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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler

MAINE CHARACTERS

Hannah Orenstein

From beloved author Hannah Orenstein, the story of two half-sisters who have never met and find themselves forced together after their father suddenly dies, leaving them to deal with the family cabin in Maine that holds a lifetime of summer memories for them both.

Every summer, Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster spend a month each with their father, Hank, at his family cabin on a lake in Maine, Lucy in July, Vivian in August. Vivian is a successful sommelier working in NYC's fine dining scene, and Lucy teaches high school English in the nearby town. But these two sisters have never met. While Lucy always knew Vivian was out there, Vivian didn't know Lucy existed. For thirty years, they've lived completely separate lives, Vivian growing up in New York City with Hank and her romance novelist mother, and Lucy being raised by her single mom in small town Maine. When Hank tragically dies of a heart attack just before the Fourth of July, Vivian brings his ashes up to the cabin to scatter them in Fox Hill Lake, only to find Lucy at the house, expecting her father for their annual visit. What begins in shock, suspicion, and hostility gradually thaws into a deep and unexpected connection between the sisters as they discover the true stories of their parents' past, help each other grieve for the father they thought they knew, find a bit of summer romance, and determine the new course of each of their lives. Hannah Orenstein is the Deputy Lifestyle Editor at Bustle, where she leads coverage of wellness, relationships, food, travel, astrology, technology, viral culture, and more. She's also the author of four novels: Meant to Be Mine, Head Over Heels, Love at First Like, and Playing with Matches. Alongside novelist Georgia Clark, Hannah is the co-founder of Heartbeat, a weekly newsletter of romantic short fiction featuring original work from the best romance writers working today. Previously, she worked as an editor at Elite Daily and Seventeen.com, and as a matchmaker for a dating service in New York City. She studied journalism and history at NYU, and her writing can be found in the The Cut, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and beyond. She lives in Brooklyn with her fat cat Eloise, and spends summers at her family's lake house in Maine.

Available products
Book Published 2025-05-13 by Dutton Trade Paperback

Comments

This book is Orenstein's best yet! Drenched in family drama with a serene lakeside setting, I gulped down this story about secret half-sisters. Pairs well with a glass of crisp Sancerre savored in a boat going wine speed (iykyk, and if you don't you will soon!).

Maine Characters is simultaneously a poignant novel about grief and a delightful, swoony ride that will have you frantically googling "how to buy a lake house in Maine." It's Elin Hilderbrand meets The Parent Trap, and you'll want to savor it like a glass of white wine during a summer sunset.

Hannah Orenstein crafts a story about love and family that's poignant, funny, and impossible to put down. Maine Characters is a perfect summer by a lake distilled into book form. Even if you're not reading it in an Adirondack chair with a very good glass of wine, Hannah Orenstein's writing will make you feel like you are.

I was delighted to escape the dreary real world to spend a sun-soaked summer at Fox Hill Lake a place overflowing with gorgeous sunsets, sweet romances, and family secrets. Hannah Orenstein's loving care for this place and these characters is obvious on every page, and she was so generous to host all of us for the perfect Maine getaway.

Hannah Orenstein's Maine Characters has everything you'd want from a beach (or lakeside!) read, from its gorgeous setting to its topsy-turvy family drama. Balancing heavier themes with humor, joy, and tenderness, it's a beautiful ode to the messiness of sisterhood and the sweetness of summertime. A decadent, sun-soaked novel that goes down like a crisp glass of Sancerre on a hot day I absolutely drank it up.

Secrets, sisters, and sunsets combine in this unforgettable family drama. Hannah Orenstein masterfully brings Maine to life in this nuanced, heartfelt story that feels like an endless summer. As juicy and delicious as your favorite chilled white. Think Elin Hilderbrand on a lake... smart, sexy.

Sisters, secrets, and of course, an idyllic setting: Maine Characters has everything I love in a summer read. Hannah Orenstein is a gifted storyteller with a knack for revealing the innermost workings of the human heart.

An absolute treasure of a book that perfectly captures the beautiful messiness of family bonds in all their forms. I adored it.

Every family has secrets, but this father has a whole secret family. Maine Characters is a juicy, escapist read a grown-up Parent Trap, only with affairs and great wine.

Hannah Orenstein writes wonderfully about family, and this novel makes me want to drop everything and move to Maine.