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leahkristin's review against another edition
5.0
1. I don't care what you say, Ms. Todd is a witch.
2. Green Island is my favorite.
3. This book eased my anxiety.
2. Green Island is my favorite.
3. This book eased my anxiety.
expendablemudge's review against another edition
5.0
Rating: 5* of five
My review is live today at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. I gave it 5 stars because Jewett records the social injustice endemic in 19th century Maine in gorgeous, lush writing. I hadn't noticed this when I first read the book forty-plus years ago.
My review is live today at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. I gave it 5 stars because Jewett records the social injustice endemic in 19th century Maine in gorgeous, lush writing. I hadn't noticed this when I first read the book forty-plus years ago.
unsweettea's review against another edition
3.0
I still don't know quite what I think about this book. I read it because a former teacher of mine recommended it; she said she always finds it cheering and soothing (she's 87 if that makes any difference). I thought it was well written and the characters were interesting, and the description of the area was well done, but really, not a whole lot happens. Maybe the problem is me; I just read too many mysteries and I expect exciting things to happen. But really, the main character goes to spend the summer in Maine, she makes friends, she sees the area, she makes more friends, she goes home. That's it. And yet, I did like the book.
librarianelizabeth's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Cozy atmospheric book in which nothing much happens, which was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up. Thanks to Pamela for the recommendation.
Cozy atmospheric book in which nothing much happens, which was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up. Thanks to Pamela for the recommendation.
upnorth's review against another edition
3.0
I picked up this book after reading Cranford, and if you enjoy one, I think you will enjoy the other.
This one takes you through a months-long summer visit to a small seaside town in Maine during the 19th century. It is about as eventful as a summer vacation normally would be, there is no great suspense or dramatic action. The narrator is the author, a woman writer boarding with a local herbalist (and renting the small schoolhouse as an office). Visits, meals, walks, and boat trips make up most of the narrative. There is a lot of vivid detail, and if you are going to love this book, that is likely to be what you will love: being taken back in time for a good close look around a quiet traditional village community. No-one is rich, and most of the characters are women, most of them self-sufficient and highly competent in relationships, work, and boating. The significant male characters are misfits: a very shy but sweet old man living with his mother; a retired ship's captain possessed by visions of a surreal Arctic journey that may or may not have taken place; a widowed fisherman who has never gotten over the death of his adored wife.
It is a slow paced book, and I wanted to pick up a pencil and edit her in places, but it was worth my time, and many of the images and stories have been lingering in my mind.
This one takes you through a months-long summer visit to a small seaside town in Maine during the 19th century. It is about as eventful as a summer vacation normally would be, there is no great suspense or dramatic action. The narrator is the author, a woman writer boarding with a local herbalist (and renting the small schoolhouse as an office). Visits, meals, walks, and boat trips make up most of the narrative. There is a lot of vivid detail, and if you are going to love this book, that is likely to be what you will love: being taken back in time for a good close look around a quiet traditional village community. No-one is rich, and most of the characters are women, most of them self-sufficient and highly competent in relationships, work, and boating. The significant male characters are misfits: a very shy but sweet old man living with his mother; a retired ship's captain possessed by visions of a surreal Arctic journey that may or may not have taken place; a widowed fisherman who has never gotten over the death of his adored wife.
It is a slow paced book, and I wanted to pick up a pencil and edit her in places, but it was worth my time, and many of the images and stories have been lingering in my mind.
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
And the audio version is available at LibriVox.
CONTENTS
I. The Return
II. Mrs. Todd
III. The Schoolhouse
IV. At the Schoolhouse Window
V. Captain Littlepage
VI. The Waiting Place
VII. The Outer Island
VIII. Green Island
IX. William
X. Where Pennyroyal Grew
XI. The Old Singers
XII. A Strange Sail
XIII. Poor Joanna
XIV. The Hermitage
XV. On Shell-heap Island
XVI. The Great Expedition
XVII. A Country Road
XVIII. The Bowden Reunion
XIX. The Feast's End
XX. Along Shore
XXI. The Backward View
Such adorable stories are a true comfort reading.
Note:
SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909) was born and died in South Berwick, Maine. Her father was the region's most distinguished doctor and, as a child, Jewett often accompanied him on his round of patient visits. She began writing poetry at an early age and when she was only 19 her short story "Mr. Bruce" was accepted by the Atlantic Monthly. Her association with that magazine continued, and William Dean Howells, who was editor at that time, encouraged her to publish her first book, Deephaven (1877), a collection of sketches published earlier in the Atlantic Monthly. Through her friendship with Howells, Jewett became acquainted with Boston's literary elite, including Annie Fields, with whom she developed one of the most intimate and lasting relationships of her life.
The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finest work, described by Henry James as her "beautiful little quantum of achievement." Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectively ended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved.
And the audio version is available at LibriVox.
CONTENTS
I. The Return
II. Mrs. Todd
III. The Schoolhouse
IV. At the Schoolhouse Window
V. Captain Littlepage
VI. The Waiting Place
VII. The Outer Island
VIII. Green Island
IX. William
X. Where Pennyroyal Grew
XI. The Old Singers
XII. A Strange Sail
XIII. Poor Joanna
XIV. The Hermitage
XV. On Shell-heap Island
XVI. The Great Expedition
XVII. A Country Road
XVIII. The Bowden Reunion
XIX. The Feast's End
XX. Along Shore
XXI. The Backward View
Such adorable stories are a true comfort reading.
Note:
SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909) was born and died in South Berwick, Maine. Her father was the region's most distinguished doctor and, as a child, Jewett often accompanied him on his round of patient visits. She began writing poetry at an early age and when she was only 19 her short story "Mr. Bruce" was accepted by the Atlantic Monthly. Her association with that magazine continued, and William Dean Howells, who was editor at that time, encouraged her to publish her first book, Deephaven (1877), a collection of sketches published earlier in the Atlantic Monthly. Through her friendship with Howells, Jewett became acquainted with Boston's literary elite, including Annie Fields, with whom she developed one of the most intimate and lasting relationships of her life.
The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finest work, described by Henry James as her "beautiful little quantum of achievement." Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectively ended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved.
readlikefire's review against another edition
3.0
If L.M. Montgomery wrote plot like Virginia Woolf, this would probably be the result.
athst's review against another edition
4.0
This novella is a skillful depiction of a coastal Maine town and kinds of characters in it, in the late 1800s. I liked it because if you’ve ever read books about sailing or whaling, this is sort of about the people who are left on shore while those boats are away, or when the sailors on those boats have retired to shore life. You get a good feel for a time and place in America that is long past.
loren's review against another edition
4.0
Now I want to move to Maine and have everyone think I’m might possibly me a witch but also be super lowkey about it because I have the best tea in town
gorgeous novel. the first few chapters charmed me more than I could possibly say.
gorgeous novel. the first few chapters charmed me more than I could possibly say.
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