The Arrivals

by Meg Mitchell Moore

Overview

It's early summer when Ginny and William's peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt.

First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood - only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.

By summer's end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family - and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316122757
Publisher:	Hachette Book Group
Publication date:	05/25/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	337
Sales rank:	6,010
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Meg Mitchell Moore worked for several years as a journalist for a variety of publications before turning to fiction. She lives in the beautiful coastal town of Newburyport, Mass., with her husband and their three daughters. The Islanders is her fifth novel. 

Editorial Reviews

An empty nest fills back up with alarming speed in Moore's promising debut. Five years have passed since the last of their kids have left home, and Ginny and William Owens have settled into a comfortable rhythm at home in Burlington, Vt., that's unexpectedly disrupted. Their exhausted and defeated daughter, Lillian, shows up with three-year-old Olivia, three-month-old Philip, and without her husband. Within days, Lillian's brother, Stephen, and his pregnant wife, Jane, arrive for an unannounced visit that will turn into a summer-long stay. Daughter Rachel, still working in New York, is teetering on the edge of financial and emotional disaster, and will also end up in Burlington in short order. Moore finds a crisp narrative in the morass of an overpacked household, and she keeps the proceedings moving with an assurance and outlook reminiscent of Laurie Colwin, evoking emotional universals with the simplest of observations, as in "the peace you feel when you are awake in a house where children are sleeping." (May)

Publishers Weekly

William and Ginny Owens enjoy a quiet retirement in Vermont until their adult children return home one summer. Their oldest, Lillian, flees from a cheating husband, bringing a three-year-old and an infant. Thirty-five-year-old Stephen only planned a spontaneous weekend visit with his pregnant wife, but a medical emergency puts her in bed for the rest of the summer. Ginny picks up Rachel, the youngest, who's had a miscarriage, left New York, and feels as if she's failed at her job and her life. Glad to be needed, Ginny and William initially welcome their children home, but over the summer, they become tired and angry. When selfish people who haven't grown up harbor secrets and spend too much time together, it won't be long before the household is torn apart. VERDICT Reading about angry, immature adults can be tedious. With more sympathetic characters, Eleanor Brown's The Weird Sisters is a better choice for a story about adult children returning home. This debut novel is recommended with reservations for readers who enjoy family stories.—Lesa Holstine, Glendale P.L., AZ

Library Journal