![]() In the first chapter narrated by the mother, Margaret, the family is preparing for a trip to that same Maine cabin, this time in the late 1970s. By giving each main character a first-person voice, Haslett offers readers a full picture of how mental illness takes a toll not only on the sufferers themselves but also on those who love and care for them. Narration duties are split between the five immediate members: father John, mother Margaret, and siblings Alec, Michael, and Celia. Although we don't know yet exactly what has happened, his words introduce a note of foreboding that lasts all through this melancholy novel about the long-lasting effects of mental illness on one family (see ' Beyond the Book'). ![]() The first chapter ends with Alec running out to get help from a lobsterman. It's my brother." Alec and his older brother Michael have been staying at their family's Maine vacation cabin for the past month. ![]() ![]() Mental illness plagues two generations of an Anglo-American family in Haslett's moving second novel. ![]()
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