Caitlin Shetterly

"Gripping."--Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls "Shetterly's debut achieves a subtle grace, a quality of light and shadow worthy of a Bergman film."--Allegra Goodman, New York Times Book Review "Pete and Alice in Maine is a tender, big-hearted, clear-eyed portrait of a marriage, and a family, in crisis--set during the plague years when the entire world was in crisis. As she investigates the insidious effect of lies, betrayal, fear, and anger, not to mention the mundane joys and wrenching heartaches of everyday life, Caitlin Shetterly gets to the heart of what it means to be a family." -- Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles A powerful and beautifully written debut novel that intimately explores a fractured marriage and the struggles of modern parenthood, set against the backdrop of the chaotic spring of 2020. Reeling from a painful betrayal in her marriage as the Covid pandemic takes hold in New York City, Alice packs up her family and flees to their vacation home in Maine. She hopes to find sanctuary--from the uncertainties of the exploding pandemic and her faltering marriage. Putting distance between herself and the stresses and troubles of the city, Alice begins to feel safe and relieved. But the locals are far from friendly. Trapped and forced into quarantine by hostile neighbors, Alice sees the imprisoning structure of her life in this new predicament. Stripped down to the bare essentials of survival and tending to the needs of her two children, she can no longer ignore all the ways in which she feels limited and lost--lost in the big city, lost as a wife, lost as a mother, lost as a daughter and lost as a person. As the world shifts around her and the balance in her marriage tilts, Alice and her husband, Pete, are left to consider if what keeps their family safe is the same thing as what keeps their family together.

Pete and Alice in Maine

A Novel

going West, going broke, finding home

Made for you and me

GMOs and the threat to our food, our land, our future

Modified

Newlywed Caitlin Shetterly and her husband, Dan Davis, two hardworking freelancers, began their lives together in 2008 by pursuing a lifelong, shared dream of leaving Maine and going West. At first, California was the land of plenty. Quickly, though, the recession landed, and a surprise pregnancy that was also surprisingly rough made Caitlin too sick to work. By December, every job Dan had lined up had been canceled, and though he pounded the pavement, from shop to shop and from bar to bar, he could not find any work at all. By March 2009, every cent of the couple's savings had been spent. So, a year after they'd set out with big plans, Caitlin and Dan packed up again, this time with a baby on board, to make their way home to move in with Caitlin's mother. As they drove, Caitlin blogged about their situation and created audio diaries for NPR's Weekend Edition--and received an astounding response. From all across the country, listeners offered help, opening their hearts and their homes. And when the young family arrived back in rural Maine and squeezed into Caitlin's mother's small saltbox house, Caitlin learned that the bonds of family run deeper than any tug to roam, and that, with love, she and Dan could hold their dreams in sight, wherever they were. Made for You and Me captures the irrepressible spirit and quiet perseverance of one small family--and offers to share that strength with any reader willing to make the journey.

Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home

Made for You and Me

A collection of short stories by such acclaimed authors as Ann Beattie, John Updike, Andre Dubus, John Cheever, Michael Chabon, Russell Banks, Edmund White, Raymond Carver, and Sherman Alexie explores the emotional upheaval of divorce and separation from the perspectives of spouses, children, and others affected by the dissolution of a marriage.

Caitlin Shetterly

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