Narrator Stacey Glemboski captures this novel about family and responsibility with her stellar performance. Leaving her husband behind in Brooklyn, Louisa takes off for her parents' summer beach house in Maine with her three kids. At the same time, Kristie heads out from Pennsylvania to Maine with little money to unpack the truth about her father. Both women will spend an illuminating summer downeast, but how they come to terms with their issues is drastically different. As Glemboski narrates from multiple points of view, she gives each character a fitting voice—the kids sound youthful and innocent; Kristie sounds tired and jaded; Louisa sounds irritated and overworked. It's delightful to hear the characters transform as they try to right the past without destroying the future. E.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Vacationland: A Novel
Narrated by Stacey Glemboski
Meg Mitchell MooreUnabridged — 12 hours, 37 minutes
Vacationland: A Novel
Narrated by Stacey Glemboski
Meg Mitchell MooreUnabridged — 12 hours, 37 minutes
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Overview
A Sarah Selects Book Club Pick!
“As sophisticated and delicious as lobster bisque.” -Amanda Eyre Ward,*New York Times*bestselling author*
A shimmering summer read set in Maine about family secrets, marriage, motherhood, and privilege, from the bestselling author of*Two Truths and a Lie*and*The Islanders.
Louisa has come to her parents' house in Maine this summer with her three kids, a barely written book that has a looming deadline, and a trunkful of resentment. Louisa is hoping the crisp breeze will blow away her irritation for her life choices and replace it with enthusiasm for both her family and her writing.
But all isn't well in Maine. Louisa's father,*a retired judge and pillar of the community, is suffering from Alzheimer's. Louisa's mother is alternately pretending everything is fine and not pretending at all. And one of Louisa's children happens upon a very confusing and heartfelt letter referring to something Louisa doesn't think her father could possibly have done.
Louisa's not the only one searching for something in Maine this summer. Kristie took the Greyhound bus from Pennsylvania with the $761 left in her bank account and a whole lot of emotional baggage. She has a past she's trying to outrun, a secret she's trying to unpack, and a new boyfriend who's so impossibly kind she can't figure out what she did to deserve him.
As June turns to July turns to August, secrets will be unearthed, betrayals will come to light, and*both Louisa and Kristie will ask themselves what they are owed and what they owe others. Both a delicious summer read and a compelling portrayal of family, responsibility, ambition, and loss,*Vacationland*is Meg Mitchell Moore at her best.
Editorial Reviews
04/25/2022
Moore (The Islanders) follows a family’s tribulations while summering in Maine in her delectable latest. NYU history professor Louisa McLean brings her three children to her parents’ summer home in Rockland without her husband, Steven, who stays behind and continues putting in long hours in chasing his dream of selling his podcast company. Louisa, resentful at having to deal with the kids herself, also hopes the time away will help her stop procrastinating on writing her book. Tensions mount as her mother reveals that paying to care for Louisa’s father, Martin, a judge who now has Alzheimer’s, might require them to sell the family house as soon as the following year. Then a young woman named Kristie Turner arrives by Greyhound after her mother’s death, determined for reasons that are only revealed later to gain an audience with Martin. She decides to stay a while, gets a job as a waitress, and worries about money after learning she’s pregnant. Kristie’s life is detailed in sharp contrast to Louisa’s leisurely days, as Louisa weighs a desire to help Kristie with her parents’ needs. Steven’s lack of understanding over how much the house means to Louisa, meanwhile, causes tensions to flare. Moore details the dicey situation with nuance and grace. Readers are in for a treat. (June)
There’s sun, sea and major drama—you’ll be carried away.” — People
"Irresistible." — vogue.com
"What a pleasure to open Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore and be invited for the summer to midcoast Maine. A novel full of rich, complex characters, deep blue-gray ocean views, and simmering secrets, Vacationland is as sophisticated and delicious as lobster bisque." — Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters and The Lifeguards
"Engrossing....A truly lovely tale of families, love, mistakes, forgiveness, and, yes, happiness." — Kirkus Reviews
"Delectable...Readers are in for a treat." — Publishers Weekly
"Captures the breezy feel of a summer in Maine while addressing a variety of problems, from work/life balance to paternity, that will resonate with readers." — Booklist
"Full of breathtaking Maine sunsets and family drama writ large and small, Vacationland is both an escapist summer read and a thoughtful examination of motherhood, privilege and what makes a family." — Shelf Awareness
“[A] scintillating, dishy, and dark novel perfect for those who enjoyed Never Have I Ever and Big Little Lies.” — Bookreporter.com on Two Truths and a Lie
“Meg Mitchell Moore fills [Maeve Binchy’s] big shoes....If you’re feeling landlocked and water-deprived, The Islanders is the ticket to the getaway you need.” — New York Times Book Review
"This fast-paced, witty beach read has all the elements of a great drama, including a Greek chorus of second-grade moms providing color commentary. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere."
A beautifully in-depth novel chronicling the intersection of the lives of three strangers during one fateful summer. [Moore’s] characters are strong, and the realistic situations are both heartfelt and heartbreaking. An excellent combination of character exploration and intrigue.
Meg Mitchell Moore fills [Maeve Binchy’s] big shoes....If you’re feeling landlocked and water-deprived, The Islanders is the ticket to the getaway you need.
[A] scintillating, dishy, and dark novel perfect for those who enjoyed Never Have I Ever and Big Little Lies.
