Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine

By Ann Hood

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393332357
• ISBN13: 9780393332353
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Boring

I was extremely disappointed in this book. I usually love this author's books, but this was a miss for me. I'm sorry I wasted my time.

An Amazing and Simple Story

An amazing and simple story of what shapes the people we become. The characters were like people you know.

A Man's Take

I read this book a LONG time ago, and I have been searching for and reading Ann Hood ever since! Maybe it was my age and maturity - whatever - when I read it, but I LOVED it! I'd highly recommend this or any Ann Hood to everyone. For me, it was an eye-opening look into the woman's side of things. It made me think, and changed my point of view in a big way.

A Haunting Writer

I read this novel and Hood's "Three-Legged Horse" and "Something Blue" a few years ago. They are simple, slight novels that take only a short time to read, but they have lived with me since, becoming almost iconic.I am not particularly good at remembering plots or names, but fragments - the lobsters that a child thinks have been brought home to be pets which are then boiled alive... the child struck dumb by the fear inspired by the bizarre death of his father, and the death itself - remain with me always.At the time I was reading these, I was also reading Alice Hoffman and Anne Tyler, with whom Hood has similarities. I prefer Ann Hood, of the three.

This book clearly represents a work of fine literature.

This was a really great book and whoever gave it a poor review obviously does not appreciate modern writing. I loved it! Yeah for Ann Hood. Thank you for reading this review.

Wise and Keen Prose Lend to this poignant novel

Spare style and quick, witty dialog all make Somewhere Off The Coast Of Maine a refreshing read. Three womens' lives have become intertwined through family and fate. Long gone are the sixties of their rebellious youth, but they still keep their memories close to their hearts as a loved one keeps a snippet of hair in a locket. We learn the values of these memorable characters through their children; family plays an important role in this novel. Sad at times, funny at other times, the novel is one to breeze through quickly and effortlessly, yet the reader is still left with a sense that they have read a classic novel of the human condition. I highly recommend this novel as a change of pace for anyone bogged down by heavy books, or not able to get "INTO" a new book. An excellent choice of reading material.