This book was described as “lively, witty and painfully familiar.” Well, the last part was right. But I found it more depressing and sad than witty.
Rachel is in her mid fifties when she returns home upon her mother’s death. It’s been ten years since she was there. As her ex-husband says, “your mother was a monster, your sister is a martyr and you’re a realist.” It’s not an easy homecoming. Her sister resents Rachel’s absence during her mother’s final months. Her old beau and still the love of her life is married to her sister’s best friend and living next door. She’s unmarried, childless and may be on the verge of losing her job as an environmental journalist. This is not a happy story. It deals with grief and reconciling one’s feelings for a bad parent after they’re gone. I disd all of the characters. I found them whiny and unwilling to take responsibility for their actions. I really struggled with some of Rachel’s actions to the point where I contemplated not finishing the book.
Still, there were passages that really rang true. The writing was beautiful. The ending was totally unsatisfying, the author couldn’t figure out a way to move forward. Only go into this if you’re willing to tackle an ultimately depressing story.
I listened to this and Xe Sands did a great job given what she had to work with.
audio library53 s13 comments Ron Charles1,078 49.3k

If you’re facing a painful trip home this month, resist stocking up on wine and Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s. Instead, tuck a copy of Kate Christensen’s tempestuous new novel in your suitcase. There’s a good chance your own travails will pale next to those faced in “Welcome Home, Stranger.” And if not, at least Christensen will serve as a wise captain to guide you through the family storm.

Of course, novels about going home are as common as flight delays. And a certain degree of rigor mortis has crept into the plot of relatives gathering in the wake of a death. But Christensen’s narrator charges into that worn storyline with refreshing candor.

“My mother died two days ago. Or was it three,” Rachel says at the opening of “Welcome Home, Stranger.” “My sense of time has been wonky ever since I got back from the Arctic.”

Studying climate change at the top of the world might seem a good excuse for not calling much or visiting more often, but when Rachel’s sister, Celeste, picks her up at the airport in Portland, Maine, the weather inside the Mercedes SUV is already freezing. . . .

To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
40 s8 comments Kerry900 126

What I d best about this book was its realness. I started listening to it and I felt right away that I understood and knew exactly were the main character (Rachel) was coming from. It was both the voice done so well by Xe Sands (even though she had little of the Maine accent I expected) and what Rachel was saying about this time in her life and how a midlife crisis can seem to knock down all that has gone before.

Rachel is coming back to Maine to spread her mother's ashes and reconnect with her sister and the loose ends she left behind. Rachel was aware her mother was dying of cancer but stayed away as their relationship was never good and seemed to grow worse with time. Now menopausal and finding the career she has alway put first disintegrating before her eyes and finding herself divorced and her long time fall back boyfriend recently married there seems little left and nowhere to turn. So home again, back in Maine she must decide what is important and where any future lies.

It is not an easy story and as the bad luck and misadventures seem to pile on I wondered if anything could save this woman or how she would save herself. But yes there was light at the end of the dark tunnel or a way out of the woods so to speak. Really a great listen for this reader.audio best-audio-2024 cnpd-couldn-t-put-down ...more18 s3 comments Fran HawthorneAuthor 14 books189

At less than 225 pages, this book is too short.
It tangles the narrator, Rachel Calloway, in a swirl of emotional and practical turmoil that could have built a deeply felt and gripping novel: death and impending death, complicated family relationships, a fraught reunion with an ex-boyfriend, possible job loss, possible loss of her home, social-class conflicts.
But it just doesn't give Rachel or the reader enough time to cope with any of them.

For instance: The novel begins with Rachel's arrival at the home of her younger sister, Celeste, who had been the one to nurse their difficult mother through the last stages of ovarian cancer while Rachel was 500 miles away living in Washington DC. Celeste and Rachel were close as children, trying to survive a chaotic upbringing with their alcoholic mother, but they've drifted apart into a cliched contrast between rich-vs-poor, stay-at-home mom-vs-career woman, sweet-vs-tough.

