A classic collection of American short stories about the lives of the late-nineteenth-century citizens of Maine. Sarah Orne Jewett's masterpiece, The Country of Pointed Firs is a short story sequence that celebrates what the author believed were the rapidly disappearing traditions, manners, and dialect of the natives of coastal Maine at the turn of the twentieth century. In revealing snapshots-a family reunion, the ghostly vision of a seaman, and more-Jewett presents honest portraits of individual New Englanders and a warm, humorous, and compassionate vision of the Northeast. Filled with an eclectic cast of characters, the collection humanizes northeasterners from all walks of life. Like Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Country of Pointed Firs masterfully illustrates the American character and experience. Although widely overlooked during her lifetime, Jewett's tales-and the values they relate-are just as relevant today as when they were written.
