Set in the very early, chaotic start of the pandemic in spring 2020, Alice packs up her family and flees New York City for their vacation home in Maine. While she hopes to find sanctuary from the virus and from a betrayal in her marriage, what she finds instead are hostile locals and nothing but time to consider the state of her relationship and her place in the world.

How well this one works for readers is going to depend on a couple of things: how amenable they are to reliving the (traumatic) early days of the pandemic in pretty excruciating detail, 2 how much they like reading about super wealthy white people and their problems, and how much they enjoy a novel that’s more character-driven than anything else. While the novel's general concept is strong, the plot itself is fairly uneven in execution: Alice narrates most of the novel but lacks agency, and some of the other characters feel underdeveloped in a way that’s detrimental to the novel’s central conflict. More of a collection of ideas about marriage and parenthood and self than an actual story, this is interesting enough, with some passages that are stronger than others, but not a standout or a knockout. Readers looking for plot should definitely look elsewhere.

Alice and Pete, along with their two daughters, decide to flee New York City at the beginning of the covid epidemic. Alice is a wreck thinking of Pete coming home from work and bringing disaster to their house and with the schools closed they head to their summer home in Maine. Pete is reluctant for the move and goes back and forth for awhile before leaving to return to New York with his mistress that Alice discovered. This is becoming a popular theme among writers. I have read several very similar books. While the story was good, I found myself looking for something different to happen.

This novel truly brought me back three years to the start of the Covid pandemic. The author has us live through those months via the story of Pete, Alice and their 2 daughters. The family flees to Maine, where they are very unwelcome, as potential carriers of the virus.

While focusing on their physical health, they must also focus on their marital health since Alice is aware of Pete’s affair.

I found the book compelling and I loved Alice. This is an ideal choice for book groups. It offers endless topics for discussion. Recalling our own experiences with Covid, surly children and infidelity, there are endless topics to mine.

I wish there had been a bit more closure. I can only hope there might be a follow up to this engrossing novel. Thank you Netgalley for this wonderful read.

Not sure the world needs any more pandemic novels about rich urban couples moving to New England. I appreciated the writing here, but it was not a very compelling story overall.

Pete and Alice are struggling in their marriage when they pack up and flee to their vacation home in Maine to escape the effects of the pandemic in New York. This story deals with their day to day trials and tribulations of raising their children, dealing with hostile locals and repairing their marriage. This story was just ok for me. This is a character driven story, and it was hard to like Alice, who for me was an unlikeable character. Although the story starts out strong, it just stalled in the middle and just didn't hold my interest. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

I found this novel to be a very realistic account of the covid pandemic and a families response to having to shelter in place. Honestly I found none of the characters likeable yet could not put the book down. Family drama abounds. The ending was quite a let down but I am still glad I read this novel.