Deephaven

by Sarah Orne Jewett

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, American, Novels, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, American Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

Sarah Orne Jewett was an American novelist and short story writer, best known for her local color works set in or near South Berwick, Maine, on the border of New Hampshire, which in her day was a declining New England seaport.

Reviews

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seemed as if all the clocks in Deephaven and all the people with them, had stopped years ago, and the people had been doing over and over what they had been busy about during the last week of their unambitious progress.

This charming first novel by Jewett, published in 1877, purports to be the later remembered account by Miss Helen Davis of a summer she and her friend Miss Kate Lancaster, both 24 year old Bostonians, spent in a house on the Maine coast that Kate's great-aunt Katherine Brandon had bequeathed to Kate's mother. Several of the chapters first appeared as pieces in The Atlantic and, while it coheres as a novel, there really isn't much more to the plot.

The strength of the book, rather, is the warm-hearted descriptions of the young ladies' explorations of the house itself, the shore, the town and surrounding countryside, and of their encounters with the people, widows, fishermen, farmers, lighthouse-keepers, and clergy, who proudly carry on social conventions established long before an embargo had set the community on a course of inevitable decline. There is much quiet humor, but also sadness in the hard lot fortune has dealt to some, and beautiful observations on weather and other aspects of nature.

This is the first audiobook I've listened to, except for a few books on disc my wife and I enjoyed on long drives, and it was a perfect companion on afternoon coronavirus shelter-in-place walks. Kudos to the reader of my free LibriVox e-audiobook, Betsie Bush.

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen Denis and Kate Lancaster, twenty-four, best friends, spending an idyllic—for them anyway—summer in a sleepy coastal town watching the house of Kate’s great-aunt, who has died and left her house in Deephaven to Kate’s mother. The novel, and it’s something of a stretch to call it that, consists of a series of sketches of the quirky ‘natives’ Helen and Kate meet throughout their sojourn in Deephaven.

This book isn’t for everyone. It was written in 1877 and apparently influenced by Sarah Orne Jewett’s reading of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (1853), which probably explains why I liked it so much. I haven’t read Cranford myself but I love the two books by Gaskell I have read and know the British TV series by that name was a huge hit.

Gaskell and England aside, Jewett has created her own community here and I fell in love with it, so much so I still wish I could visit it. After having a very uphill-week, i.e., one with mostly climb and no rest, it was the perfect book for me at the perfect time.

However, if you don’t want to read e v e r y - s i n g l e - w o r d then don’t bother with this book. The beautiful of Deephaven is its slower pace, both the town and the book. The descriptions are what make it worth reading, not the plot. Well, there really isn’t a plot. That was given in the first sentence of this review. The characterizations of these comical and tragic personalities will stay with me longer than another ‘thriller’ plot.

Well worth the time. I will read Jewett again. But not right away. I know now that she is the author to turn to when I have had one of ‘those’ weeks. 4.5 stars ... what the heck, 5!



May 27, 2018: Having never read anything by this author, I went for her first work. First impression: soothing, descriptive, quaint, perfect curling-up-on-a-couch-with-tea-and-comforter-or-a-cat book. Slow paced, do not think there will much plot, but introspective character studies and a good period piece.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another gem of a story from American author Sarah Orne Jewett. Written in 1877, it tells the tale of two young ladies from Boston, Kate Lancaster and her friend Helen Denis, who spend the summer at the home of Kate's recently-deceased aunt Miss Brandon. Kate and Helen adapt quickly to life in the fishing village of Deephaven, a fictional coastal town in Maine, and are soon accepted into the small close-knit community.

Their summer visit extends into late autumn and includes the humdrum events of daily life such as watching a fisherman gut his catch or paying a visit with the local minister to an elderly parishioner; the mild excitement of a day visiting the lighthouse-keeper and his wife or rowing out in a dory with old Captain Sands to fish for cunner for the day's dinner; or the very rare experience of a trip to the circus or to a neighbouring community which is said by the locals to be "duller than Deephaven itself"!

No matter the occasion, Helen (the narrator) never fails to describe in stunning detail every nuance of weather and the natural surroundings as well as the appearance, habits, and history of each of the eccentric characters. The story is written with such tremendous sensitivity and compassion that the reader grows both familiar with and fond of the people and the place.

