Maggie arrives at her grandmother's with Rhiannon, her neighbour, who offered to drive her there. She tells her about breaking up with Gabe and the baby, and Rhiannon says that she is better off without him and she is very brave to want to have the baby. Rhiannon tells Maggie that Gabe made a pass at her, which Maggie hates to discover.
At her grandmother's Maggie tells Alice that She and Gabe have broken up, and Alice is disappointed because she liked Gabe. What Maggie doesn't tell her is all the reasons why their relationship is wrong: all the lies he has told her in the time they have been together. Maggie, though, can't just hope, and she calls him, and to her dismay Gabe is having the time of his life with friends. Then she writes an email to him, telling him about the baby and how she doesn't expect anything. It is days later when Gabe writes to tell her that she was confused for a while, thinking about proposing. However, at the end of the day he knows that he is not in that moment, and he and Maggie can talk over a coffee but he doesn't want to get involved.
Maggie also writes to her mother about the baby, not wanting to tell her on the phone, fearing her reaction. After she reads the email, Kathleen tries to contact her, but the signal in Maine is not good and Maggie doesn't check her emails. So Kathleen decides to go to see her even though she swore she would never return there.
Anne Marie turns up because she thought there was nobody to look after ALice, and when she sees Maggie, she is hurt that her mother-in-law didn't tell her. Father Donnelly is there often, helping Alice fix some things. When he comments that it is the least he can do considering, Anne Marie wonders what he means, and then he reveals that in the event of Alice's death the house will go to the church. When he realises that Alice's family didn't know, he is mortified, and Anne Marie is furious. Alice says that this is her home and her decision.
In this turmoil Kathleen has also arrived, and when she manages to talk to her daughter, she reveals that Maggie is pregnant, and Maggie insists she wants to have the baby and she won't move to California. The four women have a few days where tempers are frayed.
Father Donnelly talks to Alice, saying that it is not right to accept that donation when her family doesn't agree. Alice tell him that the church is very important to her, and the house is not the meeting point for her family which used to be, and she says that it is the way to atone for her sins, especially in the death of her sister. In her memories and in her confession to Father Donnelly, she explains that the night that she met Daniel was in a club. Her brothers on leave from the war wanted her to meet him, and Alice didn't think much of him. Actually, she didn't think they would meet again. Mary and Henry came, and at some point Henry told her that he was going to propose the following day, and his father was rellocating in New York where he and Mary would live. Alice was upset because she was jealous of Mary's happiness. That is why when Mary told her that Henry wanted to talk to her the next day, she thought he was going to break up with her because he was moving to New York. Alice didn't correct her and let her keep believing that. Alice wanted to leave because Mary was with some friends of Henry's and she hated the thought that now her sister thought herself above her. She went outside in a huff and Mary followed, and they had an argument. When Alice said that the gloves she had taken from Mary were still in the cloakroom but she had no intention to return to the club. It was Mary who returned, and it was then that a fire took place, and Mary and Henry both died. Alice feels that it was her fault that Mary died. Father Donnelly tries to persuade that it is not true, but Alice can't be made to change her mind.
In July Maggie and Kathleen are still there when Patrick and the Brewers arrive. Anne Marie is not pleased. On the fourth of July they all to to see the fireworks in Portsmouth. Before the fireworks Steve excuses himself to go to the toilet and Anne Marie, who is drunk, follows him, and he finds him in the queue. She thinks this is his way to get her alone, and she kisses him, and he pulls away, shocked, saying that this is not right. After he goes, Anne Marie is horrified to find Kathleen there, and she begs her not to say anything. Kathleen doesn't even refer to the thing, and when they join the family, Kathleen is all charm. The next day Kathleen wakes Maggie and tells her that she is taking her to New York. She understands that she won't move to California with her, and she gives her the money she has saved from the business to help her, and in New York they find her a bigger flat.
The Brewers leave Maine, and Pat and Anne Marie try to talk to Alice, but she is adamant and won't change her mind about leaving the house to the church, and they have to accept that the house will never be theirs.
In August Alice is alone after all the family go home, and on the day of the Assumption she goes to the church. It is empty, and then when she kneels on the recliner, she hears some steps behind and a voice tells her that it is time. I understand that Alice dies and the voice could be Daniel's or even her sister's. Or it could be Father Donnelly about the meeting they are to start.
I really loved the book and how these women, very unsympathetic most of them, show so different attitudes, and you can even understand where they each came from. A superb read.
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