Tide-Rode

by Adelyn Bushnell

Tide-Rode is a novel which thematically includes many strands often found in other Maine works. There is the sense of small town claustrophobia so central to Chenoweth Hall, The Crow on the Spruce and the existential hardship of coastal Maine life captured by Ruth Moore in Spoonhandle and The Weir. Additionally one finds the enduring power of the mythic, great captain figure who does whatever is necessary to succeed as does the protagonist in Miriam Colwell's Day of the Trumpet and there is also the ongoing psychological and physical overhang of Boston and those who come north from that city as readily portrayed by Sarah Orne Jewett in Deephaven and other works. But ultimately, it is the operatic mood swings and dynamic oscillations of the tales such as Storms and Sunshine written by Sally Woods, Maine's first female novelist, that gives Adelyn Bushnell's novel its power and appeal.

344 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1947