The From-Aways; CJ Hauser
William Morrow - 2014
Welcome
to Menamon, Maine, a place where newcomers,
(even if you were born there, moved elsewhere and returned there), are referred to as, ”The From-Aways”.
Henry, Leah and Quinn, the central characters are the Maine newbies in this
novel.
Twenty-something Henry, was born in Maine, but moved away for college. He was always intrigued by the stories he heard from relatives about hard working lobstermen and the warm and friendly folks who resided there, and since his parents died has longed to return to his roots. His new wife Leah is more than willing to leave her job as a journalist and their life in Brooklyn, NY to share Henry’s dreams and for a slower pace of life.
Quinn, is also a newbie to Menamon. After caring for her mother who had died from cancer, she feels compelled to honor her mother’s wishes to find her father in Maine, a man who had abandoned mother and daughter long before Quinn could get to know him.
Both women are hired at the local newspaper office where real news stories are few and far between. Until one day the women stumble upon a story that is sure to stir up the townspeople.
Told in alternating chapters from the POV of Leah and Quinn, the author does a very good job capturing small town life in Maine. I loved the first several chapters of this novel, and was pretty sure, initially, that I had a winner on my hands.
Twenty-something Henry, was born in Maine, but moved away for college. He was always intrigued by the stories he heard from relatives about hard working lobstermen and the warm and friendly folks who resided there, and since his parents died has longed to return to his roots. His new wife Leah is more than willing to leave her job as a journalist and their life in Brooklyn, NY to share Henry’s dreams and for a slower pace of life.
Quinn, is also a newbie to Menamon. After caring for her mother who had died from cancer, she feels compelled to honor her mother’s wishes to find her father in Maine, a man who had abandoned mother and daughter long before Quinn could get to know him.
Both women are hired at the local newspaper office where real news stories are few and far between. Until one day the women stumble upon a story that is sure to stir up the townspeople.
Told in alternating chapters from the POV of Leah and Quinn, the author does a very good job capturing small town life in Maine. I loved the first several chapters of this novel, and was pretty sure, initially, that I had a winner on my hands.
(INTRO)
"I have two lobsters in my bathtub and I'm not sure I can kill them.
I'm
sitting on the rim of the tub. It has curled, Brass feet. Everything
seems alive and haunted in this house; that's my first problem.
My
second problem is that I pet the lobsters. I roll up a white-buttoned
sleeve and run my pinched fingers along the length of Lobster Number
One's antenna. It feels sensitive and unbreakable like coiled wire.
Lobster Number One knocks his crusher claw against my hand, but there's a
thick, pink rubber band binding it up, so I'm in no real danger. I
stroke Lobster Number Two's antenna as well, so they're even."
Unfortunately, what started out
strong soon began to lose steam for me, and left me anxious to leave the
characters of Memamon, none of which I grew to care about.
3/5 stars (review copy)
For a small state, Maine features as a setting in quite a few books! This one sounds charming!
ReplyDeleteAw, too bad. In the South, you're from wherever you were born, even if you only lived there for 5 minutes so I find the Maine concept of "from-aways" interesting.
ReplyDeleteDang,mit was fun for a while.
ReplyDeleteSorry it did not work for you. Pity because it started out as a real interesting read.
ReplyDeleteOh, too bad. I enjoy books set in Maine.
ReplyDeleteAw, sorry it didn't finish as strongly as it began.
ReplyDeleteDarn - I have this on my Kindle. It sounded promising from the intro...but thank you for an honest review!
ReplyDeleteYikes! I just finished a book that started slow but finished with a bang. And left me satidfied. Too bad this isn't one of those :)
ReplyDeleteNot good when you can't wait to get away from the characters!
ReplyDeleteOh, darn. I won a copy of this one and haven't started it yet.
ReplyDelete