The Midcoast

Gatsby comes to mind reading this dense drama set amongst the lobstermen and the striving middle and upper class of small town Maine. Enjoyable and revealing, I was struck by the rich writing and the steady sense of foreboding. I was less than impressed with the mixture of first and third person, as well as the choppy and mostly nonexistent chronology, which, for me, felt like a cheap act to elevate the novel to something “more” when it is really quite good without writing gimmicks and literary hooks.

Not quite what I was expecting, but the setting captured me and White did a nice job of revealing the tensions between locals & tourists, insiders and outsiders, in a place dependent upon both.