Siobhan, that's fantastic! Congrats on the new job, I hope your move goes smoothly and you find the perfect house. Maine is just beautiful, and I'd love to get back there for vacation again.

I read Country of the Pointed Firs a few years ago, too, and really enjoyed it. I believe Tim recommended it. It's a wonderful book.

Wow, Siobhan, that is great. I've never been to Maine, but my favorite poet (Edna St. Vincent Millay) grew up near Penabscot Bay there. And I think that experience informs much of her poetry.

Best of luck with your move and the new job. Keep us updated.

I forgot to mention I am moving to the very place Jewett immortalized in her writing - she calls the place Dunnet Landing, but it is recognized as Boothbay Harbor.

If you are in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by! It is a wonderful vacation spot.

We visited Maine once on a New England fall foliage trip, and I agree that it is beautiful. Congratulations on the job!

Siobahn...I am both overwhelmingly happy for you and incredibly jealous. Maine is my magic place, we also go at least once a year...you can't beat Pemaquid for a craggy section of coast! I have ordered this book. Boothbay Harbor is so lovely. If you like gardens - are you aware of the Central Maine Botanical Garden there. If not for the flowers, just for the absolute peace of the garden walk they have there. I highly recommend it.
Best of luck on your move...perhaps we'll cross paths in June, and somehow recognize each other. Veronica

May all your dreams come true, Siobhan. Maine is beautiful and challenging and you are moving there at the right time of year, with spring coming on.

I too read and loved The Country of the Pointed Firs. There is a wonderful biography of Sarah Orne Jewett by Paula Blanchard that you--and others here--may enjoy. It will, if possible, deepen your enjoyment of Jewett's writing and of Maine itself.

SOJ lived in South Berwick and her house is now open to the public, well worth a visit. I had never heard that she based Dunnet Landing on Boothbay Harbor but I'm no expert. Would be interested in learning more about that. It isn't very near where she lived.

Much joy in your exciting move!

I am very glad the Jewett home has been preserved; I was happy to visit there a couple of years ago. The introduction to my edition of Country of the Pointed Firs by Mary Ellen Chase states that Dunnet Landing is based on the Boothbay region. It is about 100 miles up the coast from South Berwick, not so very far. Maine is a very big state!

Veronica, if you are going to be in the Boothbay area in June I hope we can sit down over a cup of coffee or tea or other refreshing beverage and talk about books! There is no shortage of nice coffee shops and cafes. I once spent a pleasant hour going through used books on the porch of the Boothbay library (how many libraries today have porches?), wouldn't it be nice to do something like that?

Congratulations Siobhan. I hope you love your new job and new home.

Sarah Orne Jewett is one of my favorite American writers. I am sure she would be amused if she knew how her fiction has influenced your life path.

I also really enjoyed her novel, Deephaven.

Siobahn, my email is on my user information. Contact me when you get settled.

Congratulations Siobhan, it sounds very exciting and courageous to be moving to a new place that you fell in love with through literature.
Best of luck!

I also loved "The Country of the Pointed Firs" when I read it a few years ago. I adore the rugged beauty of Maine and enjoy the way the people speak their unique pronunciation and dialect. Of course, I am prejudiced, as I married a man from Maine! ;-)

Siobhan, this is wonderful news. I wish you every happiness in your new home and your new job. The coast of Maine is so beautiful. It is amazing how books truly can change our lives.

Rosefolly

Siobhan,

I, too, wish to offer you congratulations on your new life. I loved The Country of the Pointed Firs too and have long wanted to see the area she wrote of.

Rosefolly and I had relatives from Maine and visited it with our family when we were children. My father took us to the old family homestead as well as to visit family menbers who still lived there. I don't remember much about the trip but I do remember the stories my father told us about the area we visited.

Good luck with your move and your new job! :)

My sister and her new husband moved to Presque Isle right after they were married-he to teach on the university campus there, and she found a job as an administrator in the local hospital. Presque Isle is far far north-and cold! Wind chill on my nephew's day of birth in February was in the -40s. They are now back in PA, but they loved their time there and still visit friends they made while living there.

Siobhan, I had never heard of Sarah Jewett, but for you to make such a brave decision to up sticks and find a new job and home made me think the book must be worth reading! It didn't seem so long ago that you moved to Boston.
I therefore ordered a second hand copy from one of the many UK places advertised on Amazon. The book took only a couple of days to arrive and cost one penny plus postage. It is in excellent nick (as we say) with what must be original illustrations and rather wordy and worthy introductions/forwards.
Keep a look-out over the Atlantic for a rowing boat laden with household goods and you'll know I'm on my way to join you.

