The Northern Reach

In W.S. Winslow\’s inventive and original debut novel, The Northern Reach, the author weaves together tales of four Maine families who have been entwined, both legally and literally, over the course of a century. What a joy to read a book that dwells quite a bit on…death? Yes, because Winslow is a genius at showing death in all its facets – most of them brilliantly unexpected – and often hilarious. But don\’t be deceived, the author explores other deaths: the death of a town that really never got its land legs; the death of relationships strained by distance or not enough of it; the death of businesses, fortunes reliant on a belligerent ocean; and the death of an entire culture that may never fully recover – and, in some cases, shouldn\’t. In illustrating these deaths; however, Winslow truly examines the living and their relationship with death, or just the finality of things, in general. In the end, the ninth-generation Mainer left me wondering what these families\’ stories will be in another hundred years. Hopefully, we won\’t have to wait too long to learn more about these sometimes dreadfully sad, dreadfully drunk, dreadfully dry and dreadfully funny Mainers who have worked their way into my heart. A fairly short novel, I could see this being a wonderful book club title because there is so much more going on here than mere plot. Winslow is best at character, setting and theme development, along with writing wildly interesting stories about the people she knows so well, including the State of Maine, which reigns over the book as its most present and enigmatic protagonist. I expect that I will read this novel many times in the future, but wonder if it will ever haunt me less? Yes, I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I\’ve already ordered copies for friends and relatives; it\’s that good.

This book grabbed me right from the first page and wouldn\’t let go. And that\’s quite a statement because even though this is a novel, it reads more like interconnected short stories. Each new chapter begins a tale about new characters in a different time period, so the fact that I was riveted to the bookeven with all the sudden starts and stops inherent in short storiessays so much about the extraordinary writing of author W.S. Winslow. This is the story of several families living in Wellbridge, a very small town on the wild coast of Maine, that takes place over a 100-year period. Each chapter begins with a genealogical chart of the characters who are about to be portrayed. On top of that chart is the year in which that chapter takes place. These clues are really important for threading all the pieces together. The book begins in 1977, but then jumps back to 1904 and continues chronologically from there to 2017. Life is hard. The weather is hard. The people are hard. There are devastating secrets. There are reprisals and betrayals. Each chapter is a thin slice of lifea deep dive into the microcosm with the end result being an overview of the macrocosm: one night of a mother\’s hallucinatory grief over her son, a dinner party, a phone conversation between two sisters, a funeral (which is really quite funny), a death that is told from the point of view of the one who is dying, two days in the life of a woman trying to heal after divorce ended her 30-year marriage. All of these stories ring true and real, and each one is imminently engrossing to read. This novel is fierce, intelligent and emotionally resonant with vivid characters that are so real they seemingly pop off the page. \”The Northern Reach\” is serious literary fiction at its finest.

I am drawn to stories that take place in Maine. I have no idea why, but this book drew me in and kept me there. Multi-generational stories can be long and drawn out, but The Northern Reach doesn\’t delve into every single detail of every single family. Instead it takes us into pieces of their lives. These pieces are then intertwined with one another. The family tree at the beginning of each chapter kept me easily connected, and I traveled through the paths of these unique families with anticipation. Ms. Winslow\’s writing style captured me. Her descriptions of the people, the places, the emotions were all done in a marvelous way resulting in a book that I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys good literary fiction and stories about people and their lives.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: This book is an incisive character study that follows several extended families through life and death in coastal Maine. THAT SAID: It\’s told through internal and external dialogue. The land, sea, and everything that takes place, is filtered through the observations, experiences, and prejudices of the many narrators. There are no dispassionate or detached characters, no single voice. BETTER STILL: This novel is unhurried. It felt slow at first. But it didn\’t take long for the various personalities and events to earn my interest and attention. IN BRIEF: Here\’s a delicate, personal, attentive novel about down-to-Earth characters in a believable place, struggling through relatable lives. There are even a few laughs and very unexpected turns.

Although the writing style and characterization are excellent, there are far, far too many characters and time periods to keep track of. It is confusing, even with frequent consulting of the many family trees. There is so much to love in this book but about 80% of the way through It was too much work to sort it out and I reluctantly gave up trying to finish it.

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