Tucking into any of Jean Stone’s novels is always comforting, like joining a group of friends you haven’t seen for a while, and are happy to be among again. Even if you haven’t read any of her previous books in the two series set on the Vineyard, Stone’s ability to evoke our beloved home creates a welcoming embrace.
Stone’s first Vineyard-based book came out in 1997, “Places by the Sea.” She recalls, “In 1995, I went to the Vineyard for the long weekend after Thanksgiving, staying at what was then the Daggett House, and started writing. It was one of those magical things that happen when you’re really lucky.” Stone went on to live here for two winters, and then full-time for four years. Little nuggets like the inclusion of Orange Peel Bakery and the railroad car at the Black Dog Café on State Road give the setting for the book an authentic feel.
In her first six-book Vineyard series, the main characters lived on Chappy. In “The Little Bookshop by the Harbor,” the second novel in her up-Island Vineyard series, the drama centers on Maddie Clarke, who lives with her grandmother, Nancy, in Menemsha. Maddie recently moved to the historic fishing village where her late mother was born. In the first novel, Maddie learns that her mother was Wampanoag, making Maddie indigenous on her maternal side.
Maddie and her son, Rafe, are excited to embrace their Wampanoag roots and happily prepare for Cranberry Day, a centuries-old harvest celebration and important cultural holiday. At the concluding feast, Maddie hears about a bait and tackle shop in Menemsha that’s closing, and dreams of opening a bookstore there for residents year-round, along with visitors in the summer. She also wants to sell her Grandma Nancy’s handwoven Wampanoag baskets, which Rafe will also craft, donating the proceeds to benefit Wampanoag kids.
Unsurprisingly for the Vineyard, Maddie has to jump through regulatory hoops to get approval, and faces substantial renovations. Fortunately, she seems to have allies in her father, who comes to stay for a while, and in a friend, Rex, an appealing romantic interest.
As always, Stone delivers unexpected twists and turns as the story unfolds, including a series of threatening anonymous notes Maddie keeps receiving, telling her to get off the Island. On top of that, we occasionally hear Grandma Nancy’s voice, offering hints of the backstory that we begin to piece together as the novel progresses, heightening the tension and mystery surrounding the past.
Asked about the process of coming up with her narrative, Stone says, “I write a synopsis with all the key plot points, so I know where I’m going before I start a book. But how I get there is more freeform. And I don’t presuppose anything about the characters; it’s instinct. I let them evolve.”
Ultimately, she says, “What I want is for readers to feel good, and to feel like they’ve learned something about the Vineyard.”
“The Little Bookshop by the Harbor,” by Jean Stone, available at Edgartown Books.
