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

by Cathie Pelletier

A vivid and gripping story of an epic Maine snowstorm that tested the very limits of human endurance.

A National Bestseller

For many, the past few years have been defined by climate disaster. Stories about once-in-a-lifetime hurricanes, floods, fires, droughts and even snowstorms are now commonplace. But dramatic weather events are not new and Northeaster, Cathie Pelletier’s breathtaking account of the 1952 snowstorm that blanketed New England, offers a valuable reminder about nature’s capacity for destruction as well as insight into the human instinct for preservation.

Northeaster weaves together a rich cast of characters whose lives were uprooted and endangeredby the storm. Housewives and lobstermen, loggers and soldiers were all trapped as snow piled in drifts twenty feet high. The storm smothered hundreds of travelers in their cars, covered entire towns, and broke ships in half. In the midst of the blizzard’s chaos, there were remarkable acts of heroism and courageous generosities. Doctors braved the storm to help deliver babies. Ordinary people kept their wits while buried in their cars, and others made their way out of forests to find kind-hearted strangers willing to take them in.

It’s likely that none of us know how we would handle a confrontation with a blizzard or other natural disaster. But Northeaster shows that we have it inside to fight for survival in some of the harshest conditions that nature has to offer.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Survival, American History, Book Club, Adventure

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 3, 2023

Reviews

[Ruth York · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first saw this book at the bookstore, I happily overlooked a major error in the title and purchased it. Being a (supposedly) non-fiction account of a storm that his my home state, I was willing to ignore the title. For future reference, these storms are called "nor'easters." True Mainers do NOT have the "th" in there. I quickly became even more disgruntled when the author (and, presumedly the editors agreed) did not capitalize the branches of the military. It is the Navy and the Coast Guard when referring to the branches of our nation's protectors. (I am admittedly a bit sensitive to this, being a wife of a veteran and the mother of an active-duty Coast Guardsman.) Setting those foibles aside, now we get to the writing and the story.

The story was ok. However, there was a fair amount of useless information that I am guessing was put in to increase the length perhaps? I mean, several references to Elizabeth Taylor's upcoming nuptials was not needed. The only connection she had with the storm was stopping in NYC before she continued her flight to Europe. I also found the mention of how a man who died from a heart attack urinated upon his death distasteful. Really??? Readers needed that tidbit??? The author also frequently put in what the various people had going on in their minds. And then, they died. So, how does the author know for sure that one man was thinking of his family? Or that another was thinking how his doctor had been correct? This was done with several of the various people within the book. The writing was haphazard, in that it felt like she jumped around much more than necessary. The epilogue (which usually explains what happened to the various people after the even in question) was full of things that they had experienced before, even as far back as their childhood. There were so many gaps, jumps, and overall messiness that I just wasn't able to fully enjoy this. Which saddens me. I had expected to really enjoy it.

[Susan Dunker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for a week featuring 3 storms! Lots of great historical detail in a great narrative style.

[Diane Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great time to enjoy this book. Nature can be very frightening.
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[Amanda Sava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this book, but was hoping to like it more than I did. The author does a good job of writing the stories of the victims and main characters, making the descriptions very vivid, but often would switch between the characters, and between the past and present of each of the characters, which made the book feel more jumpy and not very smooth. It was very evident the author did a ton of research on the storm and on the characters and victims, but would also include a lot of internal dialogue of the victims who would soon pass away, so that was obviously made up. It was interesting though to learn of the history of the area, although some of that history didn't seem relevant to the story itself.

