Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine: A Novel

Synopsis

"Hood is clearly a force to be reckoned with in the world of contemporary fiction."-- "Daily News," Los Angeles.

1969: As Peter, Paul and Mary croon on the radio and poster paint splashes the latest anti-war slogans, Suzanne lives in a Maine beach house with a poet, pregnant with their love child, Sparrow. Claudia, during college, marries a farmer and raises three strong sons. And Elizabeth and Howard, very much in love, organize protest marches, marry, and try to bring up two children with earthly, hippie values. 1985: The songs, the colors, the times have changed. Suzanne has an M.B.A. and a briefcase; she insists on calling Sparrow "Susan" and pretends that 1969 never existed. Claudia inches toward madness following personal tragedy, sliding ever backward to her magical sixties world. And Elizabeth, fatally ill, watches despairingly as her children yearn for a split-level house and a gleaning station wagon. In her beloved and critically acclaimed first novel, Ann Hood's clear, penetrating voice captures the spirit of three friends struggling to resolve their lives in a complicated time warp called lost youth.

"Memorably stirring and authentic."-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review."

"Accomplished and emotionally affecting."-- "Chicago Tribune"