Books Set in Maine

CurrerBell: Strout's Pulitzer. The form of this novel -- a collection of short stories all in some way incorporating the title character -- is reminiscent of Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs.

aulsmith: Country of the Pointed Firs is the American Cranford, a nice quiet novel about a small town.

CurrerBell: Excellent edition to buy as a stand-alone of Pointed Firs because of its Introduction by Mary Ellen Chase

CurrerBell: Very convenient single-volume of Jewett, but disappointing coming from the Library of America. Jewett deserves at least two volumes and possibly three -- comparable to the LoA edition of Willa Cather.

CurrerBell: The form of this novel -- a collection of short stories united around the character of a deceased elderly woman who is to be buried later that day -- is reminiscent of Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs (though Pointed Firs of course does not involve a death or a funeral of Almira Todd). This is Chase's best work and apparently was also her own personal favorite.

CurrerBell: Excellent anthology showing Jewett's sympathy for the immigrant and "social outsider."

sturlington: Jerusalem's Lot (fictional)

sturlington: Chester's Mill (fictional)

CurrerBell: Chase's first major novel (though she did write some children's works earlier), and a very good portrayal of a family of Maine seafarers and farmers over the years. More condensed than Silas Crockett, so if you're like me and don't care for sprawling "family epics" you'll prefer Mary Peters over Silas Crockett (though neither is near comparable to The Edge of Darkness).

CurrerBell: Interesting novel but much weakened by its mid-19th century piety (as one would expect of Stowe). Extremely important as the singlemost influential work on Sarah Orne Jewett, legitimating for Jewett the use of Maine dialect. Stowe's character of Captain Kitteridge is also extremely well drawn and reminds one of the elderly sea captain that Jewett would portray in The Country of the Pointed Firs (though Jewett's captain is senile and Captain Kitteridge is anything but!).

CurrerBell: If you like James Michner, you'll like Silas Crockett. I don't care for Michner-style "family epics" and therefore I don't especially care for this particular Chase novel. (It seems to be one of the most popular among Chase's general readership, though.)

CurrerBell: Not too much recommended. It's largely repetitive of Feminist Convert by Chase's younger sister-in-law Evelyn Hyman Chase -- and repetitive dangerously to the point of plagiarism.

aulsmith : This is a very odd anthology. All of the poets spent time in Maine, but that's all they have in common. The poems aren't all about Maine, and, in fact, many of the ones I found most interesting weren't.