BookShared
  • MEMBER AREA    
  • Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America

    (By Gigi Georges)

    Book Cover Watermark PDF Icon Read Ebook
    ×
    Size 20 MB (20,079 KB)
    Format PDF
    Downloaded 570 times
    Last checked 7 Hour ago!
    Author Gigi Georges
    “Book Descriptions: In this captivating and empathetic book, Gigi Georges follows five girls as they come of age in one of the most challenging and geographically isolated regions on the Eastern seaboard. Their stories transform our understanding of life in small towns and offer hope for the future of rural America.

    Nestled in Maine’s far northeast corner, Washington County sits an hour’s drive from the heart of famed and bustling Acadia National Park. Yet it’s a world away. For Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie—five teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region—it is home. Downeast follows their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times, creating a nuanced and unique portrait of rural America with women at its center.

    Willow lives in the shadow of an abusive, drug-addicted father and searches for stability through photography and love. Vivian, a gifted writer, feels stifled by her church and town, and struggles to break free without severing family ties. Mckenna is a softball pitching phenom whose passion is the lobster-fishing she learned at her father’s knee. Audrey is a beloved high school basketball star who earns a coveted college scholarship but questions her chosen path. Josie, a Yale-bound valedictorian, is determined to take the world by storm. 

    All five girls know the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction.  As the girls reach adulthood, they discover that despite significant challenges, there is much to celebrate in “the valley of the overlooked.” Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature’s rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home.

    Revealed through the eyes of Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie, Downeast is based on four years of intimate reporting. The result is a beautifully rendered, emotionally startling, and vital book. Downeast will break readers’ hearts yet offer them hope, providing answers to what the future may hold for rural America.”

    Google Drive Logo DRIVE
    Book 1

    Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains

    ★★★★★

    Kerri Arsenault

    Book 1

    The Midcoast

    ★★★★★

    Adam White

    Book 1

    Night of the Living Rez

    ★★★★★

    Morgan Talty

    Book 1

    Lungfish

    ★★★★★

    Meghan Gilliss

    Book 1

    The Road to Dalton (Dalton, Maine, #1)

    ★★★★★

    Shannon Bowring

    Book 1

    Northeaster: A Story of Courage and Survival in the Blizzard of 1952

    ★★★★★

    Cathie Pelletier

    Book 1

    Margreete's Harbor

    ★★★★★

    Eleanor Morse

    Book 1

    Almost, Maine

    ★★★★★

    John Cariani

    Book 1

    How to Read a Book

    ★★★★★

    Monica Wood

    Book 1

    Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty

    ★★★★★

    Joanne Samuel Goldblum

    Book 1

    When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine

    ★★★★★

    Monica Wood

    Book 1

    Second Chances: A Marine, His Dog, and Finding Redemption

    ★★★★★

    Craig Grossi

    Book 1

    The Berry Pickers

    ★★★★★

    Amanda Peters

    Book 1

    Maine, A Love Story

    ★★★★★

    Blue Butterfield

    Book 1

    Death in Acadia and Other Misadventures in Maine's National Park

    ★★★★★

    Randi Minetor

    Book 1

    My Only Story: A Novel

    ★★★★★

    Monica Wood

    Book 1

    Bill Warrington's Last Chance

    ★★★★★

    James King