A Country Doctor

by Sarah Orne Jewett

Though not as well-known as the writers she influenced, Sarah Orne Jewett nevertheless remains one of the most important American novelists of the late nineteenth century. Published in 1884, Jewett’s first novel, A Country Doctor , is a luminous portrayal of rural Maine and a semiautobiographical look at her world. In it, Nan’s struggle to choose between marriage and a career as a doctor, between the confining life of a small town and a self-directed one as a professional, mirrors Jewett’s own conflicts as well as eloquently giving voice to the leading women’s issues of her time. Perhaps even more important, Jewett’s perfect details about wild flowers and seaside wharfs, farm women knitting by the fireside and sailors going upriver to meet the moonlight, convey a realism that has seldom been surpassed and stamp her writing with her signature style. A contemporary and friend of Willa Cather, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Julia Ward Howe, Sarah Orne Jewett is widely recognized as a pathfinder in American literary history, courageously pursuing a road less traveled that led the way for other women to follow.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, American, 19th Century, Book Club, Novels, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Sarah Orne Jewett was an American novelist and short story writer, best known for her local color works set in or near South Berwick, Maine, on the border of New Hampshire, which in her day was a declining New England seaport.

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was complaining a while ago, I said: when people talk about how environment shapes people, the next thing out of their mouths is they talk about prostitutes. Like, in the whole wide world shaping the whole wide race, folks really just want an excuse to shriek “Poor people are sluts.” I’m talkin’ shit about Stephen Crane here, so buckle up.

But here comes Sarah Ann Jewett from the sleepy hamlets of Maine, with the rebuttal. What if, she says - bear with me - but what if some poor orphan was raised by a doctor?


Not a doctor

It’s 1884 and this is the naturalist movement in America, a series of mild books making obvious points - stick with Flaubert, shit - and Jewett is doing something worthy here. Women weren’t often doctors - they were supposed to be biologically suited for housekeeping, more or less - and Jewett suggests that the only reason they aren’t doctors more often is that people keep shutting them in houses. By tying her story into the naturalist movement, she cranks it screaming into feminism.

"Conformity is the inspiration of much second-rate virtue."

Unfortunately she can’t crank it into a plot, and the result is worthy but boring. And my favorite book is Middlemarch, so when I say something is boring it’s very boring. There’s a good deal of talking here, and almost no action. There’s a whole chapter called “A Serious Tea Drinking,” and that’s a funny title but it doesn’t change my rule that nothing interesting ever happens over tea.

There’s one scene that really comes alive. Nan is off on one of the 19th century’s inevitable “boating with beaus” expeditions when she comes across a man who’s dislocated his shoulder and calmly stomps it back into place. Her boyfriend, the banally shitty George, feels emasculated. “It is in human nature to respect power; but all his manliness was at stake, and his natural rights would be degraded and lost, if he could not show his power to be greater than her own.” It says everything - her competence, his fear - and it’s terrific. That’s it, that’s the only good scene.

"It is so easy to be thankful that one’s friends are no worse that one sometimes forgets to remember that they might be better."

Jewett herself, raised by a Maine doctor, was a part of the “regionalist’ movement, which is even more boring than the naturalist one so if you can’t figure out what it means from the word you’re on your own. She was in a “Boston Marriage,” a term I just learned and am delighted with: it’s when two independent women choose to live together, sometimes even with a commitment ceremony, and everyone assumes they’re roommates because it’s the olden days. It seems like Jewett was gay - if this shitty poem to her wife isn’t romantic, I don’t even know anymore:

Do you remember, darling
A year ago today
When we gave ourselves to each other
Before you went away
At the end of that pleasant summer weather
Which we had spent by the sea together?

How little we knew, my darling,
All that the year would bring!
Did I think of the wretched mornings
When I should kiss my ring
And long with all my heart to see
The girl who gave the ring to me?
. . .
We have not been sorry darling
We loved each other so --
We will not take back the promises
We made a year ago --
. . .
And so again, my darling
I give myself to you,
With graver thought than a year ago
With love that is deep and true.

