The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories - (Signet Classics) by Sarah Orne Jewett (Paperback)

About the Book

Featuring a new Afterword by Balaam, this collection contains the novel "The Country of Pointed Firs" and several stories in which Jewett explores the world of the lonely inhabitants of once-prosperous towns along Maine's coast. Revised reissue.

Book Synopsis

A rich collection of classic American literature potraying the beauty of a 19th-century New England town.

A female writer comes one summer to Dunnet Landing, a Maine seacoast town, where she follows the lonely inhabitants of once-prosperous coastal communities. Here, lives are molded by the long Maine winters, rock-filled fields and strong resourceful women.

Throughout Sarah Orne Jewett's novel and stories, these quiet tales of a simpler American life capture the inspirational in the everyday: the importance of honest friendships, the value of family, and the gift of community.

"Their counterparts are in every village in the world, thank heaven, and the gift to one's life is only in its discernment."

From the Back Cover

Willa Cather's assessment of The Country of the Pointed Firs has done much to ensure a growing recognition of its qualities. In this novella, a writer moves to the quiet Maine village of Dunnel Landing, seeking a hermitage away from the busy city. Instead of isolation she discovers a rich community that exercises and extends her powers as an observer and conversationalist. She returns to the city refreshed, her vision broader and her relationships strengthened. This volume combines Jewett's classic novella and its four short sequels with nine more of her best stories, illustrating the range of her literary style and exemplifying her interest in the position of women in nineteenth-century America. Terry Heller's introduction examines Jewett's work within the mainstream of American literature. Useful annotation, plus a helpful list of the plant and herb lore to which Jewett makes frequent reference, further illuminate her stories for the reader.

Review Quotes

"The young student of American Literature in far distant years to come will take up this book and say 'a masterpiece.'"--Will Cather

About the Author

Sarah Orne Jewett was born in Maine on September 3, 1849, and grew up in the small town of South Berwick, where she was to spend the principle part of her life. Ill health prevented her from fulfilling her ambition to become a doctor; she turned to writing instead. Her first story was published when she was eighteen, and her literary production continued unabated until a crippling carriage accident in 1902 ended her creative career. She died on June 24, 1909, leaving behind a remarkable literary legacy.