The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island / Linda Greenlaw

When this book came out nearly ten years ago, it caught my eye. It's one of those books I would have read sooner if I had infinite free time, or perhaps more self-discipline (I probably could have skipped seasons 3, 4, and 5 of "Hell’s Kitchen," for example).

After our brief trip to Acadia National Park this summer (and several meals of lobster quite literally “under our belts”) I decided to read this book to extend my vacation mentality. Back in Atlanta, a good five hours' drive from the salty ocean, and with temps reaching near 100 in early August, it was nice to escape with this book to the small wooded island surrounded by water that’s 55 degrees even in late summer, an island that still supports a fishing community, mostly of lobster fishermen. I’ve been fantasizing what it might be like living in Maine year round, having unlimited access to lobster and wild blueberries, that rugged coastline with crashing waves, a profusion of wildflowers and birch forests.

The book gives snapshots into everyday life on Isle au Haut, a large portion of which forms part of Acadia National Park, but separated from the mainland by seven watery miles, so it avoids the hoards of tourists that descend upon Mount Desert Island. Of course it’s lonely on Isle au Haut, there are eccentric characters you can’t escape from, bad weather, bad fishing, and the normal tragedies, big and small, that plague life everywhere. But there are wonderful things beyond the aforementioned supply of lobster (lobster casserole, and lobster omelets, lobster pasta, lobster bisque…)—a public library that serves 83 residents and lots of reading time, time for family and a sense of community, and beauty of nature in abundance. Greenlaw doesn’t sugarcoat life on Isle au Haut, but I must say it was a delight to escape to her island for a short while, if only via the pages of a book.

Linda Greenlaw is author of The Hungry Ocean.

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