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The Country of the Pointed Firs

And Other Stories

Author Sarah Orne Jewett
Preface by Willa Cather
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Paperback
$20.00 US
Knopf | Anchor
5.19"W x 7.97"H x 0.74"D  
On sale Feb 11, 1954 | 320 Pages | 9780385092142
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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Sarah Orne Jewett’s place in American letters was assured when this acclaimed collection of stories about her native state of Maine was first published in 1896. Her crisp style and skillful observation of people and places gives her work lasting appeal.

The Country of the Pointed Firs tells a story spanning three months’ time in the life of a small coastal town called Dunnet Landing in nineteenth-century Maine. A lone female visitor arrives and finds lodging with the widowed Mrs. Todd, the town’s herbalist, who introduces the visitor to many of the town’s inhabitants. The visitor’s impressions of the people she meets start out simply, and then almost invisibly they crescendo into a deep, intense human portrait.

“If I were to name the three American books which have the possiblity of a long, long life, I would say at once The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Country of the Pointed Firs. I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely. The latter book seems to me fairly to shine with the reflection of its long, joyous future. It is so tightly, yet so lightly built, so little encumbered with heavy materialism that deteriorates and grows old-fashioned. I like to think with pleasure with what a sense of rich discovery the young student of Amerian literature in far distant years to come will take this book up and say, ‘A masterpiece!’ as proudly as if he himself had made it.” —From the Preface by Willa Cather
Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) was a novelist, short story writer, and poet. As a young child she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and was encouraged to take frequent walks, falling in love with nature as a result. At nineteen, Jewett had a short story published in The Atlantic; her reputation grew with the publication of her novels A Country Doctor and The Country of the Pointed Firs. For most of her adult life, Jewett lived with her close friend, Annie Adams Field, in what was then termed a “Boston marriage.” Jewett died in 1909. View titles by Sarah Orne Jewett
Preface by Willa Cather

The Country of the Pointed Firs

The White Heron

The Flight of Betsey Lane

The Dulham Ladies

Going to Shrewsbury

The Only Rose

Miss Tempy’s Watchers

Martha’s Lady

The Guests of Mrs. Timms

The Town Poor

The Hiltons’ Holiday

Aunt Cynthy Dallett

About

Sarah Orne Jewett’s place in American letters was assured when this acclaimed collection of stories about her native state of Maine was first published in 1896. Her crisp style and skillful observation of people and places gives her work lasting appeal.

The Country of the Pointed Firs tells a story spanning three months’ time in the life of a small coastal town called Dunnet Landing in nineteenth-century Maine. A lone female visitor arrives and finds lodging with the widowed Mrs. Todd, the town’s herbalist, who introduces the visitor to many of the town’s inhabitants. The visitor’s impressions of the people she meets start out simply, and then almost invisibly they crescendo into a deep, intense human portrait.

“If I were to name the three American books which have the possiblity of a long, long life, I would say at once The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Country of the Pointed Firs. I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely. The latter book seems to me fairly to shine with the reflection of its long, joyous future. It is so tightly, yet so lightly built, so little encumbered with heavy materialism that deteriorates and grows old-fashioned. I like to think with pleasure with what a sense of rich discovery the young student of Amerian literature in far distant years to come will take this book up and say, ‘A masterpiece!’ as proudly as if he himself had made it.” —From the Preface by Willa Cather

Author

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) was a novelist, short story writer, and poet. As a young child she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and was encouraged to take frequent walks, falling in love with nature as a result. At nineteen, Jewett had a short story published in The Atlantic; her reputation grew with the publication of her novels A Country Doctor and The Country of the Pointed Firs. For most of her adult life, Jewett lived with her close friend, Annie Adams Field, in what was then termed a “Boston marriage.” Jewett died in 1909. View titles by Sarah Orne Jewett

Table of Contents

Preface by Willa Cather

The Country of the Pointed Firs

The White Heron

The Flight of Betsey Lane

The Dulham Ladies

Going to Shrewsbury

The Only Rose

Miss Tempy’s Watchers

Martha’s Lady

The Guests of Mrs. Timms

The Town Poor

The Hiltons’ Holiday

Aunt Cynthy Dallett

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