Set in 1954, Dennis Lehane’s psychological thriller Shutter Island follows U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, as they arrive at Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on a remote island in Boston Harbor. Their mission is to investigate the impossible disappearance of patient Rachel Solando, who vanished from a locked […]
Tinkers, written in 2009, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel by Paul Harding. It’s a lyrical, meditative exploration of memory, mortality, and the generational bonds between a dying man and his itinerant father. The narrative is not strictly linear, instead functioning as a collection of fragmented memories and sensory experiences that collapse the constraints of
Set in the mid-1600s on Martha’s Vineyard (known then as Noepe) Geraldine Brooks’s Caleb’s Crossing is a work of historical fiction inspired by the true story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. The novel is narrated by Bethia Mayfield, a curious and spirited Puritan girl who defies the rigid
The Hearth and Eagle, written by Anya Seton in 1948, is an ambitious historical novel that chronicles the life of Hesper Honeywood, a passionate, headstrong woman living in the rugged fishing town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. The novel serves as both a personal saga of love and tragedy and a historical narrative of a New England
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Laurie Lico Albanese’s 2022 historical novel, Hester, is an agreeable reimagining of the origin story behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter. Set in the early 1800s, it focuses on whether there was a real-life inspiration for Hester Prynne. The character of Isobel Gamble fills that void. Imagining her as a talented Scottish immigrant the
Technically this is a play, not a novel. But it very much can be read and enjoyed like a book. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, written in 1953, is a powerful dramatic work set against the backdrop of the Salem witch trials of 1692. It was written as a direct allegory for the anti-communist “Red Scare”
This is a memorable story that can, at times, be dirty, sappy, and heavily nostalgic. It also paints a fascinating picture of the New England home-front in the war-ravaged year 1942. One could also argue about whether this quasi-novel belongs on our list of New England based novels, because it’s based on the semi-autobiographical screenplay
Esther Forbes’s Johnny Tremain is a coming‑of‑age historical novel set in the charged atmosphere of pre‑Revolutionary Boston. It follows the transformation of a proud, talented young apprentice silversmith into a committed participant in the struggle for American independence. Through Johnny’s personal trials and encounters with key historical events, Forbes blends fiction and history to illuminate
Kathleen Kent’s The Heretic’s Daughter is an interesting take on the Salem witch trials. It is told through the eyes of a young girl caught in the storm of fear, suspicion, and betrayal that unfolded during that time period, which lasted from February 1692 through May 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Written in 2008, the novel
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