Book Description
A hundred and thirty years after it was first published, Sarah Orne Jewett’s story of a young medical woman remains an incisive rendering of the dilemmas of gender, society, and self. Nan Prince first becomes interested in medicine as a child, as the ward of the widowed physician Dr. Leslie. In time she becomes his protégée. But when she enters medical college, she realizes that she will have to choose between marriage and her career, between the demands of her society and her obligations to her true self. Inspired by Jewett’s own interests and by her father, A Country Doctor portrays a world very much in flux and Nan, ultimately, as a woman with a new world opening to her. ... Read more

Product Description
Two aristocratic young ladies from Boston share their experiences and their delight, as well as the salty yarns of several sea captains, in a small harbor village in Maine. Three 90-minute cassettes and one 60.Download Description
We knew that we were considered Miss Brandon's representatives in Deephaven society, and this was no slight responsibility, as she had received much honor and respect. We heard again and again what a loss she had been to the town, and we tried that summer to do nothing to lessen the family reputation and to give pleasure as well as take it, though we were singularly persistent in our pursuit of a good time. ... Read more

Book Description
Essays about identity and difference, tradition and transformation, region and nation add an energetic and diverse set of voices to current discussions about Sarah Orne Jewett, 19th-century American women's writing, and the reshaping of the literary canon. ... Read more

Book Description
The Country of the Pointed Firs combines Jewett's classic novella and its four short sequels with nine of her best stories, including five unavailable in any other paperback edition.They illustrate the range of her literary style and exemplify her interest in the position of women in
nineteenth-century America.Terry Heller's introduction examines the work within the mainstream of American literature, and detailed annotation, as well as a list of the plant and herb lore to which Jewett makes reference, further illuminate these tales. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Life in Coastal Maine 100 Years Ago
Jewett's Country of the Pointed Firs seemed like a good choice for reading while summering in Maine.Indeed her character who narrates the book is a woman author spending the summer in a small seaside Maine town.
Sara Orne Jewett gets a mention in American literature classes as a local color writer.This book demonstates her style with its descriptions of the Maine countryside, village life in the 1890s, and insight into the lives of island dwellers and retired fishermen and sea captains.
There's not much that would be considered a plot, just casual meetings with interesting characters in the area.To glimpse life in coastal Maine more than a centruy ago, this is the book for you.
I look forward to visiting the author's home in South Berwick.It's a national historic site.

They don't get much better than this
Jewett's relatively unacknowledged novel "The Country of the PointedFirs" is a masterpiece.Tightly constructed, beautifully written,thematically rich; top-of-the-line in every category.It's slow going atfirst, but grows on you once you see what Jewett is examining -- theinterconnectedness of all people, even those who live far apart and haveseemingly nothing in common.The bookshelf of any bona fide literature fan-- esp. fans of American lit. -- should not be without this littlemasterpiece. ... Read more