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The From-Aways

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Fresh talent CJ Hauser makes her literary debut with The From-Aways, an irreverent story of family, love, friendship, and lobsters, in the tradition of J. Courtney Sullivan’s Maine and Richard Russo’s Empire Falls.

Two women come to Maine in search of family, and find more love, heartbreak, and friendship, than they’d ever imagined one little fishing town could hold.

When Leah, a young New York reporter, meets Henry, she falls in love with everything about him: his freckles, green thumb, and tales of a Maine childhood. They marry quickly and Leah convinces Henry to move back to Menamon. As Leah builds a life there, reporting for The Menamon Star and vowing to be less of an emotional screw-up, the newlyweds are shocked to discover that they don’t know each other nearly so well as they thought they did.

When Quinn’s mother dies, she tracks down the famous folk-singer father she’s never known, in Menamon. Scrappy and smart-mouthed, Quinn gets a job at the local paper, an apartment above the town diner, and tries to shore up the courage to meet her father. But falling in love with her roommate, Rosie, was never part of the plan.

These two unruly women’s work relationship at The Star deepens into best-friendship when they stumble onto a story that shakes sleepy Menamon—and holds damaging repercussions for Leah’s husband and Quinn’s roommate both. As the town descends into turmoil, both women must decide what kind of lives they are willing to fight for.

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    • Kirkus

      April 15, 2014
      Two young women trying to find their places in the world settle in a small coastal town in Maine and discover purpose, friendship and acceptance. When Leah, a reporter, meets down-to-earth Henry Lynch in a New York City bar, she wastes no time resigning from her job, marrying him and moving into his family home in the small fishing community of Menamon. Leah's filled with romantic notions about living an idyllic life and fitting in with the locals, but she soon discovers "from-aways" can't easily dissolve barriers built by common roots and experiences. She also discovers there are things about Henry she doesn't know and wonders if she fell in love with only the idea of him. Finding work at the Menamon Star, owned by her unfriendly sister-in-law, Leah meets wisecracking tough girl Quinn Winters, another recent transplant to the area. Quinn originally came to town to confront her father, Carter Marks, once a moderately successful folk singer who had an affair with her late mother, but she puts her plans on hold as she sorts through her different reactions to him. Instead, believing no one knows she's his daughter, she remains in town, gets hired at the paper, falls in love with her roommate, and becomes a self-taught guitarist and songwriter. Quinn's amateurish prose contrasts with Leah's professional writing, but the two become drinking buddies and begin to collaborate on pieces. Soon they find themselves embroiled in a story about a building project that polarizes the townsfolk and threatens to change the nature of the entire community. Leah finds that her involvement might help her gain the acceptance she covets but could jeopardize her marriage. As events begin to spin out of control, debut novelist Hauser creates a palpable bond linking characters, readers, a community and a relevant political issue. Hauser's style is expressive, clever and compelling, and she offers readers a thoughtful and engaging debut.

      COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      May 1, 2014
      Two 24-year-old womenboth from-aways not native to the areabecome unlikely allies on a small-town Maine newspaper. Quinn Winters, with her mediocre journalism degree, goes to Menamon, Maine, to find her father, semifamous folk singer Carter Marks, who left Quinn's mother shortly after Quinn's birth. Native New Yorker Leah Gold leaves her job as a reporter on a prestigious city daily to marry Menamon native Henry Lynch and take the prodigal son home. Working on the Menamon Star, run by Leah's sister-in-law, Charley Lynch, Quinn and Leah envision themselves the Woodward and Bernstein of the small fishing village, particularly when they stumble on an earth-shaking story about the development the townsfolk are dreading, a story that impacts both their lives enormously. Hauser alternates first-person chapters between her two primary characters to build beautifully rounded characterizations of them and others and form a loving story centered on a place and its effect on its residents. This impressively crafted first novel is likely to leave readers wanting both a Maine lobster dinner and more from this author.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

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