Book Lovers’ New England: A Guide to Literary Landmarks by Sheila Moeschen

Reviewed by Jeanne

I love seeing the places where writers lived and worked, so I’ve seen many of these types of books and enjoyed them all.  This one, however, has to rank among my favorites.  It’s not the area of the country or the writers selected that has me so enthralled, but the content.  To be honest, most of these sorts of books assume you are well acquainted with the subject, so the entries rattle off a few titles, maybe give the reader a sentence or two about the author’s birth and, if applicable, death, and a small photo or two of the sites. The emphasis is on quantity:  how many authors and how much ground can we cover in one book?

Book Lovers’ New England is more likely to devote several pages to each author, giving more attention to the author’s life than individual works, and providing several high-quality photos for each section. States covered are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.  Authors profiled include both living and dead, contemporary and historical. At the end of each section there’s a list of other authors in the state not profiled.  The selection of authors covers most genres, including children’s books, poetry, non-fiction, literary fiction, and drama.

I was delighted by the selections, some of which were a bit unexpected:  Rudyard Kipling, for example.  The British author lived in Brattleboro, Vermont with his young family for several years, writing some of his best-known works including The Jungle Book.  Then an unpleasant incident forced them to leave—and greater tragedy awaited. The house and other buildings are managed by Landmark Trust USA and are available for rental.

Shirley Jackson was another Vermont resident. Born in California, she went to college in the East where she met her future husband. He took a job at a college in Bennington, and Shirley set up housekeeping—and writing, including her short story “The Lottery” which was not well received.  In fact, a flood of hate mail ensued, including an angry letter from Shirley’s own mother. The house is a private residence but Jackson made mention of several local landmarks in her writing.

One home that is a museum is Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord.  While Louisa’s father Bronson Alcott was a philosopher and educator, neither occupation brought in much money.  It was left up to Louisa’s mother, Abigail, to keep the family fed and housed. Louisa’s writing began as a way to earn money, and to help take care of the family.  Little Women was written at the behest of a magazine editor who wanted her to write something for girls, at which Louisa protested to a friend that she didn’t know any girls other than her sisters.

Other writers are Emily Dickinson, Dr. Seuss, Edith Wharton, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Wallace Stevens, Noah Webster, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Roger Williams, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, John Irving, J.D. Salinger, Bill Bryson, Thornton Wilder, Robert Frost (twice, for two different places), Rachel Carson, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Stephen King.

Moeschen writes well and knowledgeably.  She does an excellent job of delivering much information in a relatively small space.   The book is fascinating, entertaining, and memorable.  The photos are stunning.  I highly recommend it!