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I read every blizzard book I can get my hands on, this was a no brainer for me to read. I actually wanted to give this 3-1/2 stars. While I loved the storyline and the area in which it takes place (Maine) I found a couple of things off-putting. For one, I really don’t like when, in a non-fiction book, the author makes up what people are thinking just before they died. That makes no sense and should be saved for novels. The other thing that irritated me was the title. I mean, really, Northeaster? Even someone from the non-ocean state of Illinois knows that it’s called a Nor’easter! Getting past those two things, however, it’s a pretty riveting account of the storm and regular people affected by it.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why the book is called Northeaster versus Nor'easter" The author ends the book with the page:
IN MEMORIAM - EDGAR COMEE (1917-2005)

"I must mention the late Edgar A. Comee, of Brunswick, Maine, a man I wish I had known. He declared himself chairman of the “Ad Hoc Committee for Stamping Out Nor’easter,” believing it to be an affection of “non-sailors who wish to appear salty.”…The same year he died, Edgar Comee ended up in Talk of the Town, in the New Yorker: The use of nor-easter to describe a northeast storm is a pretentious and altogether lamentable affection, the odious, even loathsome, practice of landlubbers who would be seen as salty as the sea itself.”.. Not only do Mainers not talk like the actors in Murder, She Wrote, northern Mainers don’t even talk like southern Mainers. Therefore, it’s northeaster as the title of this book. Mr. Comee, may you rest in peace."

I read a WSJ review of this book. Even as I write now, in Hoboken, we have snow flurries, no accumulation, but it is windy and cold. (This has been NJ's driest winter in 50 years. We MISS SNOW!) In Maine, they will get at least 6 inches, but not a blizzard by any means. My brother in NH, 20 inches of snow. Being from New England - MA, I have experienced many snow storms/blizzards. I was in Scotland when MA had a BIG storm: “The Blizzard of '78 brought 27.1 inches of snow to Boston over two days, but the fact that 21 inches of snow fell in the city on Jan. 20, 1978, a couple weeks before the Feb. 6 storm arrived, made things much worse. The storm still ranks second all-time among the total amount of snowfall.” I remember my mother sending me newspaper clippings, but it was still hard to imagine. Oh, underneath that snow is a buried car! And, I experienced two BIG snowstorms in Denver. In 2003, it snowed for 3 straight days (March 17-19); about 32 inches of snow. And, the pre-Christmas blizzard in 2006. That storm definitely messed up the Christmas holiday travel. So imagine a storm in 1952 without today’s technology.

The author wrote why she wrote this book, “In The Story of Civilization, Will Durant wrote that “Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry…The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.”

In reading, this book, I entered the lives of people who lived in Maine at that time. And, also people who lived through WWI and WWII. I wish my father was alive to ask him if he remembered the storm. The principal players:

Hazel Tardiff, 34, housewife, Bath: expecting her 4th child

Harland Davis, 30, lobster fisherman, Pleasant Point

James Haigh, 39, lobster wholesaler, Portsmouth, NH

Ray “Sonny” Pomelow, 15, high school student, Brownsville

Peter Godley, 30, shoe factory worker, Brewer

Bill Dwyer, 67, retired worker and fireman, Bath

Charles Voyer, 63, retired theater worker, South Portland (he was returning from Boston after seeing the show of the Ice Follies)

George Aspey, 56, woolen mill carder, Warren


This is the WSJ Review that inspired me to read the book:

On Feb. 17, 1952, two men set off from Maine’s Monhegan Island in a 30-foot vessel loaded down with 5,000 pounds of crated lobsters. The old salts on the island had tried to dissuade Harland Davis and James Haigh from making the trip; the weather was iffy and a storm seemed likely. But the two men were eager to get the live lobsters to market and get themselves back to their wives and daughters on the mainland, and anyway the Sea Breeze had made the 11-mile crossing many times before without incident. This time, however, not halfway to its destination of Port Clyde, the vessel was engulfed by blinding snow and heaving seas and bludgeoned to the bottom.

Davis and Haigh thus became the first victims in Maine of the two-day tempest that Cathie Pelletier anatomizes in “Northeaster,” a historical re-creation of personal experiences so dramatic that they have lingered for decades in local and family lore. The 1952 storm wreaked havoc in New England, destroying wharfs, smashing boats, trapping tens of thousands of travelers and producing seas off Cape Cod so massive that two gargantuan tankers split in half. The daring Coast Guard rescue of the survivors aboard those sundered vessels, and the famous heroism of coxswain Bernard Webber, are detailed in “The Finest Hours,” a 2009 bestseller that was made into a movie of the same name a few years later.

