This is a multi generational family saga. Set in Maine, it had a wonderful small town feel but the book carried a pervasive sadness with it. I enjoyed getting to know the characters.

This novel brings up so many emotions of family, love, troubled times and how loving each other can get you through it all. Margaret knows she is to blame for almost burning down her home in Maine, and once she confessed to her daughter they uplift their family from Michigan and move then in to the Maine house. Stories of summers past and family drama and finding love and forgiveness. This novel is beautifully written.

This novel tells the story of a family over a 10 year span of time. Originally Liddie and Harry take up residence with Liddie's mom, Margreete, when she can no longer live on her own and take care of herself. The story evolves into a family timeline told from the viewpoints of each family member. The timeline takes the family through many crises and events, but they come through them all and become somewhat wiser for it, as is true for many of us.

The novel was just okay,and seemed boring in parts. I disliked the way in which Margreete just became a minor character, sidelined by the events buffeting the family.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This quiet novel of dementia, aging, family and music is perfect for fans of Anne Tyler, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout. Set on the coast of Maine, the seasons play almost as an important role as the characters. The novel begins in 1955 and runs through the late 1960s.

The opening scene illustrates the mild dementia that thrice-widowed Margreete is experiencing. In the first scene, Margreete forgets a frying pan on the stove and almost burns her house down, but luckily, only the kitchen is damaged. She calls her daughter, Liddie, in Michigan to tell her what has happened.
That the cue that Liddie needs to know that it is time: Margareete cannot live alone any longer. Either she comes to live with them or go to an old folk’s home. Margreete refuses to move, so Liddie and her family (husband Harry; children Bernie and Eva) pack up their lives and move across the country.

“Margreete’s Harbor” is about family and how people learn to live together. As I said earlier, it is a quiet, character-driven story that ebbs and flows much like the ocean that isn’t far away.

The story hits upon some of the major historical events of the time (Vietnam, JFK and MLK assassinations, desecration) that touch Margreete’s family, along with individual crises of infidelity, coming out, identity, unexpected pregnancy and betrayals.

Each chapter kept me captivated by workings of Margreete’s family and how they negotiated…or not…what life threw at them. I really enjoyed this novel. It was hard to put down, and I was sad when it ended.
“Margreete’s Harbor,” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Margreet’s Harbor by Eleanor Morse is a melancholy novel taking place in Maine. A story about aging and dementia, set in the 1960's, Margreete's daughter and her young family moves in, following a small fire. Lots of internal struggles and difficult interactions, this book examines the challenges of balancing taking care of an aging parent while maintaining a marriage and kids. Well developed, with a sad circumstance. Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Margreete’s Harbor by Eleanor Morse tells the story of ten years in the life of a family. Margreete, an elderly woman with decreasing faculties, almost burns down her house by accident. She does not want to leave her home on the coast of Maine so it is up to her adult daughter Liddie to move her family from Michigan to Margreete’s home. Her husband Harry and children Eva and Bernie will have to adapt to an entire new life. From the fifties to the sixties, this family will face many problems. These are turbulent times but each person will grow close to Margreete as she becomes an important part of their lives. This is a story of ordinary, everyday life told in beautiful prose. It is a true pleasure to read Margreete’s Harbor. The author, Eleanor Morse, tells a simple story in an extraordinary way. This family drama is definitely worth a read. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Covers 10 years in the life of a family, starting when the Margreete accidently starts a kitchen fire. Her daughter, who lives hundreds of miles away, realise she is going to have to pack up her family, and move back home to care for her aging mom. The family dynamics that occur as the result are heart warming as well as heart wrenching.
I loved this book! I was full invested in all the characters and there was a lot of things going on so you were never bored!
4 stars.


Thank you for the chance to NetGalley and the Author and publisher for an ARC copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

It was the cover that drew me towards this book. However, with all the glowing 5 star reviews I realize that maybe this is a 'it's me not the book' issue. I don't know but I struggled lacking any interest in this family.

Maybe I should just stay away from literary fiction.

