Ocean State by Stewart O"Nan

This was another story where the whole explanation of who did what came from the first page. We worked backwards after that. The story of how complicated life can be between a single family of mother and two daughters. The relationships are difficult. All three are very different personalities and each one is trying to have a "proper" life in the way they want to. The mother is a never ending stream of relationships, hoping that the next will be the one. The elder daughter wanting something more from life other than this small town and the youngest just wanting to be loved and to survive in the bullying, competitive world they live in. There are on the sidelines the boys which form part of the teenage triangles. They are not worth fighting over and losing your entire life over but that is teenage angst and that is what happens. The characters are mostly not likable and at one point I almost gave up on the story. The 13 year old Marie is the one you empathize with but she is fighting a losing battle with no one seeing the frightened child she actually is. Its a compelling story well told. Sent by Grove Atlantic for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.