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The Kelleher family have been summering at their cottage on the coast of Maine for decades. The large Irish Catholic clan has relished their respites from city life and work to come together in one big raucous bunch every year. Alice, now 83 and widowed, has decided to do something radical with the cottage and house along with the beachfront property even though she knows it will not sit well with other members of the family. Daughter Kathleen is living in California with an aging hippie and the two run a surprising successful worm farm that produces excellent fertilizer. Alice, ever the snob, detests Kathleen's lifestyle and has no problem saying so. Unsurprisingly Kathleen has not been to Maine in 10 years. Maggie, Kathleen's daughter, has just learned that at age 32 she is pregnant by her less than attentive boyfriend. She heads to Maine to spend some alone time and think about her life ahead as a single mother. Anne Marie, Alice's daughter-in-law, is a better daughter to Alice than her own 2, Kathleen and Clare, have ever been. She is the perfect mother, wife, and woman always kind and accommodating. She will be hit the hardest by Alice's decision. The four women find themselves thrown together in Maine once Kathleen gets wind of Maggie's news and rushes to her daughter's side. Fireworks, and not just the 4th of July ones, ensue as all four learn to deal with their pasts and questionable futures.

I have read several reviews of this book where people complained about the ending, or lack thereof. I truly don't think every issue, especially family issues, need to be settled and tied up with a pretty bow before the last page of the book. Life is not that simple. These 4 women are all so different. I can't say that I liked Alice at all; she is one spoiled, snooty, nasty-mouthed piece of work. Kathleen is 'living her bliss' after a disastrous 1st marriage ended in divorce; although she loves her children, she never really wanted to have any. Anne Marie is almost too good to be true but once she gets angry she is a force to be reckoned with. Maggie is sweet and naive, willing to stay with a man who has never proven himself to be anything more than a mentally immature boy. I enjoyed the dynamics of the four women's relationships and truly liked the book.