Ms. Pelletier doesn’t depict scenes of exceptional valor; nor does she write of people who became household names. Her characters are ordinary people. Explaining her narrative choices, she twice evokes Will Durant’s description of civilization as a stream with banks: “The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record,” while on the banks, unheralded, “people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry.” There’s no lovemaking in “Northeaster,” but there is a smattering of poetry, along with descriptions of homes and children and men and women whose lives were altered—and in some cases ended—when the storm picked up power off North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Ms. Pelletier, a novelist and nonfiction writer from northern Maine, has drawn on contemporaneous testimonies and the remembrances of adult children, friends and relatives to draw detailed portraits of 10 people who were caught in the storm. To add texture and drama to these stories, she puts what must surely be speculative words (and foods) into the mouths of her subjects—to which we might say, well, fair enough, since “Northeaster” is not a work of academic exactitude but a kind of oral history.

We meet Hazel Tardiff, a heavily pregnant housewife in the coastal shipbuilding town of Bath, who, as the weather shifts, places a dish of homemade pickle relish on the table and tells her daughter to call her husband and son to supper. We’re introduced to Sonny Pomelow, a 15-year-old Boy Scout from a hardscrabble family in the inland town of Brownville, who catches a ride with an ill-fated vehicle. We follow Paul Delaney, a 19-year-old Navy radio operator who borrows a car to take a girl to the movies in Bar Harbor and winds up marooned for three days under almost 12 feet of snow. We also get to know the doomed men on the Sea Breeze and see the anguish of their families and friends after the Coast Guard hauls their corpses from the frigid waters of Muscongus Bay.

Ms. Pelletier interleaves short chapters about her principal characters with dashes of historical bricolage and running accounts of what was unfolding elsewhere in Maine during the storm. In towns “famous for grievances,” residents had complaints: “Why wasn’t the daily newspaper on the front steps? Why weren’t the streets cleared? One man, in the first evening of the storm, called his town office to complain that he was not just starving, he was also out of cigarettes.” Eventually the snowfall was so intense that plows broke down and the highways had to be closed, sealing the Pine Tree State off from the rest of the country and stranding thousands of people at the Howard Johnson’s in Kennebunk, the only eatery on the Maine Turnpike.

There’s a problem, though, with the Durantist “river bank” approach to a disaster story like the one that is presented in “Northeaster.” It produces a mismatch for the reader. In life, each of us has an interior life that’s informed by our tastes and experiences; each of us has peculiar attributes that make us dear to the people who love us. But if we perish in a calamity, what’s interesting to strangers is the manner of our deaths.

So while Ms. Pelletier has taken great trouble to bring vibrancy to her subjects, her efforts do not always pay off. For instance, she tells how Sonny Pomelow liked to hang out with his friends in the red Naugahyde booths at the local Rexall drugstore, poring over hot-rod magazines and fantasizing about driving to California. Unfortunately, this kind of granular information can feel extraneous to the callous, thrill-seeking reader, for whom the teenager matters primarily because in the maelstrom of snow a plow train hit the car he was riding in and killed him.

Still, it’s touching to see the faces of real people who went through the ordeal, as we do in the family and archival pictures that Ms. Pelletier includes here. There’s a snapshot of a smiling James Haigh next to one of Harland Davis, neither man suspecting what cold and watery fate lay in store for him. There’s a tinted glamour-shot of the old Howard Johnson’s, with its distinctive orange walls and white cupola, near a photo of a fellow trying to dig his car out of the snow-locked Maine Turnpike. Best of all is an informal tableau in black-and-white that shows Hazel Tardiff being taken off to the hospital on a toboggan pulled by smiling neighbors. As funeral homes were getting busy across New England and Hazel’s fellow Mainers were digging out from the brutal Northeaster, the Bath housewife gave birth to a bonny, 91/2 -pound baby boy.

