What to do with the house creates an excellent thread that helps to weave each of the characters’ stories together.

The book has the pace of a lazy summer vacation. The writing is excellent, with vivid descriptions of sea, house, food and drink. The characters were well developed and I cared about each of them.
It’s a good story. ( )

Great CD read by Emily Sutton-Smith. The descriptions are beautiful, the four now adult children are pictured in earlier and current times with their relationships to this magnet of a summer house---and now, what to do with it. ( )

A compelling tale of a dysfunctional family who has come to their late parents summer home for a summer vacation. Each sibling is fighting a battle created in part by one or both of their parents, I would suggest this book if the reader appreciates a character-driven tale. ( )

Most women readers have been here before - off to a Maine island, with unresolved family conflicts in tow. I liked this one because it's just one generation - two sisters, two brothers - and they each have someone unique issues. The setting is Vinalhaven and the "cottage" is ancient and falling down around the Willoughby sibling's ears. The writing is evocative, though a bit heavy on the ocean descriptions, which might have reduced the page count to about 250.

Quotes: "He had plenty of experience watching Libby say the things he was feeling, and Gwen do the things he was afraid to do."

"I don't know how you did it, two kids, two years apart. How did you have a life?"
"I didn't, really. Your old life sort of disappears, and you create a whole new one that has some of the old stuff and a lot of new stuff."

"She knew that she had fooled herself into thinking opposites could lead anywhere but opposition." ( )