Bonus: Stern Men

Penguin

Stern Men
Elizabeth Gilbert
2009

The Summary
Ruth Thomas has spent her life bouncing between the islands of her birth and the mainland where Lanford Ellis, owner of a vast fortune and financial backbone of the island, has decreed she will go to school.

Now, at eighteen, Ruth has returned to Fort Niles Island and she stands at a crossroads:  will she stay on the tiny islands she's always considered home, or will she return to the mainland where everyone else seems to think she belongs?

The Good
Stern Men is an intriguing blend of lobsterman history and storytelling.  Although the story is primarily about Ruth Thomas, her struggle to acclimate to the mainland and find her place back on the islands, it also focuses on the history of Fort Niles and Courne Haven and, more importantly, their future.

Ruth is a complicated character.  She's tough (a trait she gained from living on the island as a child), she's smart, and she's commanding when she wants to be; however, she's unexpectedly timid when it comes to confrontation, especially with Lanford Ellis and Cal Cooley, and she's sometimes difficult to pinpoint emotionally.

She's a puzzling character and she's an intriguing heroine, but I enjoyed her story and I was always interested to learn more.  In particular, I was interested in seeing where her relationships on Fort Niles and Courne Haven would lead, especially her romantic interest in Owney Wishnell who, like Ruth, had his entire life planned out by relatives.

The Bad
The hardened lobstermen and citizens of Fort Niles and Courne Haven are rather difficult to connect to on an emotional level, especially if you're unfamiliar with the rough and rugged Mainer attitude they possess.  For me, I sometimes thought they seemed harsh, even cruel, but I realized it's simply who they are and how they were raised.

Regardless, I had a difficult time relating to and connecting with characters, which made my reading experience a little less enjoyable than it could have been.

The Ugly
As a rule, life can be rather ugly, but a lobsterman's life particularly so when a war for territory is happening.  It's something that even Ruth and the other citizens of Fort Niles can't seem to avoid.  (As an aside, I was bothered by the fact that Ruth is seemingly targeted at every turn.  It's alarming sometimes the designs that others have upon her.)