To her credit, the author begins to portray the complexity of the sisters' love and estrangement. However, the focus soon switches to the seductive but now married high school boyfriend who tempts Rachel back to her past. And then to Rachel's ex-husband and sole friend, Wally, who is dying of ALS while his jealous fiance is obviously trying to push Rachel out of their shared townhouse. (Yes, the three of them live together; it's complicated.) And then the ominous phone messages from a colleague at the environmental magazine where Rachel works. Okay, so she'll fix up the house she inherited from her mother and sell it, but that brings her face to face with a high school nemesis. Oh, never mind, maybe the nemesis isn't so bad, because we have to move to a different plot twist involving the house.
Maybe it's not surprising that in the midst of all this turmoil, Rachel--who swore off booze a decade ago--falls off the wagon. However, this major life-change, too, is quickly dropped.

I wanted to delve into the emotions and psychological impact of some of these relationships and events. Instead, Rachel analyzes them and speeds on.

For all its flaws, this book is beautifully written, with heartfelt descriptions of the Maine landscape. And Rachel's insights (while too expository) wonderfully sharp and snappy.17 s Natalie840 40

Such a beautifully written novel! I was totally involved in Rachel’s story from the moment I started to read. Rachel has returned to her home in Portland, Maine to mark the death of her mother. This trip gives her the opportunity to revisit her life, but as she comes to terms with her past, the world is revolving around her with much that is unexpected.

I loved the character of Rachel and felt her pain as events unfolded and this trip becomes the catalyst for the rest of her life. I d the characters that come into Rachel’s orbit. As a frequent visitor to Portland, I enjoyed how spot-on her descriptions were of the city.

The author provided a beautiful, metaphorical final chapter. I truly enjoyed meeting Rachel and learning about her extraordinary past. This book was an unexpected pleasure.

Thank you Netgalley for this very special novel.12 s1 comment Marie46

Not impressed with this book. The whole thing felt lacking, as if a more thorough development was just on the next page. The main characters were gloomy and whiny, seemingly without any improvement. The ending was especially disappointing, as if the author simply got bored of the story and quit.

My apologies for such a negative review, however I do not suggest this book, if you’re looking for worthwhile and deep reading. 12 s2 comments Seawitch507 19

Eek. Not much going well for the 53 year old protagonist - an environmental journalist living in DC - who heads back home to Maine to scatter her neglectful, alcoholic mother’s ashes with her younger sister. (The sister also has a lot to work through just under the veneer of a “happy” seeming life).

If that’s not depressing enough, things do get worse.

The setting in Portland, Maine was a plus for me, but the ending is unsatisfying after hanging on with the reactive and confused main character and her less than loveable extended family for 200 pages. (It’s hard to warm up to any of this family and that includes you Aunt Jean.)

The Peggy Lee song: Is that all there is to a fire? comes to mind.

Warnings: suicide and suicidal thought, parental neglect/abuse.10 s5 comments JenniferAuthor 3 books197

Oh Kate Christiansen! You get me. I finished this book in one feverish 24 hour gasp, not only because it was good, but because it is right where I am right now: starring a middle aged woman, child free and experienced in her career who has a complicated relationship with her family after escaping to the big city. Just In the Drink was a touchstone of my 30’s, Welcome Home Stranger will be one of my 50’s. Only four stars because it did not wrap up as neatly as I would have d and I didn’t get enough closure on several of the secondary characters I had come to love. This could have been a much longer book and I wish it was. But I’m still grateful for the paltry 214 pages I got. adult-books9 s Deborah1,099 45

Two fiftyish sisters with a fraught relationship are reunited by the death of their piece-of-work mother. They grew up in hardscrabble working-class Maine, subject to the untender mercies of their toxic, alcoholic mother and a series of stepfathers after the death of their junkie father. One sister stayed in Maine and married a millionaire; the other went to Berkeley on a full scholarship and ended up a Pulitzer Prize-winning, globetrotting eco-science journalist. Both of them have lives that may look good from the outside but are riddled with cracks and barely held together with cellotape and chewing gum. This is not uncommon ground in fiction, but it’s done especially well here, with insight and generous emotion.10 s4 comments Suzanne Vincent2