This is a quiet story for a lazy day -- rainy, sunny, snowy, whatever. You will be entertained, soothed, inspired, and refreshed by the intimate triumphs and tragedies of ordinary lives of ordinary people.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is Jewett's first book. I was immediately taken by the set up -- two young women, Kate and our narrator Helen, decide to "keep house" for the summer in a small town on the coast of Maine. This is less cozy than it sounds, as the house is a mansion left by Kate's deceased great-aunt and these two privileged Bostonians bring a pair of servants with them, but still. The book is more about the local characters they encounter than the girls themselves, and perhaps most of all about the local landscape itself. I think Jewett made a wise choice in her later and artistically finer book, The Country of the Pointed Firs, to have the narrator be nameless and revealing nothing about herself, which makes it clearer what the book is really about. Still, I did enjoy hearing about Kate and Helen's enjoyment of their summer and the closeness of their friendship. At one point they compare themselves to The Ladies Of Llangollen, and think they should stay always in Deep Haven, living a rich life of intellectual seclusion, but admit to themselves as Winter approaches they wouldn't enjoy Deep Haven as much without having Boston as well.

[Kingofmusic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die schöne Aufmachung etc. wertet das Gesamtpaket auf. Für die "reine" Geschichtensammlung gibt´s "nur" 3*.

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nostalgia, superstitions, and sailors’ yarns.

[Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's impossible to fight the urge to compare this with Jewett's better-known and better County of the Pointed Firs, so I won't fight it. Pointed Firs is the more polished text in structure and style, as well as the more balanced in its themes. But Deephaven, with lovely passages of its own, still has strengths to offer that its successor doesn't: younger narrators, more characters, more historical situatedness, and more movement. If you liked Pointed Firs, you'll definitely like Deephaven, and at times you'll even prefer it.

[leggere.con.leggerezza · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Kate dopo aver ereditato dalla defunta prozia la sua casa, decide di invitare la sua amica Helen per trascorrere a Deephaven l'estate, una tranquilla cittadina costiera del New England.

Nel 1877 le due amiche hanno entrambe 24 anni e nonostante la loro apertura mentale, sono anche figlie della loro educazione e dei loro privilegi.

Vivranno in affetto l'una con l'altra, e avranno
modo di conoscere molte persone, vivendo di armonia perfetta in questa piccola comunità di pescatori.

Helen come narratrice in prima persona, ci porta ad esplorare in modo incantevole questi luoghi, fatti di vecchie storie di marinai e fantasmi, piene di saggezza e un pizzico di umorismo.

Si godono gli incontri e le storie che ne derivano, scandite da giornate piuttosto tranquille, con passeggiate sugli scogli, al faro o in chiesa, di gite in carrozza o semplicemente andando a pescare.


Il libro è scandito dal ritmo di questo luogo di mare. Pacifico e tranquillo, con una narrazione molto lenta, intima e molto finemente descrittiva.

𝐷𝑒𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛 brilla di delicata bellezza, e avvolge il lettore in un'atmosfera raffinata e decadente allo stesso tempo.

È un libro che esplora le profondità dei rapporti umani e dell'amicizia.

Lo consiglio a chi ama perdersi in storie semplici, fatte di quotidianità.

Ho amato molto la penna delicata di Sarah Orne Jewell, che avevo già precedentemente apprezzato nel libro 𝐿𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑑𝑖 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖 𝑀𝑟𝑠. 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑠, ma questa ho avuto difficoltà a concentrarmi sul contenuto a volte monotono, soprattutto nella parte centrale.
.
.
Ringrazio la casa editrice per la copia omaggio in cambio di una sincera opinione.
.
.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was written before “The Country of the Pointed Firs” and is a good example of how an author grows and gathers strength which is ultimately expressed in a masterwork. I didn’t want to compare Deephaven to TCOTPF, but it’s hard not to, as both are about places and people that were obviously the passion and focus of Jewett’s life and writing. Deephaven is about 2 young friends who spend a holiday in an old seaside community, and get to know the people and their simple but dignified way of life set apart from the bustle of the world. Charming in its own way, for me it failed to have the peculiar impact of The Country of the Pointed Firs.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read if you're at the beach, would just like to be. This is a great example of just how insightful literature can be even if the tone is generally sentimental. The sentiment is strong, but the realities of life in what is basically a fictional tourist town is just as unflinching. This is the kind of book that stays with you and haunts you, inviting you back and inhabiting your dreams.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The influence of Elizabeth Gaskell looms large over Deephaven - indeed Sarah Orne Jewett acknowledges the debt she owes to the British writer - but this is much more than Cranford-by-the-Sea. Jewett's descriptions of the New England seaboard are vividly sketched from soft pastels to the richest oils. She also describes a way of life, sustained by the ocean, that was rapidly passing way in her lifetime.

[Rahel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definite contender for book of the year for me.

Lovely writing, masterfully described scenes of nature and the people living alongside it. I'm a sucker for village portraits and "overdescriptions" and found the slow pacing to be no hurdle at all, though I can see how it would frustrate other readers. It's a perfect little summer book that I would gladly read again at the seaside every year as the weather grows warmer.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered Jewett when I was researching Maine as a setting for a novel. Originally I was reading her for her language style and descriptions of the setting. By the end of the book, I was enjoying her stories as well as her essays and memoirs. A deceptively engaging writer.

