Beyond the South End

Summer Reading—Maine Writers,

Guest Blog—Sara Tavares

Sara Sylvester Tavares

I share this blog with my sister, Sara Sylvester Tavares. She has discovered a few Maine writers you may not have heard of before. I will share her comments as well as give you my own additions to the blog.

If you plan to vacation in Maine this summer and would like some suggestions for your summer reading featuring Maine writers, here are some suggestions for you.

Here is Sister Sara’s contribution along with some comments of these authors:

“Sarah Graves, of Eastport, writes a series called “The Home Repair Mysteries.” Descriptions of the area and people are great.”

Sara discovered two more book series about Maine:

“The first Vickie Doudera, author of the series called the “Darby Fair Mysteries.” The author is a real estate agent in Camden who writes these books about an agent who finds dead bodies. (She was featured in Village Soup.) Book was ok, but didn’t recognize the actual area she was writing about.”

“The second one I got free for my kindle and they are called “The Gray Whale Inn Mysteries,” by Karen Maclnerny, about a bed and breakfast on Cranberry Island. Was your basic whodunit but a fun read.”

Of course Sara mentioned a now very famous author, Tess Gerritson, a retired physician who lives in Camden, who wrote the Rizzoli and Isles series which is now a dramatic series on TNT television.

Besides the Rizzoli and Isles series, Gerritson has also written medical thrillers and romance novels. Her Rizzoli and Isles novels include:

The Silent Girl; Ice Cold; The Keepsake; The Mephisto Club; Vanish; Body Double; The Sinner; The Apprentice; and The Surgeon. Look for them wherever books are sold and at the online book sites.

Some information on Gerritson via Wikipedia includes the awards she has won for some of her books. The Surgeon, 2002 Rita Award for best Romantic Suspense Novel; Vanish, 2006 Nero Award for Best Mystery Novel.

She has received approval for her work from James Patterson and Stephen King. King says, “even better than Michael Crichton.” (By the way, King’s latest installment of the “Dark Tower” series, The Wind Through the Keyhole, is now out.)

Sara lives in Camden with her husband Jacob and their two sons.

The most recent discovery I have made is of an older author no longer with us who used to live in several Maine locations with his wife, Iris. His name is Alonzo Gibbs. I haven’t been able to find much in the way of a biography yet, but from what I’ve read of his work so far I believe he grew up in the Long Island, New York area when there were still mashes there.

The book I have read so far is called In The Weir of the Marshes, which was introduced to me by my cousin Mary Sue Weeks. At the time he wrote this small book of essays, he lived within walking distance of the farm in Bremen. One of the stories in the book is about my Aunt Freda and Uncle Carl, who ran that farm, and where I spent much of my summers as a kid. As it is a Christmas story, I’ll bring that to you in December.

He wrote several books and also some poetry as well as young adult books. A few are now out of print, but your best bet is to contact Stone Soup Books of Camden, where I got The Weir of the Marshes. There is a book called Bremen Bygones in his long list of work which I hope to read next.

He writes very poetically, in a way that will put you immediately into the scene he is writing about as the first two sentences of The Weir…will illustrate: “Evening puts a glaze of yellow behind the flimsy houses which lean on stilts at the inshore edge of the wetlands. Between the geometry of silhouetted roofs the cross-trees of telephone poles along some unseen street diminish in the distance.”

If all this is not enough to get you started, Eva Murray, our Matinicus writer, has a second book out later this summer called Island Schoolhouse, One Room for All. Eva used to teach school on the island and now resides there. She also writes articles about the island for Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors. You might want to pick up a copy of that magazine as it has some great Maine stories in it, especially if you are a “boat” person.

I might also suggest that if you haven’t already read it, my novel, The South End, which takes place in the South End of Rockland. It is available at the Reading Corner on Main Street  and at other local bookstores and also at online sites including www.buybooksontheweb.

If you are in Maine, please support your local independent book seller. Oftentimes you will find books there that you will not find at the big box stores. The Reading Corner and the Owl and Turtle in Camden, Personal Book Store in Thomaston to name a few, have many Maine writers to choose from. Stop by and check them out if you are in the area. I’m not sure if Stone Soup Books in Camden has a retail outlet, but if you’re interested their address is 35 Main St., Camden, ME 04843.

The Reading Corner has a Facebook page. Check them out and “like” them if you want to keep up on the latest news at the store.

Thanks for listening.