Imaginary Line: Life on an Unfinished Border

by Jacques Poitras

Once, a single francophone settlement shared both sides of the Saint John River, until a political trade-off between countries split it down the middle. From that inauspicious start, the Maine-New Brunswick border, the first boundary to be drawn between the two nations, has served as a microcosm for Canada-U.S. relations.

For centuries, friends, lovers, schemers and smugglers have reached across the line. Now, post-9/11, mounting political paranoia has led to a sharp divide, disrupting the lives and welfare of nearby residents. An elderly Canadian couple's driveway touches the border, leading to a Kafkaesque overreaction by Homeland Security. The Tea Party political movement advocates complete border shutdown. Once friendly neighbors have become increasingly isolated from each other.

In this timely exploration, Jacques Poitras travels the length of the border, from Madawaska and Aroostook counties through Passamaquoddy Bay to a tiny island still in dispute to uncover the arbitrarily drawn line that shouldn't be there, almost wasn't there, and can be difficult to find even when it is there. The stakes are high as New Brunswick and Maine re-imagine their relationship for the 21st century and communities strive to stay together despite the best efforts of parochial politicians, protectionists, and overzealous border officials.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, History

342 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

JACQUES POITRAS is a journalist and author of five books of non-fiction, including Irving vs. Irving: Canada's Feuding Billionaires and the Stories They Won't Tell, a national best-seller shortlisted for the National Business Book Award; and Pipe Dreams: The Fight for Canada's Energy Future, shortlisted for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and the John W. Dafoe Book Prize. He is also the author of The Right Fight: Bernard Lord and the Conservative Dilemma, Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy, and Imaginary Line: Life on an Unfinished Border. Poitras lives in Fredericton and has been the provincial affairs reporter for CBC News in New Brunswick since 2000.

Reviews

[Mike Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chanced upon this book while vacationing on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. It looked interesting, and it was. This history of the U.S.- Canada border where Maine meets New Brunswick engagingly covers early explorers, British Loyalists re-locating because of the American Revolution, the diplomacy of border disputes, the fascinating concept of "Atlantica" and the impact of post-9/11 security measures on people who live on both sides of the imaginary line. Author Poitras is an excellent writer.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Nonfiction, Canadian)

The author recounts life in New Brunswick Canada living near the somewhat porous border with Maine USA.

Estcourt is unique: part of the community is in Québec, but the other part is at the northernmost tip of Maine, though cut off from the rest of the state by vast forests. There are no public American roads leading to Estcourt, which means that U.S. residents rely on Québec for access to electricity, telephone service, and road links to the outside world.

I’ve always thought, looking at a map of North America, that Maine should be part of Canada, sticking up the way it does well past the 49th parallel that forms most of the border across the continent. In Imaginary Line, Poitras recounts the history of land division that gave Maine to the USA and New Brunswick to Canada, and reveals the error of my thinking.

Why is this border “unfinished”? Because of a small island in the mouth of the Penobscot River that both countries claim, but neither will relinquish.

Very interesting – to both Canadians and Americans, I would think.

3½ stars

[Ben Conoley · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are lots of things that we look at every day and don’t consider. Like laundry. Also, like the border.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF page 61

[Rosamund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderfully informative. Since I've been living in Quebec - and not at all far from some of the places Poitras describes in the book - I've often wondered how these bizarre border areas are managed and whether the people living around them mind too much. This answered a lot of my questions, and I appreciated especially the interviews with real inhabitants of the valleys of the St John and St Croix rivers. It also brought to light political movements you'd just never usually imagine existed. Now I hope I can make trips to Grand Manan Island and Machias Seal Island sometime.

[Joyce]

It might be a little dry for those who do not have a relationship with the subject matter. Having lived on the border in Houlton most of my life and having relatives in Vanceboro and near Calais, I enjoyed his movement along the border from the top of Maine to the Easternmost spot in the U.S.

I found it interesting how the northern border negotiations unfolded and the politics of the day that influenced the final outcome.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the sentence structure and writing were a bit muddy at times, this is a must-read for anyone living in Maine or Maritime Canada. It talks exclusively about the "undefended" border between the US and Canada, and how the people in Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec, etc., are affected by policies enacted in Washington DC and Ottawa. Did you know that there is still an island claimed by both the US and Canada? You would if you read this book!

[Mélissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great political and historical read. Loved the personal accounts from people living on the New Brunswick-Maine border, young and old, Canadian and American.

The border was determined geographically, but it fails to take into account human lives in the communities surrounding it.

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very invigorating lively book..very informative and thougt provoking.