[Sher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old-fashioned 19th C charm.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

...those last pages hit hard, deeply melancholic.

Beautifully and readable written, inhabiting the point of view of a sweet, straightforward female friendship.

[Bücherbummlerblog · Rating 4 out of 5]

In der Regel beginne ich meine Buchbesprechungen mit einer kurzen Inhaltsangabe. Bei „Deephaven“ von Sarah Orne Jewett ist das mit einem Satz getan: Die Freundinnen Kate und Helen beschließen, den Sommer im Haus von Kates verstorbener Tante in Deephaven zu verbringen. Den Rest des Buches verbringen wir damit, den beiden jungen Frauen durch das Dorf an der Küste von Maine zu folgen und die Bewohner näher kennenzulernen.

Jewett war bei der ersten Veröffentlichung von „Deephaven“ im Jahre 1877 gerade mal 28 Jahre alt, erste Entwürfe des Romans waren sogar bereits vier Jahre vorher erschienen. Und man merkt dem Buch diese Jugend im positiven Sinne an. Es sprüht vor Lebensfreude, Abenteuerlust und Offenheit. Ihre Anekdoten – oder vielleicht sollte man lieber von Skizzen sprechen – beweisen eine erstaunliche Beobachtungsgabe. Es ist eins dieser Bücher, bei denen man sich fühlt, als wäre man selbst vor Ort, direkt und unmittelbar.

Wunderbar sind auch Jewetts Figuren, die Deephaven bevölkern, charakterisiert. Während ich Kate und Helen zwar charmant, aber auch ein ganz klein wenig langweilig fand, haben mich vor allem die weiblichen Dorfbewohner begeistert. Allen voran Mrs. Kew, die Frau des Leuchtturmwärters, Mrs. Bonny, die Witwe, die nach ihren eigenen Regeln alleine weit ab vom Geschehen lebt, und Miss Chauncy, deren geistiger Verfall gnadenlos voranschreitet.

Was mir auch gut gefallen hat, ist, dass Jewett, trotz aller Idylle, nicht die sozialen und gesellschaftlichen Ungleichheiten umgeht. Tod, Krankheit, Armut, Einsamkeit, Klassenunterschiede… All das ist genauso Teil von Deephaven, wie von jedem anderen Ort der Welt. Und dankbarer Weise verzichtet die Autorin darauf, Lösungen finden zu wollen und ihren Figuren ein glückliches Ende anzudichten, dass der Realität des Lebens und der Glaubwürdigkeit der Geschichte nicht standgehalten hätte.

Erwähnen möchte ich auch ausnahmsweise die liebevolle Gestaltung der Hardcover-Ausgabe durch den mare-Verlag. Ich lege eigentlich nicht allzu viel wert auf das Aussehen eines Buches, aber „Deephaven“ ist mit dem schönen Cover und dem Schuber ein erwähnenswertes Kleinod geworden.

Jewett hat in einem Brief an ihren Mentor Theophilus Parsons geschrieben, dass für sie die Hauptaussage ihres Buches darin liegt, dass der Mensch sich für sein eigenes Glück und Unglück selbst entscheiden kann. Dass er selbst bestimmt, ob er sich an einem Ort wie Deephaven langweilt, oder die schönste Zeit seines Lebens verbringt, eine Lebensphilosophie, die sie Kate im Buch auch aussprechen lässt. Ob dem nun so ist, oder nicht: Ich bin bei der Lektüre gar nicht auf die Idee gekommen, mich in Deephaven zu langweilen. Für mich war das Buch ein warmer Sommertag, an dem man die Sonne und den Wind auf der Haut spürt, die Möwen kreischen hört, das Salz des Meeres einatmet und sich unversehrt und sorgenfrei fühlt. Dieses Buch ist, wenn man sich darauf einlässt, ein kleines Geschenk.

[Kind of Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dopo averlo abbandonato e venduto, ricompro il libro con la speranza di capirci qualcosa.
Il libro ha molte lacune.
Chi racconta, ovvero Helen, non entra quasi mai nelle storie raccontate; infatti, solo Kate si relaziona con le persone del luogo, mentre lei rimane sempre ai margini come semplice osservatrice.
Un'altra pecca, sono i tanti personaggi di Deephaven che man mano affiorano nei capitoli. Sono tutti simili, senza alcuna caratterizzazione che li faccia emergere. Per non parlare dei loro dialoghi, o meglio lunghi monologhi, tutti con lo stesso timbro, senza alcuna empatia.
La zia defunta di Kate, aleggia all'inizio del libro. Tutti gli abitanti del luogo ne parlano con molto rispetto ma non aggiunge né toglie qualcosa all'esiguo racconto.
I capitoli si leggono abbastanza veloci ma non resta nulla tra le mani.
Se il racconto non ha avuto successo, un motivo ci sarà.
Debole

[Kelly Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two lovely bits:

"Then we would have an unreasonably good supper and afterward climb the ladder to the lantern to see the lamps lighted, and sit there for a while watching the ships and the sunset."