[Sarah Meerkat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be incredibly frustrating. In theory I like the idea of interserpting a disaster unfolding with the minutia and details of other events. But frequently we would be inside the internal thoughts of a person and then that person would die. Be it exposure on a boat, heart attack or in one horrid moment struck by a train in a car. For example the first man with a heart attack imagines dancers he saw at show before the storm or with the young boy in the car struck by the train the conversation he and the driver have together. All of which I found to be incredibly upsetting

This is creative nonfiction mixed an account of people surviving a Blizzard. But hey at least the cat survived the Blizzard.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've long loved Pelletier's fiction and was drawn to Northeaster, an interesting trip away from fiction.
Can't say it's entirely non-fictional though because she often inserts thoughts into characters' heads she could not know. Plus the structure swerves between and among key characters from different parts of Maine, sometimes confusingly.
The first half of the book is strongest, most complete, least imagined.
The second half the opposite.
I did like the thought of all the research, all the contacting of descendants and relatives and friends, of her focal characters, as well as their back stories. And I did love all the photographs. Wonderful captures of people and places. The Bibliography, Endnotes and Special Thanks sections clarified much of her technique and devotion to task.
Finally, just thinking about all that folks endured and overcame is great food for thought. Would that we cared as much about each other in more modern times.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the kind of book that I kept thinking about when I was doing other things, and I had to get back to it and finish it. I just finished it today and I want to read it again or listen to it on audible. This is an amazing piece of research and historic writing. Kudos to Cathie Pelletier for having assembled all of these riveting stories of people whose lives were upended by the blizzard of 1952. It’s a storm I had never even heard of. I wish my parents were still alive today so I could ask them what they remember about it. But alas, they are both gone. The moral of the story is to ask your elders to tell you their stories while they are alive, and then try to put the stories together the way Cathie did so others can read them and remember the tough times in times gone by.

[Alison Fulmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of specific people impacted by the great nor’easter of 1952 which caused most of Maine to be snowed in for days and led to 6 deaths. Wish there had been more about the meteorology of the storm and northeasters generally. Also the individual stories included alot of supposition and assumed thoughts and conversations. But was an enjoyable portrait of town life and how people lived and cared for one another in the 1950’s here

[Marvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author really delved into the history of several families and individuals to bring this powerful storm to life and share with us its impact on the towns and people of Maine.. Gripping accounts of a history making blizzard years ago. I loved it, start to finish!

[Jon Knepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, Cathie can write a book

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed account of the winter storm that affected the people of Maine in 1952. I found it really sad overall and I am so glad I live in an area that doesn't see that kind of weather!

[Michelle Gregoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being from New England and frequently going to Maine, the title caught my eye right away. New England weather has always been difficult to navigate and I enjoy reading about the struggles and hardships that these Maine residents endured and what they had to do to survive like the Blizzard of 52.

[Barbara Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author had me from page 1. The blizzard of 1952 took place during the week of my first birthday. The people and places were REAL. This was backed up with the background history of those people and places, and further bolstered by inclusion of the current events at the time. She described the storm and told the era so well! These were my towns, my parents, aunts, uncles, my weather. I heard that train whistle for sure. Told through the very real experiences of those involved, it was an emotionally compelling read.

One more thing and only because reviewers mention it so often: I grew up in northern Maine, as did the author. And I never used and would not have known the term “nor’easter” except in poetry or the newspaper, and even more recently in my lifetime the weathermen use it (most of them being from away, lol). So while I accept it as an affectation, the events of this book took place in 1952 and the title is both correct terminology and appropriate to the way it was spoken, and still is for the most part, in Maine.

[Jennifer Fitzpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only way I could improve upon this tale was to read it during a real northeaster! Which I did! As the winds at my home howled up to 44 mph outside, and the snow swirled around the yard, I could only imagine the terror of being ‘caught’ in the storm of 1952! The courage and survival instinct of the people followed, the caring and compassion for others, and the battle against what nature throws at us is well presented. With excellent historical entries and a progressive tale of hardy individuals facing their life’s greatest challenge, Cathie Pelletier is at the top of her craft. Her sense of place is superb, her descriptions accurate, and her compassion is evident. I was riveted from start to finish.

I was particularly drawn to Pelletier’s ‘In Memoriam.’ I count myself as one Mainer who objects to the pretentious abbreviation of the word northeaster. I’m happy to be in excellent company!