This may very well be one of the most frustrating books I’ve ever read. I don’t know why I finished it. Not a single character to root for except the dog. A bunch of self-absorbed characters with constantly changing personalities. Honestly, I’m pissed I read it. 7 s Bonny847 25

When Ron Charles of the Washington Post recommends a book, I tend to listen, but I'm not sure that Ron and I agree on this one. I started the novel because I thought I would understand the story of a woman returning home after the death of her estranged mother. My circumstances are different from Rachel's but I thought that anyone who has experienced the death of a parent could relate. It was difficult to relate to the prickly extended family, filled with characters who are resentful, passive-aggressive, over-reactive, and/or alcoholic. The author really piles too many bad luck scenarios and complications on Rachel and her family in this unfocused tale, and only some of them are of their own making. Rachel described herself as a “middle-aged childless recently orphaned menopausal workaholic” and it only goes downhill from there. I think I d Ron Charles' review better than the book itself. Two and a half stars rounded down.audio fiction hunterdon-county-library6 s Jennifer Keniry55

Received as Goodreads Giveaway. Great imagery; the writing was very flowery and detailed. I was invested in Rachel’s story from the beginning- I was rooting for her. Just as I thought things were going to turn around for her, they got worse, kind of unbelievably so. The last 1-2 chapters were depressing. I didn’t the ending, didn’t hate it either. Overall, if you do not have a problem with mentions of suicide, I do recommend this book. The family life seemed so real I forgot I was reading fiction. A lot of beautiful writing. It dragged on a little after the halfway point, became a little unbelievable and more depressing closer to the end.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review5 s3 comments Edward Champion1,054 70

I read this in galleys and I have just reread it in finished form. As far as I'm concerned, this is a masterpiece -- tied with THE EPICURE'S LAMENT as Kate Christensen's best novel. Christensen really doesn't get enough credit for the empathy and honesty that runs throughout her fiction. She's never been afraid to expose the thorny vines of relationships that DEMAND forgiveness and understanding, particularly of family members. But with this latest novel, Christensen has stepped up to an entirely new level as a writer. Her sentences are more robust and her presentations of her characters are a lot more subtle. The dynamic between two sisters (Rachel, the protagonist, and Celeste) in contending with the recent death of their mother and the streaks of unhappiness that they have both endured up through their fifties is among the most robust relationship bonds ever seen in a Christensen novel. I also how Christensen keeps much about Rachel close to her chest, such as a nonchalant reference to her winning a Pulitzer. Many of you unadventurous vanilla Reader's Digest-reading old fogeys have at Goodreads dissed this novel because the characters aren't "likable" enough. Undoubtedly, you probably wanted another Lucy Barton novel from Elizabeth Strout with this book (and, hey, I'm a huge fan of Strout too!). But life is fucked up. You can't escape that, even if you cleave to books as a kind of insouciant escapism rather than a beautiful truth. The stinging truths of living don't go away as we get older. It demands that we step up. WELCOME HOME, STRANGER -- in its nuanced attention to detail and its commitment to deep-dish psychological behavior -- is a novel with a lot of people waiting around (Christensen does a lot with a couch remaining in Rachel's late mother's home, along with bars and diners and even cars with people waiting to make the next move) as they are trying to go about the tricky business of living. And even when you have faith in other people -- such as the day labor dude that Rachel takes in -- there is no way to predict what they can do. So how do you live? Do you return to the waters of birth? Or do you accept the truths of other people and try to be as tolerant and as nonjudgmental as possible? Again, there's so much to think about with this terrific novel. And it greatly angers me that WELCOME HOME, STRANGER has fallen by the wayside or is being completely ignored in some corners. You folks don't know a great thoughtful novel when it bites you on the ass. Jesus Christ. Surely I'm not alone in my passionate advocacy here!4 s1 comment reading is my hustle1,547 318

this was my last read of 2023 & reflective of what i've mostly read this year: good enough but not great. i was engaged but never invested also, it's wildly depressing; christensen really piles on (tho rachel seems to make the best of it) + the ending is unsatisfying. . i appreciate that Kate Christensen addresses how complicated coming to terms with middle age can be & how (in the end) Carry On.fiction fiction-domestic4 s Robyn2,046 129 Read

Welcome Home, Stranger

Funny, I know exactly what Rachel talks about so many times. Things being "invisible" after a certain age, being dismissed as anything, and employers looking past you. I mean why wouldn't they? The newer person they offered Rachel's job to was willing to do the job for far less money. In my case, they can hire 3 people for what they pay me now, but they "LOVED ME" when I first got hired.

