The Country of the Pointed Firs

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849 - 1909)

The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett’s finest work, described by Henry James as her “beautiful little quantum of achievement.” Despite James’s diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
(summary from Gutenberg e-text)

Genre(s): General Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 The Return / Mrs. Todd Betsie Bush
00:11:20
Play 02 The Schoolhouse Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:05:35
Play 03 At the Schoolhouse Window Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:06:43
Play 04 Captain Littlepage James Smith
00:14:19
Play 05 The Waiting Place Frank
00:13:56
Play 06 The Outer Island Stephan Gambke
00:06:57
Play 07 Green Island Chip
00:21:58
Play 08 William Michael Shook
00:06:58
Play 09 Where Pennyroyal Grew Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
00:10:50
Play 10 The Old Singers Patricia Oakley
00:08:04
Play 11 A Strange Sail Marian Brown
00:13:44
Play 12 Poor Joanna Marian Brown
00:20:15
Play 13 The Hermitage Marian Brown
00:14:14
Play 14 On Shell-heap Island Marian Brown
00:07:58
Play 15 The Great Expedition Patricia Oakley
00:12:40
Play 16 A Country Road Marian Brown
00:13:42
Play 17 The Bowden Reunion Michael Shook
00:26:28
Play 18 The Feast’s End Marian Brown
00:11:51
Play 19 Along Shore Betsie Bush
00:28:31
Play 20 The Backward View Betsie Bush
00:09:20