The Country of the Pointed Firs

Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectively ended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved. Contents I The Return II Mrs. Todd III The Schoolhouse IV At the Schoolhouse Window V Captain Littlepage VI The Waiting Place VII The Outer Island VIII Green Island IX William X Where Pennyroyal Grew XI The Old Singers XII A Strange Sail XIII Poor Joanna XIV The Hermitage XV On Shell-heap Island XVI The Great Expedition XVII A Country Road XVIII The Bowden Reunion XIX The Feast's End XX Along Shore XXI The Backward View I. The Return THERE WAS SOMETHING about the coast town of Dunnet which made it seem more attractive than other maritime villages of eastern Maine. Perhaps it was the simple fact of acquaintance with that neighborhood which made it so attaching, and gave such interest to the rocky shore and dark woods, and the few houses which seemed to be securely wedged and tree-nailed in among the ledges by the Landing. These houses made the most of their seaward view, and there was a gayety and determined floweriness in their bits of garden ground; the small-paned high windows in the peaks of their steep gables were like knowing eyes that watched the harbor and the far sea-line beyond, or looked northward all along the shore and its background of spruces and balsam firs. When one really knows a village like this and its surroundings, it is like becoming acquainted with a single person. The process of falling in love at first sight is as final as it is swift in such a case, but the growth of true friendship may be a lifelong affair.