Regional writer Jewett fondly relates summers spent at Dunnet's Landing on the coast of Maine. While Dunnet's Landing is a fictional place, it is obviously based on a real town, or perhaps a compilation of towns, that Jewett knew and cherished. These chapters, first published serially in Atlantic Monthly, recall the people and lifestyle of a coastal Maine of an earlier time. The narrator (probably Jewett herself) arrives at the home of her landlady, a kindly widow who has offered room and board for the summer. The narrator grows to love this capable woman, along with the landlady's brother and mother, as they spend time together in conversation, meals, and exploring land and water. While the narrator initially sought a quiet place where she could write in solitude, it's clear that she also cherishes these new friends in her life. Published nearly a century ago, the writing and characterizations feel a bit outdated; yet that is part of its appeal as Jewett describes the quiet Maine coast before all the tourists arrived.
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