09/01/2022
Moore (The Arrivals) has written a wonderful summer novel that will sweep listeners into the humid New England summer season. Louisa goes home to Maine to give her children a summer vacation with their grandparents, as well as a chance to finish her book and deal with resentment toward her husband, who stayed behind in Brooklyn. But hoping for that seems like too much. Her father is suffering from Alzheimer's and her mother doesn't always acknowledge it. Kristie, newly pregnant and working dead-end jobs, also came to Maine to escape the death of her mother and find answers. As the summer months go by, secrets and betrayals are revealed, leaving Louisa and Kristie unsure of things. Narrator Stacy Glemboski brings to life Louisa, Kristie, and the small-town Maine cast, placing listeners directly in the oppressive heat of the season and the carefree summer of the children. VERDICT Readers looking for a beach read with depth will enjoy this.—Elyssa Everling
01/01/2022
In Honey and Spice, following Babalola's buzzy debut story collection, Love in Color, young Black British woman Kiki Banjo—host of a popular student radio show and known for preaching bad-relationship avoidance—gets tangled in a fake liaison with the very guy she's been citing as big trouble. From Bays, co-creator of the Emmy Award-winning series How I Met Your Mother, 2015 New York-set The Mutual Friend features Alice Quick, mourning her mother, barely managing as a nanny, and trying to make herself sign up for the MCATs even as her tech millionaire brother experiences a religious awakening. In Blush author Brenner's latest, three sisters from a Gilt-edged family in the jewelry business are torn apart following a publicity stunt gone wrong, with one sister dying in a subsequent accident and her daughter struggling to regain traction within the family. In Coleman's Good Morning, Love, aspiring songwriter/musician Carlisa "Carli" Henton's efforts to keep her business and personal lives separate crumble when she meets rising hip-hop star Tau Anderson (50,000-copy first printing). From Egyptian-Irish BBC broadcaster El-Wardany, These Impossible Things features friends Malak, Kees, and Jenna, on the verge of adulthood as they struggle to be good Muslim women yet wanting to follow their dreams (50,000-copy first printing). In Fowler's It All Comes Down To This, three sisters—freelance journalist Beck, struggling with her marriage and a desire to write fiction; Claire, an accomplished pediatric cardiologist, recently divorced; and Sophie, leading a glamorous life she can't afford—face their mother's impending death and the fate of their beloved summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, ME. In Ho's Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic, a follow-up to the LJ-starred Last Tang Standing, a hardworking career woman gives up on finding the right guy after her fiancé calls off their marriage and signs up for an elective co-parenting website so that she can have a baby—with unexpected consequences. In USA Today best-selling Moore's latest, Maine is not exactly Vacationland for Louisa when she visits her parents one summer with her three children, as she's dealing with an unfinished book, an absentee husband, and a father suffering from Alzheimer's, plus a young stranger in town trying to get her own life in order (100,000-copy first printing). In popular Patrick's The Messy Life of Book People, Liv Green forms a tentative friendship with the mega-best-selling author for whom she works as a housecleaner but is surprised when the author dies suddenly and in her will asks that Liv complete her final book (75,000 paperback and 10,000-copy paperback first printing). In Saint X author Schaitkin's Elsewhere, an interesting departure, Vera grows up in a small town where for generations women keep vanishing mysteriously (200,000-copy first printing). Vercher follows the Edgar-nominated, best-booked Three-Fifths with After the Lights Go Out, about a biracial MMA fighter aging out of his career and facing his father's end-stage Alzheimer's when he scores a last-minute comeback fight. Already a multi-award winner, Wolfe debuts with Last Summer on State Street, about Felicia "Fe Fe" Stevens and two close-as-hugging friends—a happy threesome that expands to an uneasy foursome even as the Chicago Housing Authority prepares to tear down the high-rise in the projects where Fe Fe's family lives (50,000-copy first printing).
Narrator Stacey Glemboski captures this novel about family and responsibility with her stellar performance. Leaving her husband behind in Brooklyn, Louisa takes off for her parents' summer beach house in Maine with her three kids. At the same time, Kristie heads out from Pennsylvania to Maine with little money to unpack the truth about her father. Both women will spend an illuminating summer downeast, but how they come to terms with their issues is drastically different. As Glemboski narrates from multiple points of view, she gives each character a fitting voice—the kids sound youthful and innocent; Kristie sounds tired and jaded; Louisa sounds irritated and overworked. It's delightful to hear the characters transform as they try to right the past without destroying the future. E.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
2022-04-27
Two half sisters who have never met—a New York University professor and a waitress—spend the summer in the small town of Rockland, Maine.
Louisa Fitzgerald McLean, a tenured NYU history professor, is almost done with her sabbatical and feels like a complete mess. She hasn't been working on her planned book, her three children are taking up all her energy, and her husband, Steven, is so consumed with getting his new podcast company up and running that he has no time for her or the family. A decision is made: She and the children will spend the summer in Maine with her mother, Annie, and father, Martin—retired chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine—at her family’s vacation house while Steven stays in Brooklyn and works. Over the course of the summer, Mattie, 12, falls in love; Abigail, 10, writes letters to her father and loses herself in Bridge to Terabithia, board games, and the water; and Claire, 7, listens, watches, bosses people around, and has a tremendous time learning secrets and suffering the tragedies that only a youngest sibling can suffer. Everything looks—and is—wonderful, but Louisa and Steven’s marriage is under strain, her book isn’t coming along, her father’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse, her mother’s endless reservoir of money is drying up, and she discovers that her father is not perfect. Kristie, a half sister Louisa never knew about, arrives in Maine, three years sober and looking for her own closure after her mother’s recent death. Author Moore has expertly woven together first-person narratives from Louisa; Kristie; Martin; the family’s housekeeper Pauline; and the children to create an engrossing story of one summer, many summers, multiple lives.
A truly lovely tale of families, love, mistakes, forgiveness, and, yes, happiness.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940176444865 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 06/14/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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