[Elise Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love storms and I love mid-coast Maine; this true story deftly connected these themes in a way that kept me up reading it later than planned most nights. The author set the scene very well, with an interesting cast of characters. The build up to the storm, the storm itself, and the immediate aftermath were gripping. Think "The Perfect Storm". I have spent time in most of the locales in which this book is set, which added to my enjoyment. Maybe if this setting was not as familiar to me, I might have enjoyed the book a little less?

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is fragmented, disorganized, grammatically questionable, and I found it hard to find any flow. Help. Probably a good story here but I didn’t care for the way it was told, at all. DNF after crushing my way through Part 1 and a few pages into Part 2.

[MaryAnn Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snow is a way of life in Maine. You don't live here if you can't deal with it. But every once in a while a snow and wind event happens that is more than even the most intrepid Mainer can handle. The February storm of 1952 was such a storm. Weather Forecasting was primitive by today's standards so the storm took people by surprise with serious, sometimes dire outcomes.

Cathie Pelletier grew up in Northern Maine so she is no stranger to Maine weather and the type of people who contend with it. Her background is in fiction writing so she conducted an incredible amount of research to ensure that the facts were straight. The stories she weaves together are intensely personal, sometimes tragic, frequently courageous and symbolic of the strength of Mainers. There are maritime stories as well as the incredible saga of thousands of people stranded on shore, including along the Maine Turnpike and crammed into the first Howard Johnson's in Maine to get out of the storm and enjoy the efforts of an amazing staff to keep them fed. Farmers opened their doors to stranded strangers and demonstrated incredible depths of generosity to assist people dealing with births, deaths and illness.

The depth of detail to which Ms. Pelletier goes is fascinating. Her sources are families who can give first person accounts or heard them from parents or grandparents. She gently portrays people going through the worst moments of their lives with dignity and grace.

One of my favorite sections of the book was an epilogue where she explains her use of "Northeaster" versus the ubiquitous "Nor'easter", a term she maintains is NOT a standard part of a true Maine vocabulary. It has become a cliche used by mainstream Hollywood and Television producers. Jessica Fletcher might use it in Cabot Cove but, like the terrible accents used on the show (filmed in California by the way), it is not authentic.

I loved this book, not only because I love my adopted state but because I love the portrayal of life in a purer time period. I don't wish for another such weather event but I long for the sense of community and concern for our neighbors that is nearly impossible to find today.

[Jeanette "Josie" Cook M.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cherished reading this book about the 1952 Northeaster blizzard. Her writing is always beautiful and keeps me interested as I turn the pages.

I will always remember the yellow cat and how he survived under a car. I truly thought he would perish like our farm cats did in the blizzard that hit Ohio during my childhood. I remember my bed seeming to move across my bedroom floor from the wind hitting our house so hard during the blizzard, as the windows rattled in their frames. The next morning, I was sent to the barn to feed our horses and ponies, carrying buckets of water. There were cats suck in the snow, dead. My dog followed me to the barn. This book brought back those scary memories of what may be at the barn when I arrived; thankfully, our horses and ponies were safe. This book has the occurrences and events about several families living in the area where this blizzard hit. The courage is noted as I read about their ways of coping with this storm. Several people did not make it through this weather event.

Dr. North's blue car is another thing, I will remember and how he gave up his horse and buggy to start driving, even though, he prefered his other mode of transportation. His light blue vehicle was not what he wanted to take out to reach his patients but he knew he must change his habits.

The man surviving inside his car, buried under the snow, was my favorite because I kept hoping he would not die inside his vehicle. His dreams, his courage, and his way of dealing with his situation will stay with me, along with the man who checked for his yellow cat every morning, hoping that the cat would be there on his porch waiting to be let inside his house. I will also remember the girl and her dog. She went through so much. So many families were waiting to see if their loved ones would return.

The author has included so much about these families and their history. She has invested a lot of time into putting this book together, and her research is amazing. The photos are a lovely touch to this record of what happened to the families that winter.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand and appreciate what the author is trying to accomplish. "The story of civilization is what happens on the banks" (probably slightly misquoted, don't have the text in front of me). Agreed, and recounting that history is a valuable endeavor. But you can't just make it up, and it seems the author has no problem with doing that.