"We each have our pet books; Kate carries with her a much-worn copy of 'Mr Rutherford's Children' . . . I am not often separated from Jean Ingelow's 'Stories told to a Child.'"

Other things Kate and Helen love to read (though "it is very hard to make a list of the books one likes best," Helen wisely admits): The Village on the Cliff, Henry Esmond, Tom Brown at Rugby, Fenelon, Pet Marjorie, Rab, Annals of a Parish, The Life of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Miss Tytler's Days of Yore, Mr. Emerson's essays, Leslie Goldthwaite

[Ritja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deephaven wurde schon 1877 von Sarah Orne Jewett geschrieben. Das liest man auf fast jeder Seite. Es folgten sehr detaillierte Beschreibungen der Personen und der häuslichen Gegenstände. Eine ganz genaue Analyse der Begebenheiten und der Umgebung sorgten dafür, dass man sich sein eigenes Deephaven im Kopf skizzieren konnte.

Die Handlung schreitet nur sehr langsam voran und erzählte von dem Sommer zweier Freundinnen auf Deephaven. Sie lebten in dem Haus einer verstorbenen Tante und lernten nun reihum die Menschen aus dem Ort kennen. Sie wanderten von Termin zu Termin und erfuhren dabei vieles aus dem Leben der Menschen, deren Verhältnis zum Meer und der (besonders wertgeschätzten) Tante.

Der Schreibstil ist etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber typisch für diese Zeit. Beim Lesen musste man sich immer wieder daran erinnern, wann das Buch geschrieben wurde und wie zu dieser Zeit die Verhältnisse waren. Mir, persönlich, war das Tempo der Geschichte zu langsam. Ich mochte zwar die Geschichten der Menschen, aber phasenweise wurden sie mir zu detailliert und abschweifend erzählt.

Trotzdem habe ich das Buch gern gelesen, da die Einstellungen und die Werte der Menschen aus dieser Zeit sichtbar wurden.

[Marcia Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two girls summer on the coast of Maine.

Sarah Orne Jewett and her girlfriend spent a summer circa 1840 in her family’s grand house in a small village in Maine. They got to know the villagers and listened to seafarers’ tales. They rowed out to the lighthouse and went fishing for dinner. Humorous incidents were followed by tragedy for an impoverished farmer. The dialog, descriptions, and characters made a deep impression on me. The girls learned life and death lessons that summer.

[Sylvie Vanhoozer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It seemed as if all the clocks in Deephaven, and all the people with them, had stopped years ago, and the people had been doing over and over what they had been busy about during the last week of their unambitious progress. Their clothes has lasted wonderfully well, and they had no need to earn money when there was so little chance to spend it; indeed, there were several families who seemed to have no more visible means of support than a balloon." 42

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1893, this classic story in set in this time period of two young women’s adventurous summer at Deephaven, a community set in times of past near the sea.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

VERY slow, but also a love letter to small town life and the pleasures of spending time with the elders in a community.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Jewett's earliest novels, and drags a bit, but gives you an appreciation of how she grew up. Deephaven is just a different name for where she grew up in South Berwick.

[LauraT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also ***1/2

I've liked the description of the life od this costal village of New Engladn - as if reading Crandford or Miss Read...

[Russel Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The master of writing place, of showing the world through the lens of a small town. Her landscapes come alive, her characters are vivid and singular. Not really a plot though.

[Laura Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Sarah Orne Jewett's writing, but this one seemed disjointed and choppy at times. There were some very sweet parts woven in though.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two close friends (twenty-something young women) go to a deceased aunt's cottage in a fictional town on the coast of Maine for the summer. Written about 1880, it starts out as an interesting look at how wealthy and regular people lived at that time and what two young women would do on vacation in an unfamiliar town. It was a little dull, but then there wasn't much for them to do. I was interested in their interactions with the lighthouse keepers and fishermen, but wanted something more.

[Sheila Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Jewett's first novel. As in her others, there is no real action but I enjoy the "coziness" of her books and the way they harken back to yesterday-year. I love the way she portrays her characters, nearly all of whom are old Mainers. This was a very good read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Country of the Pointed Firs. Lots of local color and quaint old things...oh so very jewett.