Book cover of The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories

Book description

A rich collection of classic American literature potraying the beauty of a 19th-century New England town.

A female writer comes one summer to Dunnet Landing, a Maine seacoast town, where she follows the lonely inhabitants of once-prosperous coastal communities. Here, lives are molded by the long Maine winters, rock-filled fields…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Even though Jewett wrote the stories in this book in the late 1800s, there is a timeless feeling to her prose that reverberates today.

I love Jewett’s attention to and reverence for the natural beauty that surrounds the fictional town of Dunnet Landing. Her descriptions of the Maine coastline—a blend of craggy rocks, forest, meadows, and sea—are visceral, sensory, and alluring. Jewett also nicely captures the hardworking, humorous, quietly resilient spirit of the year-round residents of Dunnet Landing, with a particularly keen and kind eye toward her female characters.

Her care for the everyday rituals of life, the small moments…

If you love The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 67 books like The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories.

Browse books like The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories

Book cover of Olive Kitteridge
Book cover of Empire Falls
Book cover of We Took to the Woods

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

190

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories, you might also like...

Book cover of Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation by Brian Lofton,

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation, is a raw and faith-centered memoir about life after military service—and the internal battles many never see. Brian Lofton shares his journey through addiction, shame, identity loss, and spiritual distance, revealing how the hardest struggles often begin after…

Book cover of No Color Is My Kind

No Color Is My Kind by Thomas R. Cole,

No Color is My Kind tells the stories of the desegregation of Houston, TX, in 1960, the life of civil rights leader Eldrewey Stearns, and the author's relationship to Stearns.

They met in a psychiatric case conference while Stearns was hospitalized at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After his…

5 book lists we think you will like!