Vee, I am glad you have the book, it is true piece of Americana - a record of a people and way of life long gone. My new hospital has a pier, so you are welcome to tie up your rowing boat there, and I live just up the hill.

My moving date is this weekend - my new job starts Monday. And get this - I absolutely could not get out of working Saturday at my old job. No one to cover for me, so unless I want to leave on very bad terms I am committed to it. This has created a very awkward situation as you might imagine, but I shall get through it.

siobhan, at first I thought how unusual to have a hospital with it's own pier/dock, but then I realised it makes good sense in an area surrounded by water to have quick access for emergencies from off-islands or accidents at sea.
Good luck with the move. I hope you have a significant other/strong man to help with loading-unloading-driving/providing cups of strong coffee etc.
I'm sure once you settle in you will find country life far more calming than the rush and bustle of the city.
I'm loving the book so far.

Hello from Maine! Yes vee, it is unusual, very few hospital have piers, but you are right, people come from pleasure boats and also from the islands that abound off the coast.

When I arrived at my new home, I was greeted by my new landlady and landlord (my goodness, these feudal terms!) and their teenage son. I have great faith in this generation, as the strapping 16-year-old unhesitantly and quickly unloaded the boxes from my car and politely asked me if he could do anything else.

I settled down to read The Foreigner, one of my favorite Jewett stories with a supernatural bent, but quickly became too spooked to finish! I am more secure tonight, perhaps I will read it this evening.

Hooray for you Siobhan! Very gutsy! I hail from New England (Connecticut) and have been to Maine. A glorious state. Enjoy and good luck on all your new adventures! meo

Siobhan-I was lucky enough to visit a friend who lived in Maine when I was in college. I think it is a beautiful state. Have fun with your new life there, I know you will enjoy the nature and the people.

I haven't read "The Foreigner", but I will look out for it. My favorite of her stories is "Lady Ferry", which may (or may not) be a ghost story. On one level its a story about a little girl who encounters an old lady who claims to be hundreds of years old. I think on another level its about the inevitable passage of time, and how our memories shift and change.

Siobhan, what a fabulous dream come true!
Now I have go try one of her books. I've seen that name before in bookstores. The mentions of supernatural quality reminds me of Isabel Allende's early novels, which I loved. And speaking of supernatural and Maine, aren't a lot of Stephen King's stories set there? Wasn't he born there -- and still lives there? Maybe there is something magical in the atmosphere of Maine?! I would love to look for a place like that, too; but am thinking of the east coast of Nova Scotia. Am not sure exactly where, and am studying maps and travel books.

Stephen King is from Bangor, Maine and all or most of his stories are set there--his books are way too creepy for me. Sarah Orne Jewett is about as far from him as possible in literary style--and pretty far geographically in Maine. "The Foreignor" is a wonderful, compelling story, with elements of the supernatural in a Christian way, in my opinion. It isn't scary-creepy like Stephen King and definitely not malevolent. In fact, I thought it was very touching.

Stephen King is a Maine native and a great friend of the state. He and his wife are very involved in helping the community where they maintain a residence, although he does not live there year-round any more.

I read "Lady Ferry" online, what a wonderful story! I would like to work my way through all of Jewett's writing.

Today, well into my second week, I received a treasured library card. The local library is very small and the selection is rather limited as you might expect, but I immediately called up the ILL system and requested a few books. It is all very friendly and yes, quaint. The library is in an old house given to the town long ago for use as a library. It boasts a large fireplace with a WWI memorial over the mantel. The cookbook selection is large, varied, and current, so there must be a lot of cooks here. Although I have noticed a significant lack of really large people - I am surprised at the number of people, especially older ones, sporting slim, youthful figures. Maybe the cold burns off calories!

I'm so glad to hear that you are settled into your new life in Maine. It sounds like such a beautiful place.

I should really read more of Jewett's stories. I've read a few but, "Lady Ferry" is the one I remember most. I'm amazed how skillfully Jewett was able to create a story about an old lady looking back on her memories, the strangest of which was another old lady, this one claiming to be about 300 years old. I wasn't sure if it was a "classic" ghost story, but I found the effect moving yet a also eerie.

siobhan, your local library sounds charming! As for fit and thin "Mainiacs", think snow-shoveling and how it burns off calories! Also, residents of Maine are known for their great longevity. There is something to be said for being put on ice during those long winters....