I found peace in the issues between the sisters, of course, I would! In my family, my cousin and I are close and he doesn't get along with his sisters nor do I get along with mine. The sisters are the same and should have been in one family.

I was never clear on the legal cause of death or if there was insurance. Nor did I have any understanding of how the lady next door was going to sue her for the smoke smell! So her crumbling life, which was in a messy state may not have been so bad.

I think the book is about surviving, sort of the desire to kick to the surface and get air. It was a good read, very readable, and sort of real life. I might have missed the "witty" part, but that might be because I am a rather sarcastic person and have a keen sense of straight-man humor.

One thing I didn't was that in some places it droned on a bit.

4 stars

Happy Reading!3 s Kris Springer990 15

I’m not sure who I would recommend this to. It’s well written and compelling but also deeply sad. I rooted for the protagonist but ultimately was placed as the reader into the same place she was—a little lost, world-weary, moving forward and understanding that she had a different life than the one she thought she’d have but one worth living, not knowing why people in her life made the decisions they made. Not for readers who want a lighter, more optimistic worldview or desire resolution.

3 s Beth1,167 56

This is the first Kate Christensen I've finished, even though she seems an author I would love. There were a couple of plot points that I didn't find believable, but I really d all the family dynamics and descriptions of place.3 s Candice369 4

I was really invested in this book, loved the voice and the narrator (audio book) was a good choice. It was direct and honest and the person felt "real." My only complaint is that I felt it ended abruptly, Christensen wasn't really going to work out the next step for the character. Which she indicates is the point, the character has to figure it out for herself, but as a reader, I would have enjoyed seehow she problem-solved her next moves and how things turned out. The protagonist was just consistently hit with one trauma after another, all realistic events, and had an introspective, questoining and philosophical attitude, but I said, I got the impression that Christensen said, OK, I'm getting bored with this, I'll let the readers figure out the ending. It wasn't "bad," it was just disappointing as I was curious to see what her intelligent choices would have been given the insights she had gained after moving back home.2 s Faith Wood2

The style of the authors writings is beautiful and did a great job at keeping me invested in what i was reading. The story itself was a little meandering and hard to consistently stay interested in.giveaways2 s E1,255 5

Fabulous, detailed descriptions of Portland and other areas of Maine urge me to pack my bags and return to that magnificent state to breathe in the bracing ocean air and fragrance of tall pines.

Humor (sometimes quite spiky) abounds in this book. But Christensen does not skimp on the painful realities of “going home again,” the tangled relationships of siblings, and the mangled feelings flung at us by encounters with friends of our youth and family, especially dealing with the death of a mother with whom one has had a tortured relationship. In Rachel’s case, a mother who plumped herself up by whittling down her own daughter’s confidence and competing with Rachel for sexual attention from men.

This book also has some dynamite descriptions about menopause and how it feels to be a “middle-aged childless recently orphaned menopausal workaholic [environmental] journalist” (4) in a culture that worships the young, the fertile, the financially favored, the male, and the fossil fuel industry.

On hot flashes: “I feel as if there’s a wick in my scalp, sucking up oil and igniting into pure fire, lower levels of estrogen and progesterone sending my temperature-regulation systems into disarray, my hypothalamus demanding heat in a paradoxical effort to cool me down. It’s the same process that’s occurring on a global scale. I feel the way the planet must feel, stressed, toxic, out of control” (4).

On climate change: “It’s so purely human, this cognitive dissonance, the way our brains persevere in the face of everything… It might be what got us into this mess, the fact that we can face our own extinction over a beautiful, nourishing meal, comprehend the lihood of nuclear war or ecological breakdown in our own lifetimes as we look out at a spring evening, anticipate our own personal futures in the face of the sure knowledge that life as we know it is ly doomed…. And yet we go on, persist in our little dramas and passions and ambitions and hopes“ (34).

