Sea Room: A Novel

A BookSense 76 selected title As French Canadians living on a saltwater farm overlooking the rugged Maine coast, the Dupuy men are hardworking fishermen and the women are strong and resourceful wives and mothers. Jordi Dupuy is set to become a lobsterman like his father and grandfather when World War II erupts and his father heads to the battlefields. In the wake of the war, Jordi leads three generations of men in building a sailboat worthy of all they have lost and all they have left to live for. Jordi grows up with the code of honor passed down to him, choosing to live a life of integrity--even when it means facing a charge of murder. When Sea Room first appeared in hardback in May 2002, I resolved to visit every bookseller in New England to introduce myself and my book. Using lists from NEBA, BookSense, and the ABA, I plotted a series of trips, little realizing how ambitious my undertaking was. Through a long, hot summer driving a car whose A/C had long ago gone kerflooey, I visited about 150 bookstores, sometimes up to eight a day. But for my ability to take the wrong turn a statistically impossible number of times coupled with New England's antipathy to street signs, I'd have visited more. What started as a journey to introduce my hard-bound, stiff-spined child to the world became a heartening education in the vibrant world of bookstores and the people who run them. Sure, I'd feared hostile receptions. ("What are you doing dropping in unannounced like this?") But while I did receive two or three such greetings, the vast majority of booksellers were warmly welcoming. Most were people who loved what they were doing. You could see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices. I came awaywith a fondness for booksellers--their love of books; their hospitality to writers; and mostly, most assuredly mostly, their commitment to their customers. What a lesson in the way businesses can be! In almost every store I walked into, the shelves whispered, "This ain't the phone company." Also, I feel I made many friends, a good number of whom I saw on several occasions as my efforts yielded up more than fifty store events. So now Sea Room has a softer sibling and I look forward to doing it all again. Oh, if only we have a cool summer...If only I had one of those fancy GPS navigation systems...I was immediately swept away by this evocative and accomplished first novel. Norman Gautreau has created an irresistible universe that centers on a saltwater farm on the rugged coast of Maine during World War II. This is the story of family love and courage under unspeakable circumstances. And the honorable lives of the Dupuy family teach us that, with enough hope, we can always find a little sea room.--E.H.