The book doesn’t come off as gay to me, so I’m only on this tangent because “Boston Marriage,” lol. Imagine - gay marriage in plain sight, and no one even noticed because they couldn’t imagine it! Now that’s interesting! If only Jewett had written about it, instead of this boring-ass doctor.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This falls short of three stars—I cannot say I like it. It’s OK. It could have been better.

The story is set in rural Maine in approximately the 1870s and 1880s. It is about a woman who chooses between marriage or being a doctor. We follow her from infancy, this way we see what has shaped her, and into her twenties.

Some of the prose works for me. The descriptions of nature are delightful. Other sections are wordy and old-fashioned, to the point where I was unsure of what was meant.

Although the plot and what characters say and do is realistic, given the setting and time period, the tone is inspirational and there is too much talk about religion and faith, for my taste at least. I prefer harsher, more nitty gritty realism--this I can bear, and it is this I prefer. What is delivered is at times more a sermon than an engaging story.

There is a good balance between dialogue and narrative, and yet neither the events nor the characters engage me.

I found little new to think about. The value of a general medical practitioner who knows their patients over many years is pointed out, and on this I thoroughly agree. Here follows a nice line on the concept of time:

“Towns that can be built in a hurry, can be left in a hurry.”

I like also the idea stated that it is the slower hand of the clock that is the more important. In today’s world, all we do is rush around, making it difficult to properly absorb, think about and appreciate that around us. I want more such lines. Such lines give me food for thought.

Kate Reading narrates the audiobook. I set the speed at 90%, allowing me time to absorb and think about the content. The elderly are given an accent that is not always easy to decipher. There is a rhythm to the reading that I find lulling and somehow artificial. Three stars for the narration. It’s fine but I was not blown over by it.

This is the author's first novel, published in 1884, and said to be semiautobiographical. Willa Cather, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Julia Ward Howe were the author's friends and contemporaries. I see a similarity between Cather’s and Jewett’s prose. On the basis of this one book, I find Cather's better. My view may change when I have read more by Jewett.

I am going to give the author another try. I have immediately begun The Country of the Pointed Firs. Hopefully, I will enjoy it more.



***********************


ETA: I certainly did enjoy it more ! See both ratings below!

*The Country of the Pointed Firs 4 stars
*A Country Doctor 2 stars

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not a riveting story, the plot is a simple one, the beauty of the writing and the landscape of New England she portrays is truly a beautiful record of a time gone.

A young girl is orphaned and raised by a reluctant aunt until a doctor takes over her raising. The girl's name is Nan and she turns out to be an independent, spirited, highly intelligent young lady. Custom says she must marry, but she wants to be a doctor. I guess back then, women weren't doctors or weren't allowed to combine career and family.

The plot is fairly straight forward, not exciting, but still interesting and valuable for the time period it captures and the beautiful picture it paints of New England.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading pleasure from beginning to end!

The story is set in a time and place when young orphaned Anna Prince must choose between becoming a doctor or a wife. Throughout a 20-year span of her life, a variety of other issues emerge regarding the medical profession as a vocation, conflicts and comfort within and between families, the fish-bowl existence of life in a small community, to name a few. There seems to me a perfect balance between dialogue and prose; between the description of settings and events/activities; and between interactions among people and solitary, thoughtful musing.

This wonderful story hearkens back to simpler times and, at the same time, inspires faith and self-confidence in the modern reader. The Librivox reader made for a terrific listening experience! Treat yourself -- listen to this uplifting story.

[Jessica Jewett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so proud of my ancestor for writing a story with serious feminist elements. I recommend this story to all women who think their great grandmothers in the 1800s were just mousy shrinking violets. This story was a breath of fresh air, yet it was written in the 1880s. I loved it.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

After listening to the first half I was exultant, sure this was a five star read. Jewett's descriptive writing shines. But it swerved out of that lane (in my mind) to a not-quite-satisfying end when the plot made a crash landing. However, there will be more Sarah Orne Jewett in my reading future. I read and enjoyed The Country of Pointed Firs a few decades ago.

