Books

"Thickafog by Caleb Mason is insightful and beautifully written. There was so much I liked about this novel, including the description of the island and how up-to-date the author is about all sorts of things."

-- Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

 PUBLISHER INFO HERE

When her great-granddaughter's prayer is answered, legendary blues singer Mabel Johnson becomes young again for one week of musical and romantic adventures in this uplifting novel. PUBLISHER INFO HERE

The first volume of the Normal Family Trilogy, Normal Family is set entirely over four holidays in 1968 among a family of writers and intellectuals in decline. Told from the first-person perspective of a ten-year-old boy, Henry Pendergast, we see how adults behaving badly affects the children. Simultaneously hilarious and sad, the novel reveals how social change is always in motion.  PUBLISHER PAGE HERE.

The second volume of the trilogy jumps ahead to when Henry is middle-aged and dealing with the demise of his father and brilliant older brother. Told mostly in the omniscient point-of-view, and bouncing back and forth through time to paint the full picture, we see how far the family has fallen from their previous times of wealth, and how the lives of others have changed over the many years.  PUBLISHER PAGE HERE. 

The concluding volume brings the family together for Henry's 80th birthday on a remote New England island as a hurricane approaches. The cast of octogenarians is going strong, fueled by love, healing, and perseverance.  We see Henry as a grandfather imparting his wisdom as his grandfather did in Normal Family. PUBLISHER PAGE HERE. 

A partial facsimile edition of an original handmade daybook presented to the American musician William Mason in 1900 for his 80th birthday. Contributors include Impressionist painter Childe Hassam, who painted at the Isles of Shoals for years; poet Celia Thaxter, whose magnificent garden was the subject for some of Hassam's best-loved paintings; and composer Edward MacDowell. But less about who was there and more about the friendships made, by the end of the year we feel we were there. BUY HERE.