I'll forgive other reviewers' criticisms about interspersing stories of current events elsewhere, since that adds to the canvas of the world of these ordinary folks. The local historic stories add appreciated color, but there were a number of stated facts that twisted my brow against my understanding of Maine history (a topic on which I am not an expert, but also not ignorant). Plus, they were often replicated - sometimes seemingly in contrast to earlier references - to the point of annoyance. But these are minor irritations. My low rating is based on the major points.

First, citing specific quotes of daily conversation and household events that were almost certainly not journaled places this almost, or perhaps mostly, into the genre of historical fiction. But second and far more importantly, the author's unforgivable sin is the frequent placement of statements, thoughts, and actions of people who, between the time of those issuances and their deaths, communicated with no one. By doing so, the veracity of the entire work is questioned, and the word fiction can no longer be removed from the word historical. Even the judicious use of "may have thought" or "perhaps did such-and-such" could have lightened the toxic effect of these statements across what otherwise could have been an interesting slice of how the reality of ordinary people intersects with the larger arc of history.

[Colleen Rahill-Beuler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book club book chosen by a gal who has an affinity for the state of Maine. It is the true story of a blizzard that happened in Maine in 1952. To be honest, I was not too excited to read the book. I didn’t have much interest in a 70 year old weather event. However, being from Buffalo, New York, and having experienced a blizzard or two in my life time, I quickly found myself engaged in the events that took place in the various individuals featured in this book, even though it was 70 years ago. It was all very relatable. In fact, just one year ago, Buffalo experienced a blizzard that killed far more people than were killed in Maine AND technology is obviously more advanced, as were warnings. I suppose we haven’t learned much after all. People still think they can outrun, outmatch Mother Nature. Silly.

As I read the book I found myself experiencing a range of emotions for the various individuals, both survivors and victims. I believe that speaks to the quality of writing. By the way, it is not a spoiler to indicate there are deaths, that is mentioned in the beginning of the book. But I made assumptions as to who died - those assumptions were not always correct.

While the author did take what seemed to be some creative license in adding context here and there (ie: what an individual who subsequently died was thinking), that did not bother me. I think there was a need to add an element of humanity to what was happening and the thoughts were not so outrageous or unreasonable as not to be exactly what most of us would be thinking in the moment.

I appreciate the research done for this book and can imagine that if I were a “New Englander” I would have REALLY enjoyed this book.

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Next up for book group(March). When this storm took place I was 5/6 years old and living near Worcester, Mass. I guess we didn't get the brunt of the storm? Or maybe I don't remember it. In the years I've lived in Maine(1982-present) there's been nothing like it. Interesting to be reading this while California is under the guns of massive snow and huge winds(February/March 2024.

First night.. one disaster(human/weather) seems to have been averted before the big 'un arrives. A lot of the story so far has been set in Bath. Seems like I've seen some post-storm pictures of downtown Bath. Somewhere...

Several nights later and the beleaguered folks of Maine are at about the end of their ordeal. For my part I have to admit that despite my misgivings, this has been a very engaging read. Why? How?...

- Excellent human interest - a compelling portrait of a simpler, more "basic" Maine society. Almost 70 years ago now...

- A tribute to the power of Mother Nature to hurt and humble humans. I'm guessing that this storm may have encouraged the development of sturdier snowplows.

- Dogs! I was worried about Laddie, but he came out all right. Then there's the 3-legged pooch with the funky name(which I have forgotten - Skybow!). And what about the cat? The Snookster put his nine lives to good use.

- The author uses some subtle fiction devices(like her own imagination), but doesn't overdo it. Like the guy with the bum ticker imagining flying over the Turnpike exit and wondering if that's his abandoned car he sees down below. Quite a few other G'reads reviewers have commented here on this. I'm fine with it in the context of this particular book/story, even though I have objected to this kind of usage in some memoirs I've read.

