Maine Characters

Maine Characters (2025), Hannah Orenstein’s fifth novel, follows half-sisters Vivian and Lucy as they meet for the first time after the death of their father, Hank. In addition to grappling with Hank’s choice to keep Lucy a secret and to financially support Vivian and her mother but not Lucy and hers, they must also come to terms with his apparent infidelity and the selfishness of his actions. This struggle leads Vivian, Lucy, and their respective mothers to an understanding of The Ambiguous Nature of Morality, The Impact of Parental Secrets, and Grief as a Catalyst for Personal Transformation. 

Orenstein studied journalism and history at New York University, and she has worked as a writer and editor for several major publications. Her other novels include Head Over Heels, Playing With Matches, Love at First Like, and Meant to Be Mine.

This guide refers to the 2025 Penguin Random House paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, emotional abuse, substance use, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Vivian Levy drives her late father Hank’s truck from New York City to his cabin in Maine, planning to scatter his ashes in the lake. When she arrives, a woman introduces herself as Lucy Webster, and Vivian realizes that this is her half-sister. She tells Lucy, who always spent July at the cabin with their father, that he has died. Lucy is grief-stricken to learn of his heart attack.

Vivian wonders why Hank kept her in the dark about his double life but told Lucy. Lucy believes that Hank kept her and her mother, Dawn, a secret in order to avoid hurting Vivian and her mother, Celeste, who writes romance novels for a living. Vivian plans to sell the cabin and use the money to start a business with her lover, Oscar—who is also her boss and a married man. Lucy is devastated, in part because her husband, Patrick, recently asked for a divorce and she has nowhere to go. Lucy plans to stay in the cabin for the month. That night, she tells Patrick that Hank has died.

Vivian is irritated that she hasn’t heard from Oscar since arriving at the cabin. When she calls her mother, she realizes that Celeste already knew about Lucy and Dawn. Vivian remembers the night she overheard Hank talking about “Mom” on the phone with a girl around her age (Lucy). Later, he evaded Vivian’s questions. 

Vivian calls a realtor, but Lucy does not want to sell the cabin. Later, the two women take the boat out to find a likely spot for the upcoming memorial to scatter Hank’s ashes. Later, Lucy invites two of her friends, Paige and Caleb, over for dinner, and Caleb invites Vivian to join them. Patrick also comes, and they all toast to Hank. The narrative reveals that Vivian and Caleb actually met four summers ago at the pub and had a brief fling, but now they agree not to tell Lucy about it. Lucy gets very drunk, and Patrick comforts her.

Vivian gives Caleb her phone number, rekindling their mutual interest. Meanwhile, Lucy realizes that her marriage is truly over. Later, she goes to the library to check out Celeste’s romance novels, and she meets a man named Harrison, who asks for her number. Lucy gets the news that she has been laid off, and she begs Vivian not to sell the house. She also wonders why Hank didn’t want her to grow up in luxury as Vivian did.

When Vivian and Celeste talk privately, Celeste is saddened by Vivian’s claim that she is emotionally distant. Later, Vivian leaves Oscar a message, chastising him for ignoring her. Meanwhile, Lucy and Harrison go out to dinner. 

Later, Oscar calls to tell Vivian that Carla, his wife, is pregnant. He wants his relationship with Vivian to continue, but she ends things and tells Lucy about her breakup. Lucy suggests that Vivian take the summer to decide whether to sell the cabin, and Vivian agrees. Lucy admits that when she was young, her mother told her about Vivian; now, she encourages Vivian to invite Celeste to Hank’s memorial. Vivian takes her advice and is shocked when Celeste agrees. 

Harrison and Lucy go out again, and he is surprised to learn that she lives in Fox Hill. When she mentions Vivian, he grows uncomfortable and distant. (The narrative will soon reveal that Harrison is the realtor whom Vivian has secretly hired.)

Vivian ignores Oscar’s calls for 11 days. She now plans to open a business on her own. Hoping that Lucy won’t hate her, she calls the realtor (Harrison) and says that she is ready to sell the cabin.

The narrative skips forward in time. It is now one month since Lucy was laid off, and she still has no job. That night, Celeste arrives unexpectedly, and Harrison is with her. Lucy learns that Vivian has put the house up for sale and that Harrison is her realtor. He says that he figured out who Lucy was at the end of their last date. Vivian explains that she wants to start her business alone, and she admits that Oscar has returned to his pregnant wife. Lucy is shocked to realize how closely Vivian’s situation mirrors Hanks, and she accuses Vivian of being a selfish cheater like he was.

