Haven Point: A Novel

Haven Point, a small secluded coastal town in Maine, is where well-to-do families spend their summers to escape the heat from places such as Washington, D.C. and New York. These part-time residents are somewhat snobby and tend to stick together, snubbing the full-time locals. This novel involves the lives of three generations of the Demarest family and the many secrets they held, the pain they shared, and the love they held for each other.

Commencing in 1944, we meet Maren Larsen, a young woman from the farming community of Ada, Minnesota, who decides to become a nurse to aid the wounded soldiers returning home from war. Working at Walter Reed Hospital, she is steadfast in her attention to a particular young man named Brian, who is suffering severe burns and amputations. Through his pain, he proves to be quite the flirt, and Maren's reaction to him lifts his mood, which her supervisor decides will aid his recovery. Though her ministrations are top-notch, he passes away, leaving Maren bereft and heading outside to the garden clear her head and question her abilities:

"Twining around her grief was a thread of shame. How capable she had thought she was, how helpful. For weeks, she had operated under the unconscious belief that if she tried hard enough, she could keep Private Brian O'Neill alive. Preposterous, of course, but looking back, she realized it had underscored all her actions.

"The realization gave rise to an unpleasant thought. What did it mean that she hadn't been successful? What did Maren have to offer that was special?"

As she ruminates over what she believes is her failure, Dr. Oliver Demarest joins her to extend comfort. Captivated by the handsome young doctor since they first met, she knows they are from different backgrounds, so she tries not to dwell on the attraction she has for him.

Oliver, from a prominent Boston family, is mesmerized by her selflessness and empathy, and before long they become a couple, later marrying, and building a life in Washington, D.C. Maren remains home raising their three children and spends the summers with them and her irascible mother-and father-in-law in their summer manse named Fourwinds, located high on a cliff on the coast of Maine. Though she feels like an outsider, she takes pride in her home and family and is especially solicitous of her in-laws, primarily her mother-in-law, Pauline, who is sinking into senility as well as alcoholism.

We advance to the summer of 1970 and Maren and her children: Billy, Annie, and Charlie are enjoying the seaside. Maren is pleased with how her introverted child Charlie blossoms away from D.C., and proud Annie and he are close. When a tragic accident occurs, the family withdraws. The Vietnam war is escalating, so Billy enlists in the service, and Annie at age 17, becomes rebellious, seeking out the companionship of a local young man of whom her parents do not approve. Annie's love of her seaside home becomes acrimonious, and she states she will never set foot there again. All the while, Maren is alone with only a few close friends, for Oliver is spending more time at work.

Annie's life becomes chaotic as she turns to alcohol and drugs, yet she loves being a single mom to daughter Skye. Her behavior causes them to move many times because her drinking makes her employment unpredictable.

As Skye matures admirably despite her tumultuous upbringing, she is both fearful and displeased by her mother's behavior. She works with the communications staff for a D.C. congressman. When she spouts some personal "off-the-record" information to a local reporter, she is immediately fired. Now at a crossroads, she worries about her future.

When Skye checks up on her mom one day, she finds her in the bathtub deceased. Was this an accidental overdose, or did Annie deliberately commit suicide? Considering their relationship had many ups and downs, Skye loves her mother, and now distraught, she heads to Maine to be with her grandmother. She brings Annie's ashes to be disposed of there not understanding why her mother made this request if she despised the area so much. While with her gran, Skye discovers some secrets about her mother's past and gains insight into her long-time destructive behavior. Maren discloses some facts as to why Annie self-destructed:

"'Do you think Mom would have eventually told me all of this herself?'

"'I do. She was still trying to work through her feelings, but I feel certain she would have. The provision in her will said either of us could scatter her ashes. So, at the very least, we know she was prepared to outlive me . . .' Gran stopped and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she continued, her voice shaky. 'Had I died first it would have fallen to you. She was hard to understand at times, but it would not have been like her to leave some puzzle for you to decode.' . . .

. . . "'The other day, when we were discussing your job, you referred to the chaos you grew up with. I agreed with what you said, and I still do, but I do think you have conflated some things in your mind.'

'''Like what?'

"'I think, Skye, you experienced your mother's creativity and passion, her disorganization and chaos, and her drinking as one big mess.'

"'Wasn't it?"

"'Here's why it's important for you to know this.'

"Gran took her hand. 'You got all the good, Skye. You have her humor and her intelligence. And you have her creativity, even if yours runs in another direction. But you got none of the bad, your life will never be like hers, like what you experienced growing up.' Gran paused and looked at her closely. 'That was never the danger.'"

A glance into the lives of three distinct and formidable females raised lives in different eras shows understanding, acceptance, binding ties, and the love sustaining them. From losing relations to dealing with infidelity, hurricanes, war conflicts, and confidences held, we get an inside view of how these women survived through more than seven decades yet remained strong and steadfast in their devotion to each other.