- She doesn't abandon the story line of the two lobster guys who die early on, instead sticking with their families afterwards to report on how they're doing.

- Brunswick Naval Station should probably be Brunswick Naval Air Station.

- I happen to know just what the Winter Harbor Naval Security Group/National Security Agency operation at Winter Harbor was all about - tracking Russian submarines in the North Atlantic.

- "High and Central" in Bath is "High and Center". Name change or boo-boo?

- 3.75* rounds to 4.0*.

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a big Cathie Pelletier fan and I did enjoy learning about this Maine blizzard that I had never heard of and that happened before I was born. The amount of research Pelletier did was impressive. But I was very frustrated when Pelletier writes about what people were doing and thinking during the blizzard and then those people died during the blizzard, died alone--so no one knew what they were doing or thinking. Not sure why the author felt a need to share words and thoughts and actions for those people rather than simply sharing the facts that were known about their situation/demise. By turning the nonfiction into fiction, it made me question other parts of the book--what was real and what wasn't. My other frustration was all the asides Pelletier took during the book telling about people, situations, statistics for 1952 that had nothing to do with the storm or could have been summed up in a sentence or two rather than in several paragraphs or pages (i.e. statistics about how many people smoked in 1952, what celebrities were doing in other places). I found those asides distracting and I tended to skim them. Plus, the book had so many characters and places in it that came and went, it was challenging enough to keep track of who was who without the extraneous information. I have no doubt that Pelletier loved all the details she uncovered about the blizzard and people and life in 1952 and she was anxious to share them, but a stronger editorial hand could have made this book so much better for readers.

[Steven Gauthier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve given this book four stars because Cathie Pelletier is a fine writer, this is a well chosen subject, and once I got into the story, I wasn’t going to put it down unfinished.

Still, there are some problematic bits:

It takes about 50 long pages for the story to start. The readers are treated to a series of short biographies of some of the characters which hardly link together. It’s my unsupported theory that Pelletier would focus on making each section just as perfectly written as she could, as if they were all independent pieces.

Small details are reused in the next section about the same person or place, as if the author had forgotten we’d already been told that fact.

Pelletier several times gives us the unspoken thoughts of people who are alone and then die. She has them saying things they might have said, but this is dishonest, really.

One of her themes is how small town Mainers will pull together in crises to help each other. Yes, this is on the whole true, but in this book not one neighbor grumbles when donning a heavy coat for a four mile walk in deep snow, or when heading out to shovel eight foot snow drifts. Let me assure you I gripe every time I pull on my overshoes for the next round of shoveling, and I am not alone in this.

And I’m really glad it’s only explained in an epilogue why the book is titled Northeaster instead of Nor’easter. It’s fine that Pelletier calls the book what she wants to but her explanation why comes off as petty and effete. Don’t spank my hand on the last page, dummy.

[Jeff DeRosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of well-researched anecdotes that result in a window into Maine life during the early 1950s. The author does a nice job of capturing the feeling of this post-war era. The writing features various aspects of local culture - date night in Bar Harbor, leisure travel between Boston and Bath, pregnancy while being cut off from help, train travel, ice fishing, and the perils of lobstering.

Despite these strengths, this book sometimes reads like the author had difficulty making choices. Some of the more interesting parts of the story devolve into unnecessary minutiae such as funeral arrangements and the whereabouts of Elizabeth Taylor. The book is also light on meteorology which feels like a missed opportunity. After all, the book is titled “northeaster” but fails to put this 1952 storm in perspective to other similar events.

I also have a problem with the title of this book. About the term “Nor’easter,” the author says “I have never used the term myself because I thought it sounded like how Hollywood has Mainers talk in movies.” She believes the term is pretentious. I disagree. Most people here in Maine, including the National Weather Service, use the term “nor’easter” rather than northeaster. Thus, if Hollywood depicted Mainers as saying “nor’easter” they would be correct because that’s how most of us talk.

[Jake Kritzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I deducted one star right off the bat for the title: Although “northeaster” and “nor’easter” are both generally accepted names, the latter is far more commonly used in New England and just sounds cooler.

