Silas Crockett

Maine novels #2

by Mary Ellen Chase

Silas Crockett traces life on the Maine coast through four generations of a seafaring family. This is a one-hundred-year epic filled with vibrant descriptions of the sweeping cultural, economic, and philosophical changes that washed over Maine. Mary Ellen Chase weaves wonderful historical detail with engaging characters so readers understand what it was like for a young wife to join her husband on a months-long trade voyage in 1830, and for a man raised in the tradition of seafaring forced to choose between leaving home for a long voyage or undertaking a risky, but shorter and more lucrative one. Chase draws her characters sharply and provides a voice to the everyday concerns and cares of people who lived and died by the sea. Written in 1935, Silas Crockett remains an important piece of literature for anyone who wishes to understand the rich maritime history of Maine.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

American educator, teacher, scholar, and author regarded as one of the most important regional literary figures of the early twentieth century.

Mary Ellen Chase received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota where she served as an assistant professor from 1922 to 1926. She taught at Smith College starting in 1926 until her retirement in 1955.

Chase wrote more than 30 books, many using her cherished Maine heritage as the setting, capturing the unique spirit and chronicling a way of life for generations. Her most famous of these works include Mary Peters, Silas Crockett, Windswept, and Edge of Darkness.

Reviews

[Caitlin Furey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this book!! Is it because I visited Maine earlier this summer and LOVED it? Unclear. Of course, I wish I had read before going to Maine (sorry, Dad!). But this was just a nice old-fashioned novel. It was super interesting learning about the history of Maine's economy by tracing through four generations of a family starting in the early 1800s. There are also a couple of STRONG/POWERFUL women characters which make up for the focus being on the four generations of sons. I learned that back in the day, womenfolk considered it a blessing when men were at sea for 9-month voyages when it came time to deliver a baby..... because as they said, the men just got in the way! LOL very unfortunate for those long-ago ladies.

[Susan K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this book. It gives a very interesting context to the old home in Searsport along Rt 1 that is no longer there following many years of disrepair.

I love the gentle form of writing in the book (I reminds me of The Country of Pointed Firs).

[Snorri Sturluson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This won't be much of a discussion of "Silas Crockett" - just an attempt to get this going-on-two-years-overdue review out of my brain's nag center. Then I might be able to try this reviewing on a regular basis. Silas Crockett is an episodic novel, the episodes being portions of the lives of four succeeding generations of a Maine family. Ms. Chase's goal was to use the change in one family's fortunes as the metaphor (not the best term -help me out, readers) for the change in the cultural and economic life of coastal Maine from the second or third decade of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. In brief, that change was from a romantic prosperity based on commercial sailing through the gritty business of operating steam-powered vessels to a reasonably comfortable, if banal, existence based on tourism. Clearly, she did not consider this transformation a good thing (as a certain modern summer visitor to Maine's coast might say). It happened that not long after I finished "Silas Crockett" I read "The Leopard" by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. That book takes a journey similar to Ms. Chase's, using the changes in fortune of a noble Sicilian family to parallel the 19th century transformation of Italy from a feudal to a modern state. As does Ms. Chase, Dottore Lampedusa sees this transformation as a cultural decline.
I recommend both books.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written in sweet, sentimental prose. This book is about the passage of time and the great, romantic age of sail--how it diminished, evolved, and slipped into the past. The subject of New England and its sailing history is a favorite of mine, and Chase illustrated it in vivid, tangible detail.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

So great to enjoy this Maine classic! Enduring prose, insightful themes, a lovely summer read.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars ⭐

[Trish Remley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book maybe not quite as much as Windswept, but close. I learned so much about the shipping/exploration period over the course of 100 years (1830-1930). I can vividly picture her landscapes/towns/homes based on her excellent descriptions. I really like how Chase explores her characters and you definitely know not everything is going to turn out rosey as not everything in life. It all seems like it could all be very real.

[Donna Gabbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this "Maine classic" in a bookshop in Castine, a quaint Maine village, while on vacation earlier this year. This novel spans four generations of the Crockett family, a sea-faring family, and describes the changes that took place in their family and small town due to industry, tourism, etc. I am interested in reading more by this author. Written in the mid-30's, this book has no bad language or vulgarities. I recommend this book.