Miriam Colwell’s Contentment Cove—her fourth novel set in Maine and her first in more than five decades—is a riveting story of class distinctions in a 1950s Down East coastal village during a time of cultural change. Meet Dot-Fran, Hilary, and Mina, three residents of a Maine coastal village in the 1950s. Dot-Fran, the youngest, is a native; she runs the town’s drug store. Hilary, middle-aged, is a worldly artist. The wealthy Mina and her husband retired to the town after being enchanted with its charm during a one-night visit. Their disparate lives become entwined and eventually clash tragically.
The story—which features recognizable Maine characters as well as those “from away”—takes place over only a matter of days one summer. And while Maine-native Colwell infuses Contentment Cove with humor, it is nonetheless a novel that deals with serious issues that remain relevant today, none more compelling than the erosion of one way of Maine life and the evolution of another.
Miriam Colwell’s Contentment Cove—her fourth novel set in Maine and her first in more than five decades—is a riveting story of class distinctions in a 1950s Down East coastal village during a time of cultural change. Meet Dot-Fran, Hilary, and Mina, three residents of a Maine coastal village in the 1950s. Dot-Fran, the youngest, is a native; she runs the town’s drug store. Hilary, middle-aged, is a worldly artist. The wealthy Mina and her husband retired to the town after being enchanted with its charm during a one-night visit. Their disparate lives become entwined and eventually clash tragically.
The story—which features recognizable Maine characters as well as those “from away”—takes place over only a matter of days one summer. And while Maine-native Colwell infuses Contentment Cove with humor, it is nonetheless a novel that deals with serious issues that remain relevant today, none more compelling than the erosion of one way of Maine life and the evolution of another.