I came to this book after Ty Gagne’s first two books about winter treks in the White Mountains gone wrong. I loved both of those books and was looking for something in the same ballpark. This is, but the structure, content, and style of the book didn’t quite engage me as well. My main gripes are threefold: There was too little about the science of the storms; the stories were told in much more detail than needed for the objectives; and the sequencing of the stories, which involved jumping around from one to the next and to next, made if difficult to track exactly who we were coming back to at each turn and what had gone on with them (admittedly, that might be due to my own simple, linear mind).

Still, this book does something unique which is to showcase the very different ways to die in a big storm, and the winding path followed to those ends. There is a lesson powerfully conveyed that things can go south quickly and unexpectedly. I know I should evaluate this book based on what it is and not what I want it to be, but the narrative was so close to really grabbing me it felt too often like a missed opportunity.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a birthday gift from my mom, but it felt more appropriate to read in the cold, dark depths of January than in October. Northeaster is a neat little narrative non-fiction account of the Blizzard of 1952, here in Maine. This was one of those storms that snuck up on people and ended up being much more fierce than anticipated. The book tells the story of a variety of different people and families and the struggles they dealt with during the storm - from a pair of men going out to Monhegan Island to pick up one last load of lobsters, to an off-duty Navy man on a date in Bar Harbor, to people coming back from a show in Boston who get stranded on the Maine Turnpike, to an expectant mom waiting out the storm in the outskirts of Bath.

I found all of the stories compelling and, by the end of the book, I felt like I really knew a lot about these people, their lives, and their communities. Cathie Pelletier does a wonderful job of getting into these people's lives and heads and truly giving us them.

The only thing I'll caution about is that not all these stories end happily. That lead to some real drama in the storytelling and one last little happy ending at the very end, which I appreciated.

[Melissa Orth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a huge fan of Jim Murphy’s Blizzard! (Of 1888), this book about the big northeaster of 1952 that dumped over 30” of snow in one night caught my eye and did not disappoint. Native Mainer Pelletier, known more for fiction, tackled this weather event that affected New England with the skilled hand of someone who understands plot narration. Limiting the focus to Maine, she recounts the harrowing experiences of lobstermen, woodsmen, travelers, and mill workers, and their outcomes, maintaining reader interest as she jumps from person to person while steadily following the storm’s timeline.

Pelletier spent over a decade recording extensive first hand accounts, scouring local papers, interviewing meteorologists and lobster harvesters, and more to create a detailed account that puts the reader in an almost personal and intimate relationship to the survivors.

I enjoyed much of the “what life was like back then” details she added to the story. What was unclear to me was whether the conversations between people were recorded and she was quoting or did she take liberties by imagining what a person might say as they are stuck in a car buried under feet of snow?

Regardless this is a book chronicling an unfamiliar event that alas could easily happen again.

[Lauren Cornelio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to give credit where credit is due—this author clearly put in the work when it came to the historical context of the story.

Admittedly, this book almost became a DNF for me because the opening was so bleak. You’re introduced to the lives of several characters, and just as you begin to know them, they die. These are people you can easily imagine knowing in your own life, which makes it truly heartbreaking. Still, I decided to push through, and I’m glad I did. As the story unfolds, the strength of community during times of crisis becomes a central theme. While it’s still gut-wrenching to read about the six lives lost—especially knowing it’s a true story—the number of people willing to help one another, even while trapped in the same nor’easter themselves, was remarkable.

The reason I ultimately rated this book a 3 is the constant shifting of perspectives throughout each section. It became incredibly difficult to keep track of all the names, backstories, and timelines. There were so many characters that I often had to go back and reread sections just to remember whose story I was following. On top of that, some of the historical detours felt unnecessary—particularly the Elizabeth Taylor subplot. While I can understand the intent of contrasting a lavish celebration with people in rural Maine struggling to survive the storm, adding yet another storyline only made an already crowded narrative more overwhelming.

Lastly, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the author’s repeated use of “northeaster” instead of “nor’easter.” While it’s not technically wrong, anyone from the Northeast knows—it’s a nor’easter!