148 ratings | 17 reviews | avg rating:3.68

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Beth Powning

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.powning.com/beth/

Twitter

Beth Powning

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Arts & Photography, Outdoors & Nature

Influences

E. L. Doctorow, teacher and don at Sarah Lawrence College

Member Since

September 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/bdpowning

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Beth Powning was born in Hampton, Connecticut. She attended E.O. Smith High School, and Sarah Lawrence College, where she majored in creative writing. Powning moved to New Brunswick, Canada in 1970.

Powning's work has been widely published in books, anthologies, and magazines. She is known for her lyrical, powerful writing and the profound emotional honesty of her work.

Her latest novel, "The Sister's Tale", will be released by Knopf Canada in both Canada and the US on May 25, 2021. Set in the 1887 maritimes provinces, it includes characters from "The Sea Captain's Wife" and concerns home children, suffragists, and women's rights.

Her 2015 novel, " A Measure of Light", was a Globe and Mail Bestseller, a Globe and Mail Best Book, long-listed ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

I loved The Sea Captain's Wife, and I've been eagerly awaiting a new novel from you! Can you tell us about your new book? Why did you choose to write about Mary Dyer, and did you find it more difficult to write about a real person as opposed to a fictional character?

Beth Powning Hi Mary,
I came across mention of a 17th century Quaker and what happened to her (spoiler alert! I won't say what it was that intrigued me....) My hair…moreHi Mary,
I came across mention of a 17th century Quaker and what happened to her (spoiler alert! I won't say what it was that intrigued me....) My hair stood on end, an actual frisson that runs over my scalp. That's a sign that I'm onto something. I don't think it was really any more difficult to write about a real person, since a great deal is NOT known about Mary, and so I was free to invent. The difficulty in writing a historical novel is making sure all the textural details are correct (what KIND of candles?!), as well as all the surrounding greater events. It slows and interrupts the flow of the first draft (you have to keep looking things up!) I learned so much, which is one of the reasons I love setting my novels in the past. Thanks for the questions!(less)

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Hey Beth, just finished The Sea Captain's wife and really enjoyed it. Just one thing I would suggest. When it goes into the next printing, would you ask your publisher to either put the Glossary of Terms at the beginning of the book or to refer to it at the beginning? It would have made reading (and understanding) a lot easier had I known I could look up the terms right there in the book.

Beth Powning Hi Lori,
That's a great idea. I have had other readers say they were astonished to find the glossary at the end and wished they'd had it. I will most c…moreHi Lori,
That's a great idea. I have had other readers say they were astonished to find the glossary at the end and wished they'd had it. I will most certainly pass this idea on to my publishers!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. I'm working on a new novel right now.
Best wishes,
Beth(less)

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Beth Powning’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 4,814 ratings · 701 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Sea Captain's Wife 3.90 avg rating — 2,403 ratings — published 2010 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sister's Tale 3.72 avg rating — 1,152 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hatbox Letters 3.11 avg rating — 624 ratings — published 2004 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Measure of Light 3.59 avg rating — 380 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life 4.29 avg rating — 97 ratings — published 1996 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year 3.76 avg rating — 62 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow Child: A Woman's Journey Through Childbirth Loss 3.77 avg rating — 60 ratings — published 2000 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	When the Wild Comes Leaping Up: Personal Encounters with Nature by David Suzuki (Editor), Diane Ackerman (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.60 avg rating — 47 ratings — published 2002 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning (Goodreads Author), Martha Irving (Narrator) it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow Child A Womans Journey Through Childbirth Loss 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Beth Powning…

4 posts
Beth Powning's Blog: Other Worlds

People of the Book

I loved "People of the Book", as I've loved everything I've read by Geraldine Brooks. Running beneath the narrative of Hanna, a rare book expert, are the true stories behind tiny objects she finds in the binding of an ancient book: a hair, a blood stain, a butterfly wing. From these objects, stories emerge which the reader is privileged to know and Hanna can only guess at. Set in war-torn Sarajevo Read more of this blog post »

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Published on January 17, 2018 08:55

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Beth is Currently Reading

Beth Powning is currently reading

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

bookshelves: currently-reading

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May 18, 2021 10:14AM

Quotes by Beth Powning (?)

“Everything waits and moves. Our hearts, beating. The stars, wheeling over the spruce trees.”
― Beth Powning, Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year

tags: literary-non-fiction

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“The Sea Letters of Grace F. Ladd, by Louise Nicols;”
― Beth Powning, The Sea Captain's Wife

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“wind cake: a cake in which egg yolks are beaten in water until foamy, then egg whites are beaten until stiff and folded into the batter.”
― Beth Powning, The Sea Captain's Wife

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Polls

June BoTM Nominations ~ 1st Poll ~ Book Set in Canada
Top 5 Books move onto final poll

The River

by Peter Heller

9 votes, 26.5%

Never Knowing

by Chevy Stevens

8 votes, 23.5%

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

by Jim DeFede

6 votes, 17.6%

Canada

by Richard Ford

5 votes, 14.7%

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum

by Michael McCreary

2 votes, 5.9%

Crow Lake

by Mary Lawson

2 votes, 5.9%

The Sea Captain's Wife

by Beth Powning

1 vote, 2.9%

The Shipping News

by Annie Proulx

1 vote, 2.9%

The Blue Castle

by L.M. Montgomery

0 votes, 0.0%

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje

0 votes, 0.0%

34 total votes

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Nothing But Readi...: Level 2 of the Serious Readers Challenge for 2011	252	355	Jan 03, 2012 12:26AM
Historical Fictio...: Around the World Challenge (Aug 1 - Sept 30, 2012) - Report Points Here	118	238	Oct 03, 2012 06:53PM
One Million Pages...: Shay's 1,000,000 pages	752	294	Oct 05, 2012 11:57PM

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Beth’s Quotes

“I see the steam of the chocolate and the plates of blueberry tarts.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

2 likes

“Everything waits and moves. Our hearts, beating. The stars, wheeling over the spruce trees.”
― Beth Powning, Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year

tags: literary-non-fiction

0 likes

Beth’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-2) post a comment »

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message 2: by Beth

Jan 07, 2015 06:33AM

Cider With Rosie
I love this book. It's one I return to when I want to be a child again, seeing the world from that odd, exaggerated, topsy-turvy yet clear perspective.

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message 1: by Beth

Dec 15, 2014 06:30AM

It's so great when you discover a new author. I've just found Jenna Blum. First I read "the stormchasers"; now I'm catching up on "Those Who Save Us," a book about the holocaust which has just been translated into German. Good reads!

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