Set in Vermont Archives - Shawn McCarthy

Northern Borders

New England-based Historical Fiction, Set in the 1940s, Set in Vermont | May 16, 2026 | Leave a Comment

Set in remote Vermont, Howard Frank Mosher’s 2014 novel Northern Borders is a poignant, humorous coming-of-age novel. In 1948, six-year-old Austen Kittredge is sent to live on his grandparents’ hardscrabble hill farm in the wilderness of Lost Nation Hollow. There, he undergoes a remarkable education, spending his next twelve formative years coming of age. Austen’s […]

Northern Borders Read More »

A day No Pigs Would Die

Written in 1972, A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck is a poignant coming-of-age novel set in rural Vermont during the 1920s. It follows twelve-year-old Rob Peck, who matures from a naive, bullied boy into a responsible young man through the harsh realities of farm life, familial sacrifice, and devastating loss. The