The original cover image (at left) features the Bowdoin Mill in Topsham, across the river from Brunswick. The novel is set in a former mill town like Brunswick, except with greater economic hardships. The narrative has a linear and predictable plot, but it is still impressive for a first book. She was forty-one years old when Amy and Isabelle (1998) was published.Īmy and Isabelle is a disturbing tale of a teenaged girl having an affair with her teacher while her relationship with her mother deteriorates.
Even after those publications, it took her a couple of years to find an agent and a publisher for her first book. She suffered through years of rejection before her stories were printed in literary journals and in magazines. Kate agreed, “This isn’t just Maine but my Maine.”ĭespite her phenomenal talent, Elizabeth’s road to publication was long. Elizabeth captures the quality of small town life better than any other author I’ve ever read. She was born in Portland and was raised in Maine and in New Hampshire. Elizabeth gave me permission to share my synopsis with you.Īlthough Elizabeth resides most of the year in New York City, she is a genuine Mainer: eight generations on one side and ten on the other. She said that libraries are the “fireplace of a town.” Children’s book editor and author, Kate Egan moderated the discussion. The author spoke last Sunday to a group of library volunteers in my town of Brunswick, the place which inspired her work of fiction. I first blogged about Olive in 2009 after this novel of interlocking stories won the Pulitzer Prize. You’ll want to read it more than once and to share it with others. If you haven’t read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, go buy a copy now.
Sunrise from by backyard, Brunswick, Maine
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