Margaret from Maine: A Novel
Margaret Kennedy’s husband, Thomas, gravely injured in Afghanistan, is still in a vegetative coma six years later. Her life revolves around their six-year-old son, Gordon, and helping her father-in-law run their small family dairy farm in Maine. Then she’s invited to Washington, D.C., for the signing of a bill to help families like hers. Her escort is Charlie King, a Foreign Service officer, and he and Margaret feel an immediate connection. The two embark on a whirlwind romance, attending an embassy ball and taking a trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but their time together is short-lived since Margaret is still married and Charlie is leaving for Africa. Years pass before they’re reunited. Monninger, author of Eternal on the Water (2010), covers themes of loss and longing with a few treacly moments, strengthening the impact of the novel with his insights into the timely topic of the cruel toll of modern warfare, and the beauty of his depictions of the eastern U.S. --Aleksandra Walker