On being a woman in her 50s: “‘It’s a weird age, isn’t it? Not old yet, not young anymore. I can feel myself becoming invisible. It’s a diminishment and a superpower at the same time’” (39).

“‘Men can’t deal with us,” [Suzanne] says. “At this age. We are neither fish nor fowl to them. We’re too strong and set in our ways. And we’re not impressed by them, we see them for who they are. They hate that’” (112).

On creative cursing in response to being fired: “I refuse to let this rat-faced sociopathic little fuck weasel have the satisfaction of hearing my voice tremble and break” (105).fiction maine summer2 s2 comments srharmon503

Just a heads up that this is not a lively or witty read. It is a book about going home and reconciling with the past. Seeing the mixed on this one, it worked for me. I d it…excited this was a local bookstore book subscription pick.2 s Nikki1,974 53

The trope of a successful woman returning to the home she couldn't wait to get out of is a familiar one (in fact it's being used in the television program Shetland right now, not to mention zillions of Hallmark movies). Kate Christensen has made something very special out of it. This novel is never going to be a Hallmark movie. At every turn there are surprises, and at the end, the reader doesn't know exactly how things will turn out for Rachel, the protagonist. It's set mostly in Portland, partly in the inland forests where working-class people have their camps, and the people and landscapes are just right (I'm from Maine). Highly recommended!fiction maine2 s Jan287 2

What to do when your life runs off the rails. Rachel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist has devoted her life to her career, briefly passing through marriage, declining to have children, choosing instead to spend months on an ice-locked ship doing research and interviewing and writing about similarly dedicated scientists.

Of course, no one is born a blank slate at 50 and when her mother dies, Rachel is called back to Maine to the bosom of her working class family (some of whom are now independently wealthy) to spread her mother's ashes, deal with her house and personal effects, and face the realities of her alcohol-infused childhood and the pain it left behind.

I found this to be a very engaging and enjoyable book. What do you do when your carefully curated life un-curates itself? For better or worse, what does it mean to go back home? Common questions being faced by Boomers me every day.

I will definitely be looking for more Kate Christensen books.1 Cherise WolasAuthor 4 books280

The dysfunctional family on various steroids. Rachel, a journalist who writes big exposes on big environmental topics, has returned to Maine, after being absent for a decade. She is there because her alcoholic mother has died. Can you go home again? Should you go home again when family life was so fraught? I'm a Christensen fan and her ability to portray the deep issues in this family - as in many families - is terrific. There are many books detailing the animosity between mothers and daughters and between sisters, but here it is all slightly aslant, and there aren't many books starring menopausal, childless, workaholic women and Rachel embodies her being thoroughly, even as she is rocked by the past and the present and has no clues about her future.2024-reading-challenge aging atmospheric ...more1 Louise600 1 follower

I almost gave up reading this after 30 pages....but I persevered and it got better. I don't know why anyone wants to read about a life falling apart....and not stop before it's getting put back together.....or not. This is a "genre" I don't enjoy at all. And the writer throws in words that you have to look up if you care enough.....

Not my cup of tea1 Donna1,424 7

A 51 year old menopausal woman in crisis: her estranged mother dies, she loses her job, her long time ex-boyfriend marries, she has deep seated issues with her sister. She's stuck in a morass. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to focus and work on just one solution! 1 2 comments Jennifer421

For some reason, I kept reading this book even as my mind said, "Just stop." I should have listened. I know, this is harsh. However, I did not this book. I found the narrator unable and self-involved - and lacking self-awareness at times. The setting was enjoyable (perhaps because I've been to Portland, Maine?). However, I did not enjoy this book. 1 Dena1,032

This was a good story but the author got a little wordy with her descriptions. I skimmed a lot of paragraphs that went further into detail than I wanted.

A recommended read if you a little “extra.”various-c-d1 Karen1,047

This book isn’t for everyone but I d it. The main character, Rachel, who grew up poor but eventually became a successful eco-journalist, is hard to . She is judgmental and self-righteous. But she also is clever and insightful, so I appreciated being in her head. 1 Susan2,140 82

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