I downloaded this book because I hoped it might be a feminist, contemporary version of The Outermost House by Henry Beston, which is also set on Cape Cod. Wrong! Nature appears in this book only as a backdrop to the personal growth of the author. A Year By the Sea is subtitled Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman. Well, I am an unfinished woman, too, and I’ve got my own thoughts to keep me busy.
I’m thinking about whether I should take a vacation on Cape Cod. I fear it has been developed beyond bearing, like Ocean City, Maryland and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. So I guess, when I get a chance, I’ll head for Chincoteague, Virginia, and try to enjoy it before sea level rise obliterates it. If I’m going to have a life crisis like Joan Anderson and need to run off for a season or a year, I better do it soon, before Chincoteague disappears.
AMG Reading Journal 