This book asks a good question: What is a young woman to do who has no inclination to marry and raise a family?

Funny thing — the first doctor in the plot is not the doctor of the title. This confused me, because he appeared to be a minor character. And then the lightbulb flashed and it all became clear.

It is a splendid thing to have the use of any gift of God. It isn't for us to choose again, or wonder and dispute, but just work in our own places, and leave the rest to God.

Jeannie, on Librivox, did an splendid job narrating.

[Janisse Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This morning I finished A COUNTRY DOCTOR by Sarah Orne Jewett. First published in 1884, it tells the story of a young New England woman, Nan Prince, who wanted to be a doctor and who made the decision not to marry in order to devote herself to her calling. In the book, her mentor Dr. Leslie sits thinking about Nan. "He tried to assure himself that while a man's life is strengthened by his domestic happiness, a woman's must either surrender itself wholly, or relinquish entirely the claims of such duties, if she wold achieve distinction or satisfaction elsewhere. The two cannot be taken together in a woman's life as in a man's."

Think how much things have changed, that my husband is as much in charge of our "domestic happiness" as I am our economics. I have been able to marry and have children, yet still follow my calling and enjoy a career.

Jewett herself was the daughter of a country doctor; she never married; and she made the decision to become a writer when this was a profession (or service) mostly closed to women. In fact, the novel is a feminist treatise on the need for women to express their God-given talents. "The simple fact that there is a majority of women in any centre of civilization means that some are set apart by nature for other uses and conditions than marriage," Jewett writes on p. 250 of the edition of the book I read.

I read the book because it was highly recommended by Willa Cather, whose work I have been intensely studying because I love it so much. Cather, if you don't remember, wrote MY ANTONIA, which is a glorious work of American literature, and although it will always be classified as a novel, is really a work of nature-writing. Cather's life fascinates me to no end because early on she sometimes dressed as a man, took a man's name (Willem, I believe it was), and chose a man's career. She also never married.

I am appalled when I think of the cultural discrepancies between men and women, when so many things have been closed or made difficult for women.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded down.
A sort of an American Anne of Green Gables, it even has a Marilla.

This book is based on the relationship between Sarah and her physician father. The main character Nan is a woman who feels called to serve others by not marrying but becoming a doctor instead. She has to overcome the confines of society at the time. The book has been listed as an example of the shift in perception of the role of women in society. It has a lot of philosophical elements and heavily Christian.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The charming pastoral setting holds up better than the thin story of a woman called by God to medicine.

[Andie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I had never read a book by Sarah Orne Jewett, so I was glad to be introduced to her through a book group as this book is a remarkable feminist novel for being written in 1884.

Anna Prince is brought to her grandmother's house in Maine by her dying mother, and then is taken to live with the town doctor when her grandmother dies. She is a charming little girl, but serious and bookish and becomes interested in medicine at an early age.

Her interest in medicine increases as she grows older. Although the ladies in the town do not approve of her pursuing such an unladylike profession, she remains adamant in her choice of a vocation and goes off to medical school after high school.

Halfway through her studies, she receives an invitation from her her father's sister, Nancy, to visit in the seaside town of Dunport. Her aunt, who has been sending the doctor checks for her support her whole life has never shown any interest in her niece, but now seems to want to connect with her only living relative. Aunt Nancy is stern and austere, but is quickly charmed by Nan's generous spirit and begins to hope that Nan will marry her protege, George Gerry and settle down in Dunport.

Nan, however, has other ideas. and how she stands up for what she wants would make any feminist today very proud.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has some of the best things about nineteenth century New England literature--the strong sense of landscape/seascape and eloquent language. Jewett was writing about a woman who wanted to become a doctor (and back then, that meant would never get married) and therefore had to prove that this was just as "natural" as a woman wanting to tend to a household. Nan, the future doctor in question, actually does fall in love and have to choose between the two lives, and Jewett crafts her thought process in such a way that it's complex enough to appeal to the contemporary consciousness. It's refreshing, actually, to read a lovely nineteenth century novel written by a woman that DOESN'T end in a marriage. Eat your heart out, Jane Austen.

[Jamieanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Larry Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere, I read that Willa Cather had claimed that Sarah Orne Jewett had been influential in her own development as a writer. Given that old Willa had developed rather nicely—I've read ten Cather books now, and there's not a pig in the bunch—I considered taking a flier on Sarah. Then, I vaguely remembered her name from 11th grade English, and given that Miss Garner, my 11th-grade English teacher, was the first great love of my life, the decision to read Jewett became pretty much a no-brainer. If it's good enough for Cather and Miss Garner, it ought to be more than good enough for the likes of me. And, indeed, it was that. I found this to be a really engaging book.

A young woman shows up on her mother's doorstep, after having been absent for some years, carrying a young child. The young woman expires, but not before requesting the local doctor, Dr. Leslie, become the official guardian of her daughter, Anna Prince. The grandmother brings the girl up for the first few years of her life, with regular check-ins by Dr. Leslie. Anna grows up fairly wild and undisciplined for a few years on her grandmother's farm, developing, thereby, a deep love for the wilds of Maine. After her grandmother dies, she goes to live with Dr. Leslie and takes interest in his work. Eventually she accompanies him on some of his visits, shows interest in and aptitude for doctoring, and determines that she would like to become a country physician herself.

So she studies to be a physician and so forth. And naturally, given that this was published in 1884, most people disapprove. Woman, after all, were created by God to be home makers and to please their husbands. Period. It says so in the Bible. Double Period! (Damn! How come no one told my spouse she had been ordained by God to please me? Ah, the difference a century makes.) So we have this conflict, and wonder how it might resolve. Well, we don't wonder if we've read the book. But, I'm not going to tell you about all the difficulties and self doubts and resolutions and re-resolutions, along with all the trips around the luminous country and visits to simple country folk and meeting a rich, lost aunt after a couple of decades of speculation about her and temptations to embrace old-fashioned "domestic felicity", and so forth. It's worth reading to find out.

This book carries lots of interesting descriptions of the people of Maine at the time and their diversions and interests. A lot of that, of course, involves snooping on the neighbors and engaging in idle gossip. But it is portrayed very realistically and sympathetically by Jewett (I hear echoes of some of my more elderly New Hampshire in-laws and also my Kansas kin). She also takes time to describe the settings of her scenes, the flowers, trees, birds and so forth. Sometimes, excessive descriptive passages can get tedious and boring, such as, for example in Mrs. Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (this, based on my recollection from when I read it on the London Underground back in the dark ages). I didn't find the description of settings and people to be tedious in the least in this book. I'm guessing that means that Sarah Orne Jewett was a much better writer than Mrs. Radcliffe, despite the latter's having influenced the incomparable Jane Austen.

There's also lots of interesting philosophical discussion about the human condition and the place of women in the world and so forth. As I read this book, I realized that it should be popular with feminists (well everyone, it's a good book, and besides, we should all be feminists by now), and wondered how in the hell feminist studies could skip this book (or Anne Brontë's works—much more feminist than her more famous sisters) and instead include Kate Chopin's piece of dreck, The Awakening. Or maybe they don't anymore; but the point remains, Chopin's book is crap and should long ago have been tossed into the dust bin. It should make proper feminists cringe. This book, not at all.

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read one of Mark Twain's books, which was published by Bantam, I looked at the back pages which had a list of other books published by Bantam. That is how I discovered Sarah Orne Jewett. I've never heard of her before and I was surprised and so I decided to get this book by her, 'A Country Doctor'.

A young woman who seems to be very unwell and who is wearing ragged clothes enters a village carrying her baby. She seems to be on her last legs. She somehow manages to get to one particular house. It turns out to be her mother's house. Her mother takes her in and tries to nurse her and calls for the doctor. But this young woman doesn't survive for long and the grandmother takes care of the baby. But at some point the grandmother falls ill and passes away. Before that she gives the guardianship of the baby to the village doctor and the village doctor brings her up like his own daughter. What happens to this baby, our heroine Nan, as she navigates life, forms the rest of the story.

