A review by trin
Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert

3.0

A generally charming novel about the eccentric residents of a pair of Maine islands inhabited mostly by lobstermen. This book benefits from well-drawn characters and frequently fantastic dialogue, but is hampered by some pretty major pacing issues. Gilbert does a wonderful job creating Ruth Thomas and her world; Ruth is just the kind of heroine I like—tough and funny, far from perfect, clever but vulnerable—and I identified strongly with both her love for her small community, and her feelings of not quite fitting in there. However—the pacing. The book is slow to start and the end is incredibly rushed, to the point where Ruth’s arguably most important acts occur off-stage, between the last chapter and the epilogue. I was really thrown: why, instead of getting to see Ruth rise above a series of hard knocks and maneuver both herself and her island into a better life, are we just quickly told about these events in a few summary paragraphs? That almost felt like it should be the real meat of the novel, but it’s just glossed over. I was also disappointed that we didn’t get a resolution to Ruth’s mother’s story, and that Ruth’s love interest remained so lightly sketched (though there it may just be that taciturn guys are not my type). Like [book: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift] (and the more I think about it, the more this book reminds me of some of [author: Elinor Lipman]’s work), I loved the heroine and enjoyed the book, but was disappointed that it stopped just when things really started to get interesting.