The Country of the Pointed Firs

"The Country of the Pointed Firs" is a lyrical journey through one Maine summer in a dying coastal town with all its highs and lows. Told by an unnamed narrator, "The Country of the Pointed Firs" reads more like a series of short stories than a complete novella. The narrator, a writer who is spending the summer in the coastal town of Dunnet boarding with the inimitable Mrs. Todd, finds herself easily accepted into the lives of these easygoing townsfolk. She relates tales of her landlord, the local medicine woman, and of Mrs. Todd's family - her older brother William who has been courting the same woman for years on end, and her elderly but still sprightly mother who is beloved by all. Through her association with Mrs. Todd, the narrator comes to know the strange tales that seafaring folk have learned to tell and the sadness that has come to a town where the livelihood that once supported them has all but died out. "The Country of the Pointed Firs" is a fast-paced enjoyable read, yet is not a novella that is cohesive (beyond the fact that the episodes are loosely connected by those who tell them). This can make for disjointed reading at times, and Jewett often uses the same phrase repeatedly - perhaps for emphasis - but sometimes it seems tired. Still, this novella is a unique look at what life in coastal Maine was like at the turn of the twentieth century and can definitely be read as the ancestor to later lonely tales that take place within the same region. Sarah Orne Jewett was a gifted writer, one who could easily afford to demand what she wanted from editors since she did not have to rely upon her earnings to support her. She wrote unflinchingly about the strength that lies in women's relationships and her stories feel as if they have naturally drifted out of the oral tradition.