I've discovered a new author whose work I think I need to explore. May Sarton is someone I've heard other readers talk about, and I think I even have one of her books on my shelves, but I hadn't thought of picking up any of her work anytime soon (and she seems to have an extensive list of poetry, novels and journals/memoirs to her name). She was born in Belgium in 1912 but moved with her family to Boston, Massachusetts in 1915. I was choosing a list of books to be voted on by The Slaves of Golconda, and I came across her whilst browsing for ideas.
[So this is a nice moment where I shall put in a little plug for the Slaves bookgroup. Do click on over and take a look around if you aren't familiar. We are just now choosing our next book to read (for October) and anyone is welcome to join in. Feel free to leave a comment, vote on a book, and if you'd like to be able to post on the blog just leave your email address and we'll get you set up with an invite].
As it is my turn to choose a few titles that everyone votes on, I thought a classic novel for the fall might be nice. I admit the books are all books I would love to read, but hopefully others will want to read something from the list, too. I was all set to add Edith Wharton to the list, and very worthy would she be, too, but we have read one of her books already, so I thought perhaps someone else should get a chance. One thing led to another. I decided on a novel by May Sarton, then went to my own library's catalog to see what we own by her and a quick skim down the list and The House by the Sea caught my eye. A house by the sea? That's exactly what I want. Since I can't have it at the moment, reading about someone who does have it is always the next best thing, right?
According to the preface she moved into this house in 1973. She wanted to keep a journal of her first impressions, "a first imprint of a major change in my life", she writes. Sarton published a number of her journals during her lifetime (she died in 1995), and I wonder if it is better to read them in chronological order as she refers to previous life events in this book without giving much explanation. However, I am just going to press on as I am drawn to her words. She had been living in Nelson, New Hampshire and when two friends bought an estate in York, Maine, right on the coast, they invited her to live in a house on the property while they built a modern home. It was a shingled, many-windowed house looking down to the sea over a long field. Doesn't that sound blissful?
I've only just brought this book home and have started reading, so this is a little taste from her first entry.
Wednesday, November 13th, 1974
"At last I am ready to start a journal again. I have lived here in York for a year and a half, dazzled by the beauty of this place, but I have not wanted to write about it until today. Perhaps something cracked open in Europe (I went over for a month in mid-October); for the first time I can play records, and poems are shooting up. For two years I have not been able to listen to music because opening that door had become too painful after the hell of the last two years in Nelson. But I have been happy in this place from the very first day. And every day since then I have woken at dawn to watch the sun rise.
I am living under a powerful spell, the spell of the sea. But in one way it is not as I imagined, for I had imagined that part of the spell would be the influence of the tides, rising and falling. But I do not see the rocks or the shoreline from my windows; I look out to the ocean over a long field, so I am not aware of the tides, after all, nor influenced by their rhythm; instead, I am bathed in the gentleness of this field-ocean landscape. Without tension, it has been the happiest year I can remember (and after all, I did manage to write a short novel)."
Now I want to know everything. Why she is there, and what it's like, what makes her happy. The book is made up of journal entries with black and white photos interspersed in the text. I will keep this on my night stand and pick it up every night to read a few entries before bedtime. Maybe I'll want to move to York, Maine, too. I'll let you know how it goes.