Margreete's Harbor

Margreete’s Harbor by Eleanor Morse 384 pages

This quiet novel of dementia, aging, family and music is perfect for fans of Anne Tyler, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout. Set on the coast of Maine, the seasons play almost as an important role as the characters. The novel begins in 1955 and runs through the late 1960s.

The opening scene illustrates the mild dementia that thrice-widowed Margreete is experiencing. In the first scene, Margreete forgets a frying pan on the stove and almost burns her house down, but luckily, only the kitchen is damaged. She calls her daughter, Liddie, in Michigan to tell her what has happened.

That the cue that Liddie needs to know that it is time: Margareete cannot live alone any longer. Either she comes to live with them or go to an old folk’s home. Margreete refuses to move, so Liddie and her family (husband Harry; children Bernie and Eva) pack up their lives and move across the country.

“Margreete’s Harbor” is about family and how people learn to live together. As I said earlier, it is a quiet, character-driven story that ebbs and flows much like the ocean that isn’t far away.

The story hits upon some of the major historical events of the time (Vietnam, JFK and MLK assassinations, desecration) that touch Margreete’s family, along with individual crises of infidelity, coming out, identity, unexpected pregnancy and betrayals.

Each chapter kept me captivated by workings of Margreete’s family and how they negotiated…or not…what life threw at them. I really enjoyed this novel. It was hard to put down, and I was sad when it ended.

 “Margreete’s Harbor,” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.