[close] Combining thoroughly documented history with superb storytelling, this sympathetic tale imparts lessons on early New England while examining issues around the importance of home. From the perspective of the memorable Hesper Honeywood, this fascinating journey chronicles the generations of Honeywoods who built and lived in the Hearth and Eagle Inn, and their friends and neighbors who struggled to eke out a living from the sea. Readers will follow the radical changes brought to the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, by the industrial revolution—in the form of a new shoe factory that draws the salt-water people away from their traditional crafts—as well as the encroaching larger factories that will crush the smaller business and send the Marbleheaders back to the salty sea. [close]