Maine: Southport & Around

SUMMER READING The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor This is the kind of historical novel that sweeps you up immediately and keeps you absorbed all the way through.  Set in 1838 on the Irish coast and in1938 off Newport, Rhode Island, two young women become attached to, devoted, some might say, to their respective lighthouses. Grace Darling, …

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Eating

CONCERT NOTE Kudos to the Ladies Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was a talented and precocious composer and pianist.  But, she was female, and as sister to her talented brother Felix, she was relegated to the back of the room.  Their father declared that Felix would have the musical career and she would not.  In her day, some of her …

Tidy Tidbits: Reading Update & More

A NOVEL, A MYSTERY AND A MEMOIR Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict This historical novel is built around the premise that someone or some event must have triggered Andrew Carnegie’s transformation from merely a successful, rich, and somewhat ruthless businessman into the philanthropist and library founder he became.  Clara Kelley is poor and young and sent …

Tidy Tidbits: Screen, Page & Plate

SMALL SCREEN Shetland (Amazon Prime & BritBox) We recently watched Seasons 5 and 6 of this Scottish detective series and it’s excellent.  One of the best of its kind!  Each season consists of six episodes and there is only one case that’s ongoing across the entire season.  More than most, this is a character-driven series, and Douglas Henshall …