Maine Memories

by Elizabeth Coatsworth

165 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth was best known as the author of Away Goes Sally, The Cat Who Went to Heaven, which won the 1931 Newbery Medal, and the four Incredible Tales, but in fact she wrote more than 90 books for children. She was extremely interested in the world around her, particularly the people of Maine, as well as the houses and the surrounding land. She also loved the history and myths of her favorite places, those near her home and those encountered on her countless travels.

Coatsworth graduated from Vassar College in 1915 and received a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1916. In 1929, she married writer Henry Beston, with whom she had two children. When she was in her thirties, her first books of adult poetry were published. For over fifty years, she continued to write and publish poetry in collections and to weave poems between the chapters of her books of fiction.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading all of this author’s work I can get my hands on. I love her enthusiasm and the quiet joy she shares on the page. Her writing of everyday life is lyrical but never flowery. Every word counts. Beautiful work!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in Maine and have traveled by the house Coatsworth lived in many times without realizing it, on my way to a quilting retreat at Camp Kieve on Damariscotta Lake. I am quite familiar with this area that she describes so eloquently. I'm impressed with the forgotten history of the area and it is remarkable how much has changed since the book was published in 1947-the frequent presence of Indians in the area selling baskets, itinerant salesmen selling seeds and more, schooners in the waters, seagulls never appearing inland on Damariscotta Lake until (1940s)-pushed inland from depth charges in the ocean. Highly recommended for anyone who loves Maine.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having only read Elizabeth Coatsworth's children's works, I was pleased to find and read this semi-memoir. Each essay is a sketch of a story or memory from Coatsworths' time in Maine. Beautiful and thoughtful without sentimentality - in fact, I had forgotten that memoirs from this era (1944) do not shy away from the brutal hardships of life in the hills or the coast of rural maine.