Vivian realizes that she has the power to correct Hank’s wrongs. Celeste begins to take an interest in Vivian’s business ambitions and apologizes for being inattentive. In a separate conversation, Dawn tells Lucy that when Hank initially chose her over Celeste, his parents rushed to the lake to talk him out of it, but they got into a car accident and died. After that tragedy, Hank couldn’t bring himself to go against his parent’s wishes, so he chose not to stay with Dawn. 

Later, however, when he came to the lake for his bachelor party prior to marrying Celeste, he and Dawn slept together. Dawn later wrote him a letter expressing her feelings and said that if he didn’t write back, she would assume that he didn’t want to be with her. He never replied to her letter. Months later, Hank and Dawn ran into each other at the market; she was holding an infant Lucy. Now, after hearing this story, Lucy struggles to assimilate this new information.

Oscar arrives, saying that he has left Carla. He and Vivian have sex. She recalls Father’s Day, when she told Hank that she was dating her married boss. At that time, when Hank grew angry with her, she resented his hypocrisy and confronted Hank with her suspicions about his double life. He denied cheating on Celeste, and Vivian stormed out. Hank died later that day. Now, Vivian suddenly sees the similarities between Oscar and Hank, and she ends her relationship with Oscar for good. Just then, the power goes out, and Oscar cannot leave because a downed tree is blocking the road. 

The next morning, Vivian overhears Lucy telling Oscar that Vivian deserves better. He finally leaves, and Vivian apologizes to Lucy for going back on her word about selling the cabin. She says that they can wait until the end of summer to decide about the house and can split the money if they decide to sell. Lucy is stunned but gratified.

The sisters go to Portland, Maine, for dinner, and Vivian reflects that she could create a wine bar that would flourish there. One afternoon, she finds a box of stuffed, sealed envelopes: letters that Hank has written but never sent. Most of them are for Dawn, but there is one each for Vivian and Lucy. Both women open their letters, which were written in May of their senior year of high school. In Vivian’s letter, Hank commends Vivian for her hard work and tells her about Lucy. He hopes that she can forgive him. Lucy’s letter from Hank contains an apology, and he says that avoiding all discussion of his life in New York seemed like the “kindest choice.” He tells Lucy that he is proud of her and invites her to New York. Lucy is shocked. She and Vivian swap letters, and Vivian is struck by the warmth and love in Lucy’s letter. They invite Dawn over and show her the letters. In Dawn’s letters, Hank expresses his guilt over not choosing her. He wrote every year on their anniversary. Dawn is sad to consider what might have been, but she keeps reading, wondering why Hank didn’t reply to her letter years ago.

Patrick invites Lucy to dinner and admits that he made a mistake in asking for a divorce; Lucy says that she misses him too, and they have sex. Vivian invites Caleb over, and he says that he bought a ticket to Thailand; he’ll be gone for several months. She ponders a move to Portland. 

Lucy gets a job offer in Portland, but when Patrick refuses to consider moving, she realizes that he does not truly care about her, and she ends the relationship for good. She then reaches out to Harrison, and they go out on another date.

Vivian wonders if she was too hard on Hank, but she and Lucy decide that he was merely a flawed human being, like everyone. Vivian admits that Celeste often puts real people into her stories. Later, Vivian picks Celeste up at the airport and confesses that she dated Oscar, her boss, for two years, but Celeste does not judge her. Instead, she admits that there was always a sense of distance between herself and Hank. 

Lucy goes to dinner at Dawn’s, and Celeste and Dawn meet the next day. Lucy and Vivian announce that they’re selling the house and splitting the money. They both plan to move to Portland to pursue their own ambitions. Recalling Vivian’s comment that Celeste bases her books on real life, Lucy confronts Celeste about a certain scene in one of her romance novels and insists that Celeste tell Vivian and Dawn the truth about a past decision that has yet to be specified.

Celeste tells Vivian that she found the letter that Dawn wrote to Hank right before his wedding to Celeste; she admits to keeping this letter from him for decades. Vivian now realizes that her mother’s selfish choice caused immense suffering for everyone. Realizing how long she has been ruled by anger, Vivian wants a clean slate with her mother. She and Lucy watch as Celeste tells Dawn about the letter, and Dawn doesn’t hold a grudge. 

That evening, the four women scatter Hank’s ashes and forgive him for his mistakes and flaws. Afterward, Vivian makes dinner. Celeste opens her email to find a message from her lawyer stating that Hank has left sizeable trust funds for Vivian, Lucy, and Dawn. Vivian and Lucy decide to keep the cabin.