Maine (2011) This book has been on my 'to read' list for ages and i finally decided to read as part of my 2015 reading challenge as 'a book by an author under 30'. I am now wondering why I waited so long to get around to it!! Absolutely loved this book and all the secrets found in 1 family!! Made me realise mine was normal afterall Beautifully written, breaking down the chapters into each main female characters stories. So was ideal for when you needed to take a break (had to sleep at some point) Anyone who knows me, knows I'm just crazy, head over heels in love with the State of Maine. I've spent the past 2 summers there soaking in the sea and the mountains, the locals and the tourists, the sun and the rain, all of which are gorgeous, peaceful and calm. A book with the title, Maine should be right up my alley, right? Wrong. There was not a single likeable character in this story. Alice, the matriarch of the Kelleher family, is an outright bitch. She wanted us to feel sorry for her because her sister, Mary died in a fire many years ago and Alice felt responsible. I had not one ounce of sympathy for her, she was that mean. Her daughters and daughter-in-law displayed plenty of shallow and pathetic behavior. The big family gathering that the reader expects to occur, never does. Thank goodness. It probably would have turned into a brawl.Maine turned into one long, boring backstory. No one even appeared in the Maine until more than halfway through the book. I got lost in the constant flashbacks, excruciatingly long chapters and unlikeable characters. Once I start reading a book however, I can't stop no matter how painful it is. As the eternal optimist, I keep hoping to find redemption somewhere even if it's on the very last page. While looking for the buried gem, I have a tendency to skip pages to speed the process along, which was the case with Maine.I never found the prize in this novel. I'm sorry I wasted my time on this book. This is not the Maine I know and love.