The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel
by Anita Diamant
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anita DiamantEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-07-11
ISBN: 0743225740
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Scribner
Accessories:
- Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship, and Other Leaps of Faith
- Good Harbor: A Novel
Book Reviews of The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel
Book Review: "The blue of the sea caught Ruth's eye as she wiped the dirt from her hands and she felt an involuntary shiver of pleasure at be
Summary: 5 Stars
Early 1814 begins the end of an era in a remote village in Massachusetts, its slow passing mourned through the intimate details of fading lives, Diamant's compassionate paean to this distant time and place filled with the wonders of relationships where few words are spoken but much communicated, the bonds as deep and quiet as a long winter waiting for spring. Few of the residents of Dogtown are young, none possessing class or wealth, simply a collection of hardscrabble lives cobbled from an ungenerous earth, a bare-bones society that exists on nature's remnants. It is the author's disposition of these characters that is memorable; save a few ignoble souls, most are simply unfortunates, loosely forming a society destined for obscurity.
Judy Rhines is one of the more significant characters, a woman who has spent her years in servitude to others, finding at last a place among the inhabitants of Dogtown, a spinster who meets her own needs and asks for little; "Even my dreams were full of being told to clean a mess, or haul some more water, or stir a pot." Judy cherishes the friendship of Easter Carter, an older woman who might easily have worn the mantle of "witch" for her healing gifts so near Salem, a burdened history not far removed from Dogtown's poverty. Judy happens upon a short, but forbidden romance with a local man, Cornelius, their mutual comfort cut short by the threat to Judy's reputation and Cornelius's life. Then there is Black Ruth, a freed African come recently to the village on a private mission, her youth tormented by the loss of her mother at birth and her soul hardened by the harsh days of her existence. There are others, kind folks who have not been destroyed by their circumstances, reaching out to one another in innumerable small deeds.
Dogtown is in its last days, slowly decaying, spiraling into the past, no one left to tell the stories of one generation to another. The author writes with precision of those who go unnoticed in any society, revealing the scattered dreams of the dispossessed, endowing them with the dignity of survivors who clearly recognize the randomness of their fates. In their mutual love and real charity, these characters are larger than life, a microcosm of a world where suffering is familiar and a moment of nature's incredible beauty is transcendent for all the lack of human comfort. The depth and subtlety of this novel is an unexpected gift, Diamant proving herself a keen observer of humanity in all its excesses, from the obscene to the sublime. Luan Gaines/2006.
Summary of The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel
Set on the high ground at the heart of Cape Ann, the village of Dogtown is peopled by widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, whores, free Africans, and "witches." Among the inhabitants of this hamlet are Black Ruth, who dresses as a man and works as a stonemason; Mrs. Stanley, an imperious madam whose grandson, Sammy, comes of age in her brothel; Oliver Younger, who survives a miserable childhood at the hands of his aunt; and Cornelius Finson, a freed slave. At the center of it all is Judy Rhines, a fiercely independent soul, deeply lonely, who nonetheless builds a life for herself against all imaginable odds.Rendered in stunning, haunting detail, with Diamant's keen ear for language and profound compassion for her characters, The Last Days of Dogtown is an extraordinary retelling of a long-forgotten chapter of early American life.
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