I always take an interest in a book that is set in Maine. We vacation there a few times a year. Margreet’s Harbor takes place on the Coast of Maine which is truly one of the most gorgeous parts of New England.

Set in the 1960’s, a mother sets her kitchen on fire. Her daughter, currently living in Michigan, decides it’s best if her family moves back to live with her mom, Margreete. The novel spans over 10 years and delves into balancing life’s pursuits and family. It’s about aging and the loss of memory, a husband and wife that are no longer close, and how lack of communication can change everyone.

The novel had an occasional good chapter, but could not keep my interest. None of the characters were developed so it was difficult to stay engaged. A slow-paced book which is also light on intellect.

2 out of 5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Published April 20, 2021
Review posted on Goodreads 5/21/21

Margreete's Harbor is a multigenerational family saga of an average family. When Margreete starts lo deteriorate because of dementia, her daughter is faced with the difficult decision of uprooting her family in Michigan to return to her childhood home in Maine. It's a big move and one of those life changing events that will color everything after it. What begins as a move to help Margreete ends up with a very different outcome.

I did think that the pace of this was a bit slow, and it took me a while to get engaged. The writing was a bit too wordy for me as well and I think that was why I struggled with staying interested in this in parts.Current events are interwoven throughout the story and I'm not sure if they enhanced or detracted from the overall story but it was a time that impacted many people and it would be difficult to talk about this time period without talking about the unrest during this time.

Overall, I liked the story of this dysfunctional family even though there were some pacing and writing issues for me.

While it took me a while to read this due to life circumstances, it doesn’t at all have any bearing on how impactful this book is. I’ll admit that I know so little of the Vietnam war and its impacts on American citizens, yet this book struck a chord with me. The feelings Bernie had toward the war are reminiscent of opinions that many I know have about our current set of wars. My one complaint about this book is that I would have loved more of an epilogue. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was a very interesting book....covering many family dynamics. From the senile grandma Margreet, happy/unhappy married Liddie/Harry, to the three children, Bernie, Eva and Gretchen. Each had their own distinct personality....which most times clashed...but sometimes you could see the love coming through. I wanted to like this book more, and there are lots of 5-star reviews of it. I will mark it as a 3 but thinking 3.5 for me. Just had trouble really getting into the characters and their interactions. It was written during the times of the 50s and 60s and turbulent times of the nation play a part in both Harry’s and Bernie’s lives. There are happy times and there are sad times. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. #NetGalley #MargreetsHarbor

This poignant and powerful book weaves the joys and sadness of an extended family in the late 50s and 60s. When the family realizes that Margreete, the family matriarch can no longer live by herself in her shambling house on the Maine coast, they move to join and support her. Morse not only skillfully describes the complex relationships among the parents and three children as well as their individual challenges, but she addresses the politics of the time: Kennedy and King's assassinations, the Vietnam War, and racism. Every character in this book is richly drawn and developed, and so, even are the animals. Liddie, the mother, is a talented cello player; Harry, the father is horrified by what the Vietnam War does to America and can't keep himself from commenting on it in his junior high classroom. Bernie, the oldest child, deals with his own questions about his sexual orientation and his goals in life; Eva, lover of animals, can't help but interfere with the neighbor's separation of a mother cow and her calf; Gretchen, soft-hearted and somewhat "odd," rounds out the family, all of whom love and tolerate Margreete as she wanders about the house and by the sea. The artistry with which Morse describes people, settings, and plot is remarkable and keeps the reader completely engaged to the last page.

I am a cover lover and this cover really caught my eye. I just love it. I was looking forward to the story inside. I wanted to love it as well. I'm sorry to say that the story just didn't live up to my expectations after fantasizing where the cover was going take me.

Don't get me wrong, this was a great story set in an interesting time in our history, 1955-1968. I loved reliving those times with the cast of characters, reliving the highlights of those decades, all while seeing what the everyday people also went through at the time.

I think the flaw for me with this story was that I never really connected with the characters—I didn't fall in love with them—so at times it was hard for me to care what they were going through. Because of that, sometimes the story felt a little draggy for me.