The beginning of the story made me think of George Eliot's 'Silas Marner' and Elizabeth Dejeans' 'Nobody's Child' which have a similar beginning. I loved the main character, Nan. The way she grows up from a child who has nothing to a young woman who wants to become a doctor is beautifully depicted. The way she faces down opposition to her dreams from elders who want her to get married and settle down as a homemaker and as a social butterfly, and how she stands her ground and defies popular expectations is inspiring to read. It is stirring stuff. I loved the doctor, Dr.Leslie. He was a beautiful character. The way he takes Nan under his wing and inspires her to realize her dreams, but at her own pace, in her own way, is very beautiful to read. The way Nan faces the conflict in her heart between conforming to society's expectations and do what everyone else is doing, and pursuing her unconventional dreams despite the stiff opposition by everyone around – this is very beautifully depicted. The way she looks one of the matriarchs in the eye and refuses to stand down and speaks her part – it was a breathtaking scene and it was one of my favourite parts and it gave me goosebumps.

The book seems to have been inspired by Sarah Orne Jewett's own life and the character of Dr.Leslie seems to have been inspired by her own father.

The story starts slowly and the pace is slow till the end. Sarah Orne Jewett's prose is old-fashioned and beautiful. We need to linger on the lines to experience its pleasure.

Sarah Orne Jewett's time overlapped with that of Willa Cather, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe and Edith Wharton, and she was a near exact contemporary of Kate Chopin. She was good friends with Willa Cather. Sarah Orne Jewett's books were popular during her time and readers loved her stories, especially her depiction of the countryside and the independent older women from the countryside who kept the community together. But she is virtually unknown today. It is sad and it is a shame. Because this book of hers is really good. I'm glad I read it.

The book has a beautiful introduction by Paula Blanchard, in which she tells us more about Sarah Orne Jewett's life and her work.

One more last word on the book. I loved the cover. It looks so gorgeous. It looks like an impressionistic painting by Claude Monet. What do you think? Do you like the cover?

Sharing some of my favourite parts from the book. The first one is the first paragraph. It is beautiful, isn't it?

"It had been one of the warm and almost sultry days which sometimes come in November; a maligned month, which is really an epitome of the other eleven, or a sort of index to the whole year's changes of storm and sunshine. The afternoon was like spring, the air was soft and damp, and the buds of the willows had been beguiled into swelling a little, so that there was a bloom over them, and the grass looked as if it had been growing green of late instead of fading steadily. It seemed like a reprieve from the doom of winter, or from even November itself.

The dense and early darkness which usually follows such unseasonable mildness had already begun to cut short the pleasures of this springlike day..."

"...she was regarded by her acquaintances as if she were a dictionary written in some foreign language; immensely valuable, but of no practical use to themselves."

"It is extremely dangerous to make long halts. I could cry with homesickness at the thought of the towns I have spent more than a month in; they are like the people one knows; if you see them once, you go away satisfied, and you can bring them to mind afterward, and think how they looked or just where it was you met them, out of doors or at the club. But if you live with those people, and get fond of them, and have a thousand things to remember, you get more pain than pleasure out of it when you go away. And one can't be everywhere at once, so if you're going to care for things tremendously, you had better stay in one town altogether. No, give me a week or two, and then I've something calling me to the next place; somebody to talk with or a book to see, and off I go."

"Because an old-fashioned town like Oldfields grows so slowly and with such extreme deliberation, is the very reason it seems to have such a delightful completeness when it has entered fairly upon its maturity. It is possessed of kindred virtues to a winter pear, which may be unattractive during its preparatory stages, but which takes time to gather from the ground and from the air a pleasant and rewarding individuality and sweetness. The towns which are built in a hurry can be left in a hurry without a bit of regret..."

Have you read 'A Country Doctor'? What do you think about it? Have you heard of Sarah Orne Jewett before?

