A couple set out on a bold and vigorous quest for independence and a more essential way of life on a Maine island

In 1991, Crash Barry moved to Maine's most remote inhabited island to work as a sternman aboard a lobster boat. On Matinicus, twenty miles out to sea, population fifty, the ferry visited nine times a year and airplanes only landed when there was no fog, rain, snow, sleet or darkness. Tough Island is a gritty memoir and guided tour of a unique society inhabited by resourceful individuals and scoundrels.Stories of danger and drugs, sex and violence, death and sorrow, all unfold in a landscape of breathtaking beauty.

Anyone who has come under the spell of Elisabeth Ogilvie's novels to bound to wonder about this writer who, for more than fifty years, has crafted one memorable book after another: historical fiction, mysteries, young adult stories, even a gothic novel. Most are set in Maine or the Scottish Highlands, and for many readers it is Ogilvie's beautifully realized settings that make them pick up her novels again and again. Equally fascinating are her characters: vivid, individual, appealingly imperfect, deeply rooted in their families and home ground. Now, at last, we have a book about this prolific yet unassuming author who would rather live quietly on her Maine island than seek the limelight. A Mug-Up with Elisabeth is the definitive resource on her life, her work, her characters, and her settings--including Criehaven, the inspiration for Bennett's Island, which is arguably one of the most evocative locales in American fiction. On Bennett's Island, many a tale is told and many a crisis resolved around the kitchen table while the islanders pause for a "mug-up" of coffee. In these pages, readers can enjoy a mug-up with Elisabeth Ogilvie herself.