This is the second book by Linda Greenlaw, an islander and
fisherman from Maine. One of the few
female lobster fisherman (her first book covered her time catching
swordfish). There is a lot of
information about Lobster fishing and particularly the frustrations inherent in
the challenge of small boat operations versus factory boats, changing climate
conditions, and the dangers of the sea.
This is a chronicle of her fifth year after lobsters, but
the key to the book is the subtitle: Life on a very Small Island. Here are stories of the characters that
inhabit the back side of the island that holds Acadia National Park. It is an isolated life with a diminishing
population that sees the school numbers tumbling and nearing extinction. This is a frustration that runs through the
book as the author would like to have children, but in the isolation of her
existence cannot even find a boyfriend (maybe someday).
She fishes with her father, anguishes over her mother’s
illness, devotes two pages to the postmistress who has engaged in the epitome
of conversation – Hi. We learn about
Rita and the quirks that make people hide so that she does not see them through
the windows of their home; and the various ways they try to avoid being in
contact with this strange woman who seems to possess mysterious social powers. There are the two brothers who moved to the
island as handymen, but create most of their own work by the mistakes that they
inevitably make. There are conflicts
with the mainlanders, territorial squabbles about fishing territory, and the
threats of shipwreck and death at sea.
It is a satisfying book that feels like an exercise in
spying on a small community and absorbing the stories of their existence.
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