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow and meandering: as expected. But it brims with Jewett’s classic ability to bring to life pastoral scenes. Her characters are charming with light touches of realism, and the overall message is passionately and logically worked out over the course of the story.

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it hard to believe that this story was taking place in 1925 - one forgets how different provincial America was outside the cities. I listened to the audiobook of this classic, and was intrigued by the picture the book painted. Especially knowing that this was an autobiographical novel.
It would be nice to think we’d got beyond the ‘woman’s place is in the home’ mentality, but I think it’s still found in a number of places and relationships.
The reader of this book did a wonderful job.

[Dell Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful narrative prose, an artistic masterpiece in the written word.

[HerbieGrandma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 3.5 because the story was good but I did not enjoy her writing style. Nice picture of life at that time for men as well as women.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as The Country of the Pointed Firs but interesting. Looks at how a young girl makes a choice between being a wife or a doctor.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jewett's premise, that not all women are suited for marriage, is a novel one for literature of this time period. It started out well. There are some lovely descriptions of Maine and some interesting character sketches; unfortunately, the main character ended up being nothing more than a vehicle for Jewett's social vision. Nan, the orphan bound for medical school, didn't seem human at times. Her thoughts were wooden as she grew up, her experiences and interactions too limited to make her interesting, and towards the end, everything her and the Doctor who raised her thought sounded like an essay on women's rights. I appreciate what Jewett was trying to do in this novel. I found a lot to ponder. There were many valuable quotes, such as, "It is only those who can do nothing who find nothing to do." I'm glad I read it, but it did end up being a bit boring and I doubt I'll be revisiting it.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, so I have a couple of bones to pick about this book. Please bear with me.
First: This book should either have been longer or shorter. While the author is good, I felt that I did not really get to form my own opinion about Nan. The first half of the book, the reader spends very little time with Nan herself. Instead we are to rely on what others' perceptions of her are. We don't get to really see her for who she is until she goes to Dunport to meet her Aunt Nancy. There are 20 years of this woman's life being covered in 277 pages while other characters are being thrown in. Either it should have been longer, or the author should have cut out the side stuff.
Second: I know that this book is heralded as a women's rights kind of thing but I disagree. Throughout this book, Nan is constantly being put down by different characters for pursuing medicine and not marriage. During the time that this book was written, Florence Nightingale was over in England revolutionizing modern nursing. She did not marry because she wanted to be completely dedicated to her craft. Not because she felt that she had to have one or the other. Additionally, Sarah Orne Jewett was never married. In fact, she had a "Boston Marriage" (an arrangement where two women lived together and both were financially independent from a man). Ms. Jewett tries to make it sound as though a woman must choose between a family and a career which is a frivolous notion even in those times. Therefore, I have concluded that this book is NOT a women's rights novel but rather a reflection of Ms. Jewett's own personal insecurities.
If you are interested in classic American literature then pick this up. If you are interested in women's rights novels, this can be skipped. Over all, I'm glad that I read it but I probably won't read it again.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book as a college sophomore for my American literature course. My beloved professor died last week, so I underwent a re-read in his honor.

Sarah Orne Jewett is always stronger in vibes than plot, so if you are prepared for that, you can enjoy the slow unfolding of the story amidst the beautiful and woodsy New England landscapes she writes.

Further, this book's emphasis on individual calling and choice in profession for women really spoke to me as a young feminist. As a middle-aged feminist, it resonates even more in this current moment.

[Robin Tuthill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like the last person at the party - how have I never read anything by this important American novelist?! Thank goodness I discovered her now, anyway. I loved this book - I lived in the world of rural Maine in the late 1800s every minute of every day I read this book. I loved the setting as much as the internal struggle of the protagonist who is forced to choose between career and marriage because the culture at that time absolutely would now allow for both.

[Andrea Dowd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you want a classic that is feel good and filled with the rough beauty of a Maine coastal village. But with a feminist twist that isn't hijacked by the author feeling forced to send her character into marital bliss (blight).

"A Country Doctor" is a quick, sweet read!

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sadly happy book.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is poop.

