Marshall Highet and Bird Jones transport us back to the Prohibition era on our beloved Island in their new book, “The Washashore.” The compelling tale for young adults and adults is a seamless blend of historical fiction, coming-of-age drama, and murder mystery set on Martha’s Vineyard in 1929.
Sixteen-year-old Emily has just come ashore after her mother’s recent death to live with her Aunt Isabel in an elegant, awe-inspiringly modern house equipped with luxuries such as indoor toilets and telephones. Life on this seafaring Island is a far cry from that in Emily’s Nebraska home. Exhausted after her long journey and fresh off the boat, Emily is unsteady on her feet: “She was a farm girl, and she could handle herself around foaling mares and dust storms. Crossing a storm-wracked Buzzards Bay on a ferry alone was another matter altogether.”
Bridget and Pat, who work at the house, warmly welcome Emily, but Aunt Isabel certainly does not at their first meeting. “Trailing into the room after Bridget, Emily snapped her eyes ahead of her, and into the steel-trap gaze of Mrs. Isabel Hewett. Emily closed her slightly gaping mouth and brought her shoulders back. Aunt Isabel appraised her unflinchingly, immobile as a statue in a museum.”
Isabel announces that she will call Emily by her middle name, Frances, which Emily says she dislikes. “I’m not particularly invested in which name you are fond of,” is Isabel’s retort. We later learn that Emily was Isabel’s deceased daughter, who went out to sea and never returned.
Echoes of this tragedy surface almost immediately when, during the first meeting, Isabel receives a call informing her that her old friend Ann Simpson is lost at sea, despite being an expert sailor. When Ann turns up dead, Isabel firmly believes that it’s foul play.
This, then, is where the Prohibition-era setting comes into play, introducing possible suspects. Jones, who conducts extensive historical research for the writing partners’ endeavors, explains in an interview, “The Vineyard, an island seven miles off Massachusetts, was only accessible by boat during the 1920s Prohibition. The Vineyard’s mariners were some of the best boat handlers in New England, which also made them the best rumrunners.” We learn in the book’s preface that life as a fisherman in the 1920s was not easy or lucrative, and thus many turned to illegal activity. “Rumrunners, at least at the start in the Elizabeth Islands, were the good guys. They were not highwaymen or gangsters, but fishermen, extraordinary boat handlers, and superb navigators. Their exploits demonstrated nerves of steel and enough daring and righteous indignation to satisfy the likes of Han Solo.”
But as the story progresses, we meet plenty of not-so-benign characters involved in organized crime. With Emily’s no-nonsense grit and smarts, Isabel soon recruits her niece to help solve the mystery of Ann’s death, leading to a rip-roaring adventure that will likely keep you guessing until the end.
Highet and Jones write vividly. For those familiar with the Vineyard, “The Washashore” offers a charming glimpse into the past, allowing us to see landmarks through Emily’s eyes nearly a century ago, including Edgartown Harbor and the exclusive Starbuck Neck peninsula. The authors also populate the tale with evocative facts that play an essential role in the story. There’s Thankful Downs, a Vineyard telephone operator; Dreamland, a large building that housed a movie theater and dancehall, and also hosted boxing matches; and the first barn owl sighting on the Island.
Both Jones and Highet have Vineyard connections. Highet graduated from the Edgartown School and Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, and Jones, with her deep New England roots, is a sailor and says, “The Vineyard harbor is one of my favorites.”
Jones explains about the initial research for the novel, “We cast a very wide net in the beginning, to learn as much as possible and see what bits and pieces are worth drilling down. What struck both of us was the unintended consequences of Prohibition, especially in places like the Vineyard. It didn’t take us very long to get a wonderful cast of real characters. Rumrunning produced some charismatic and extraordinary folks.”
Highet adds, “[‘The Washashore’] is my love letter to the Island, one of my favorite places on the planet. I hope we did all right.”
“The Washashore,” by Marshall Highet and Bird Jones, is available at Edgartown Books.