Because this is such an interesting story with a lot of character drama, it could be the perfect fit for some people, it just didn't do it for me.

Love the setting for this novel which is in a coastal town of Maine. It is story about a multi generational family, that lives with their elderly mother and grandmother, who needs their help in taking care of her and her home. The novel portrays their lives spanning several years in the 1960’s highlighting the historical events of the period.

After having read Margreete's Harbor I have had my heart broken and healed both.
I am a better person for having read it.
Full of realistic characters you won't be able to put it down!

Pub Date 20 Apr 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

It took me a bit to get into this one, but once I did I found it very compelling. It’s a story of a daughter and her family coming together to take care of her mom. who can no longer be live on her own. Margreete Bright has always been independent and likes it that way…until she almost burned down her home and had to admit to herself she needed help. And so Liddie, her very talented daughter and her family uproot their loves and move to Maine to live with and take care of her. It a turbulent time in America. The late ’50’s and 60’s a bring about so much change in every way. Everyone is struggling to figure out who they are, the new world order, their very way of life and questioning every belief they’ve ever had. Liddie desperately wants to go home to Maine. Harry, her husband does not. At all. Not even a little teeny tiny bit and yet she is fully prepared to go without him. And so begins the next ten years of Liddie, her family and everyone trying to figure it, themselves and everything else out together and as individuals while blending in some difficult subjects that she touches on, but doesn’t really explore and the history of the times. Interesting, but not an easy or relaxing read.

Maybe if we were having more rainy days, I would have been more inclined to just sit down and continue reading until I finished the novel, but we're in a drought so I read for a bit, then would go outside and plant seeds, pick up the book again, and like with the seeds, wish something would happen. This novel basically takes place in the 60's and is about a woman who persuades her husband to leave Ann Arbor to move into their family home in Maine to take care of her mother who is suffering from dementia. The husband was a conscientious objector, something that weighed heavily on their son, who left Yale for Canada at the end of the novel. The mother is an accomplished musician, as is one of their daughters. The middle daughter, more or less follows her own path.

This could become a Hallmark movie. For me, the writing was one-dimensional, and at times, I felt the author was trying to hard to show the history of the 60's, using this family as a vehicle to push that narrative. The novel puts a lot of effort into showing the struggles of being a mother, suffering from postpartum depression and wanting to continue with her musical career, while the oldest son realizes he's falling in love with his best friend, an African-American classmate who helps him recognize racial injustice, and a school teacher father who is passionately against the Vietnam War. The grandmother has moments where she shines with honesty and clarity, but overall, remains rather cold and detached with the family.

It's a generational novel that focuses on the Maine location and historical references, moving along rather slowly, and relatively gently for all the tumultuous times that are happening in the novel.

A pot left on the stove. A kitchen fire. That is all it takes for Margreete Bright's daughter Liddie to realize that her mother can not live alone anymore and with that, she uproots her family from Michigan and moves them to her family home in Maine. Along with her family she uproots her career as a cellist, her children's lives and that of her husband who must now find a new career, all while dealing with her mother's increasing dementia.

In Margreete's Harbor, Eleanor Morse handles all this family drama with ease and expressiveness. She draws us into the story of Margreete's family, of their love for each other and the land they live on and the ocean, which is an ever present character in the story. This is a beautifully written novel which takes the family through difficult times, including the turbulant sixties with humor and grace. I'm grateful for the opportunity given me by the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Don't miss this novel, it's not your usual read!

Margreete's Harbor is the story of a family in transition. Liddie and her family have lived in Detroit for eight years when they return to Maine to move in with Margreete, Liddie's elderly mother. Margreete accidentally burns her kitchen down and Liddie feels that her mother can no longer be left alone. Liddie, a professional cello player, uproots her school teacher husband and three young children. Although Margreete is not welcoming to her family, she adapts to her new living arrangement. The story is an ode to the ebb and flow of our lives and how we deal with the obstacles we confront along the way.