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Penny Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began reading this novel around five years ago and was enraptured by the first three chapters: Jewett's three-dimensional characters come to life in carefully crafted dialogue between country neighbors. Brilliant foundation laying of exposition, small town ideals, and character attributes. But the chapters afterwards slow down drastically; there's a lot of "telling" instead of "showing," as entire chapters are devoted to relaying facts or reasons about a character (major and minor), and none of the sharp dialogue or interiority that was showcased in the opening chapters. I found it interesting that the novel is called A Country Doctor; A Doctor's Country would be a more apt title, as Jewett documents meticulous details concerning the flora and fauna, as well as minor characters (e.g. Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Meeker, neighbor women). But save for two isolated incidents--and one of them not even described in real time but relayed by one character to another--and a wrapped up denouement of Nan making house calls in the final chapter, we the reader do not actually see Nan Prince being a doctor. There is a bit more description about her med school life, but even that is scant compared to the volume of detail given to her simply talking about her career.

Nor do we see much struggle with her chosen career until she takes a brief holiday in Dunport; her hometown of Oldfields, where she resides and ultimately practices medicine, gradually accepts her position with no drama and limited controversy. Jewett herself wraps up any hesitation or conflict in a few sentences that more or less detail that everyone eventually came around. In fact, Nan's only real struggles to reconcile her chosen career and deliberate singlehood involved her once-estranged aunt and a "lover" whom we never saw engage in any romantic affair--simply because Nan was never interested. My book copy describes the plot as one in which Nan must choose between marriage and career, but for Nan, it is evident that her desired vocation was never threatened, only defended. It is Jewett's thesis for the unmarried woman professional, and indeed, later dialogues between Nan and the Dunport citizens read like manifestos rather than actual character banter or debate. From the scant little I know of Jewett's own life, I imagine much of this novel was drawn from her own life and decisions and may have used this novel as a vehicle to voice them. It doesn't make for much of a plot, but the writing is heartfelt and engaged and the characters sincere. Whether or not I ever return to this novel, I am glad that I sat down and finally finished this book!

[T.J. Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up

I read "The Country of the Pointed Firs" by Sarah Orne Jewett in my early twenties and really liked it. I remember thinking it felt like an American version of L.M. Montgomery for adults.

Unfortunately, "A Country Doctor" will not be a favorite. It also had a bit of the flavor of L.M. Montgomery, especially in the flowery descriptions of the landscape and the overall gentle tone. (And even some of the plot elements were...oddly familiar. The main character is an orphan named Anna/"Nan" who lives in a house with a strict, sniffy housekeeper named Marilla. There is also a neighborhood gossip character who is a dead ringer for Mrs. Lynde.) (To be clear, "A Country Doctor" was published 25 years before "Anne of Green Gables," so if there was any borrowing of ideas going on, it was not Jewett doing it.)

But "A Country Doctor" has none of the heart or human interest or action of Anne...or any other book I have read recently. It is a glacially slow book that is tragically lacking in meaningful character development. Looking back, just a day after finishing it, I am having trouble understanding how the book could have lasted 300+ pages because so little happened. Other than a lot of philosophical rambling about the meaning of life and what it means to have a calling.

It's a shame because the premise is very promising: Nan decides she wants to be a doctor like her guardian but must fight past her own doubts and the disapproval of the community. (It is the 1880s, after all). But Nan is basically cardboard; you never get to know her at all. (One thing that weirdly frustrated me throughout is that Jewett never tells you her age at any point other than when she is introduced as a toddler. When her guardian says things like "she's becoming quite companionable"...I want to know. Is she 8?? 12? 16??) Towards the end, there is a trumped up "conflict" between Nan's professed calling to be a doctor (a single, unmarried doctor) and a potential romance, except for the romance is completely unbelievable, coming out of nowhere and disappearing just as quickly.

Overall, this book was a chore. The main thing I will remember from this reading experience is my curiosity about whether Montgomery read "A Country Doctor" in her youth and either consciously or unconsciously plagiarized some of it.