To the New Owners, Madeleine Blais
To the New Owners, Madeleine Blais
2 Rating(s)
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To the New Owners
A Martha's Vineyard Memoir

Author: Madeleine Blais

Narrator: Laura Copland

Unabridged: 8 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/03/2017


Synopsis

In the 1970s, Madeleine Blais's in-laws purchased a vacation house on Martha's Vineyard for the exorbitant sum of $80,000. 2.2 miles down a poorly marked, one lane dirt road, the house was better termed a shack—it had no electricity, no modern plumbing, the roof leaked, and mice had invaded the walls. It was perfect.

Sitting on Tisbury Great Pond—well-stocked with oysters and crab for foraged dinners—the house faced the ocean and the sky, and though it was eventually replaced by a sturdier structure, the ethos remained the same: no heat, no TV, and no telephone. Instead, there were countless hours at the beach, meals cooked and savored with friends, nights talking under the stars, until at last, the house was sold in 2014.

To the New Owners is Madeleine Blais's charming, evocative memoir of this house, and of the Vineyard itself—from the history of the island and its famous visitors to the ferry, the pie shops, the quirky charms and customs, and the abundant natural beauty. But more than that, this is an elegy for a special place.

About Madeleine Blais

Madeleine Blais was a reporter for the Miami Herald for years before joining the faculty of the School of Journalism at the University of Massachusetts. She is the author of In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle, Uphill Walkers, and The Heart Is an Instrument, a collection of her journalism. Madeleine lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lauren

I wanted to like this book more than I did. George Howe Colt's "The Big House" and Henry Beston's "The Outermost House" have probably set impossible standards in memoirs about seaside houses; in comparison, "To the New Owners" comes off as oddly dry and mostly fluff. I'm not sure why. Certainly the......more

Saying goodbye to the greatest of memories at Tisbury Great Pond (West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard, 1970s to 2014):Whatever you think of today’s “summering” Martha’s Vineyard – when the population on the island swells from 16,000 to over 100,000 – whether you’ve been one of those visitors or aware o......more

Goodreads review by Leah

“My connection with Martha’s Vineyard is my point of balance - here the scale of life, worries, love, happiness doesn’t move” “On the island, I felt like a different, lighter person: more open, less burdened.” I’ve never underlined and highlighted and audibly said “yes” to a book so much before. She......more