Classic New England Stories: True Tales and Tall Tales of Character and Culture

by Jake Elwell (Editor)

From the icy waters of Vermont's Lake Champlain to the freezing tidal depths of coastal Maine; from New Hampshire's rocky hills to Connecticut's stone-walled roads, New England is a microcosm of the American land. In a country of proud regionalism the Yankee spirit stands out in its variegated character and, of course, its rich history. It's that tapestry of character that has shaped the literature of New England. Be they tall tales told over the cracker barrel or misty lamentations on love and God, the spectrum of the New England story provides a unique insight on the American soul, and a surprise at the turn of every page.

In this collection you'll find not only enduring works by such well-known writers as Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James, Henry David Thoreau, and Edith Wharton, but also examples of the once beloved but now forgotten, including Henry A. Shute's "real diary" of a New Hampshire boy, Edward Everett Hale's paean to Christmas in Boston, and Thomas Bailey Aldrich's chronicles of Rivermouth.

Classic New England Stories is certain to renew New Englanders' love for their small corner of the world, while drawing non-New Englanders back home to it.

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting blend of true classic New England authors from the mid-1800’s such as Melville (the Queequeg chapters from Moby Dick) and Hawthorne, as well as late 1800’s and early 20th Century stuff. Sarah Orne Jewett’s tale of a woman who finds she’s married to a polygamist is quite fascinating for its time (1890) but Louisa May Alcott’s Thanksgiving story is straight from the Hallmark channel – too cutesy and folksy. Other stories seem selected not for their literary value but to throw in some farm humor and would-be ghost stories. So it’s a very uneven selection.