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Maine audiobook cover art

  • Maine

  • By: J. Courtney Sullivan
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In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us into even richer territory. For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back....

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  • By Susan on 06-20-11
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  • Saints for All Occasions

  • A Novel
  • By: J. Courtney Sullivan
  • Narrated by: Susan Denaker
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  • Unabridged
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Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.

  • 3 out of 5 stars

  • The narration ruined it

  • By Janis Reynolds on 06-12-17
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  • The Engagements

  • By: J. Courtney Sullivan
  • Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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    4 out of 5 stars 194
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Evelyn has been married to her husband for 40 years - 40 years since he slipped off her first wedding ring and put his own in its place. Delphine has seen both sides of love - the ecstatic, glorious highs of seduction, and the bitter, spiteful fury that descends when it’s over. James, a paramedic who works the night shift, knows his wife’s family thinks she could have done better; while Kate, partnered with Dan for a decade, has seen every kind of wedding - beach weddings, backyard weddings, castle weddings - and has vowed never, ever, to have one of her own.

  • 3 out of 5 stars

  • This story required some brain exercise.

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  • Alternate Side

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Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life - except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage.

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Irene Steele's idyllic life - house, husband, family - is shattered when she is woken up by a late-night phone call. Her beloved husband has been found dead, but before Irene can process this tragic news, she must confront the perplexing details of her husband's death. He was found on St. John, a tropical island paradise far removed from their suburban life. Leaving the cold winter behind, Irene flies down to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of St. John only to make another shocking discovery: her husband had a secret second family. Investigating, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sand beaches of St. John.

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  • Mrs.

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  • Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
  • Unabridged
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In the well-heeled milieu of New York's Upper East Side, coolly elegant Philippa Lye is the woman no one can stop talking about. Despite a shadowy past, Philippa has somehow married the scion of the last family-held investment bank in the city. And although her wealth and connections put her in the center of this world, she refuses to conform to its gossip-fueled culture. Then, into her precariously balanced life, come two women.

  • 1 out of 5 stars

  • Not worth it...

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Publisher's Summary

This radiant debut novel from J. Courtney Sullivan examines the deep bonds of friendship and the complex landscape facing today’s young women. Celia, Bree, Sally, and April arrive at Smith College as four very different people. But the years bring them closer together, and once they graduate and face the real world, they realize they need each other more than ever.
©2009 J. Courtney Sullivan (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"Sullivan’s debut crackles with intelligent observations about the inner sanctum of the all-women’s elite (yet scholarship-laden) college life." ( Booklist)
“The author manages to find that sweet spot between Serious Literature and chick lit. Commencement is a beach book for smart women–and the girls they once were.” ( Entertainment Weekly)
“Sullivan tells an involving story of four students from different backgrounds who share quarters at Smith College. It sounds trite, but it isn’t. The women change the course of their lives of the years in dramatic ways.... Chick lit with depth and engagement.” ( New York Daily News)

What members say

Average Customer Ratings

Overall

  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    7

Performance

  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    28
  • 4 Stars
    38
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
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Story

  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    29
  • 4 Stars
    40
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    7
Audible.com Reviews
Amazon Reviews
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What an amazing journey....

There is an old adage that says "friends are the family you choose" and it could not be more true in Commencement. For anyone who has been fortunate enough to experience those types of relationships this book will remind you of your blessings. The story takes you many different places physically, emotionally, spiritually and politically. It was a great listen and I'm glad I spent a credit on it. It was the best thing I have listened to since The Help. While I'm not sure if anything can compare to The Help, Commencement ranks up there and provides its own (more current) challenges that face women in our world. I so look forward to following Courtney Sullivans literary career.... Cant wait for more!!

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • scimone
  • South Windsor, CT, United States
  • 01-02-12

college memories

What did you love best about Commencement?

This book makes you think back to your college days and friendships.Female to female sexual parts are involved so may not be for some people

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Meg
  • san Francisco, CA, United States
  • 10-30-10

Nothing Special, but entertaining

At least sustained me for a while...if you want an easy listen, go for it. Definitely chick lit.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Snuck up on me!

This book reminded me of all that women should cherish and all that we allow to be destroyed by others. Almost lost interest in early chapters because who can relate to this elitist college group, but so glad I kept listening.

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Voice of narrator misleading

The story was good. It ended to quickly w unanswered questions.

The voice of the narrator was clearly an older woman however the characters were in their 20's so it was very difficult to get in to the story based on the very inaccurate sound of her voice.

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

starts great - but is rather predictable

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Sure I was driving and it did keep my attention.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The premise was intriguing - but it was rather predictable and then got a little tiresome.

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Whomever hired the voice performer should be fired

What did you like best about this story?

The evolution of the characters and the feminist twist.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Christina Moore?

Anyone!!! This is a book about young women and her voice is NOT reflective of this at all! Particularly disturbing are her interpretations of Celia and April. I actually hate this performance so much I am going to read the rest of the book instead.

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • A. ricci
  • San Francisco, CA United States
  • 11-04-11

Horrid

Truly one of the worst books I've ever "read". The story makes Smith students out to be immature, sex crazed, lesbian, angry and STUPID women.

So many stereotypes in this book it made me sick.

Also, the author didn't know her locations....saying one woman road up to Novato, California form SF and admired the palm trees and wished she had taken the train? no plam trees in this part of northern California and no train to Novato. Try some research, Smith Wannabe

The narrator TRIED but made the lesbians sound like men and the southern woman sound retarded.

A disaster of a book. Author needs to get a real job.

2 of 4 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

That was the end??

I did lilke this book, I really did. Not a life changer, but a good chick book. However...there I was..listening away and hadn't paid attention to how much time was left and "The End". What?? It's over?? Not a good ending...way too many opened things that could have been cleared up. Having said that...give it a listen, it's not a bad story at all. Good performance, too.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Yates
  • East Windsor, NJ, United States
  • 06-25-11

I loved it!

My only complaint was the ending. Sort of like "The Sopranos" in that you were not ready for it to be over and were left saying, "What???" Ms. Sullivan, will you write a sequel? I so hope so! I love your work! Can't wait to begin Maine!

1 of 2 people found this review helpful