In Downeast, Gigi Georges follows five girls as they come of age in one of the most challenging and geographically isolated regions on the Eastern seaboard. Their stories reveal surprising truths about rural America and offer hope for its future. “It’s almost impossible not to care about these fierce young women and cheer for their hard-won successes” (Kirkus) in this “heartfelt portrait” and “worthy tribute” (Publishers Weekly). Nestled in Maine’s far northeast corner, Washington County sits an hour’s drive from the heart of famed and bustling Acadia National Park. Yet it’s a world away. For Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie—five teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region—it is home. Downeast follows their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times, creating a nuanced and unique portrait of rural America with women at its center. Willow lives in the shadow of an abusive, drug-addicted father and searches for stability through photography and love. Vivian, a gifted writer, feels stifled by her church and town, and struggles to break free without severing family ties. Mckenna is a softball pitching phenom whose passion is the lobster-fishing she learned at her father’s knee. Audrey is a beloved high school basketball star who earns a coveted college scholarship but questions her chosen path. Josie, a Yale-bound valedictorian, is determined to take the world by storm. All five girls know the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction. As the girls reach adulthood, they discover that despite significant challenges, there is much to celebrate in “the valley of the overlooked.” Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature’s rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home. Revealed through the eyes of Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie, Downeast is based on four years of intimate reporting. The result is a beautifully rendered, emotionally startling, and vital book. Downeast will break readers’ hearts yet offer them hope, providing answers to what the future may hold for rural America.

An account of a uniquely located county's involvement in the Civil War - unique because of its connections to Canada and access to the ocean.The "Home Front" chapter outlines the politics, attitudes toward the war, recruitment successes and failures, effects on home life, and relations with Canada. Army regiments containing 50 or more county soldiers are briefly followed through the war.Soldiers' wartime experiences, from mundane to tragic to glorious, are recounted.Navy life and operations are outlined, and effects of the war on coastal seafaring.Whenever possible, county participants' names are connected to the battles and other experiences of the war.An appendix lists some 4,700 names of soldiers and sailors - more than 10% of the county's population - and their assignments and fates.In light of the information offered herein, the reader is invited to consider (as does the author) the eternal questions of the meaning of this great conflict and what lessons it may carry for our present and future.The book includes 45 photographs over four chapters, 6 tables, and an extensive appendix of soldiers listed by town of origin and including their age, regiment, rank and fate.

In 1881, with Downeast Maine still in the age of sail, goods are shipped by schooner; people get around by boat, horse and wagon, stage, steamer, and canoe. Machias, Eastport, and Calais are international ports, with St. Croix riverfronts connected by rail. Coastal towns are humming with water-powered mills shipping lumber in schooners built by local shipyards. Along with fishing, farming, and guiding, men work in the lumberwoods, on river drives, and in tanneries. Sardine canneries abound, and quarries ship granite to markets near and far. Everyone who loves exploring Downeast Maine, maps, history, old deeds, and genealogy will enjoy using and perusing this remarkably detailed historic Atlas. Based on plans and surveys, the town, village, and lot maps capture a colorful time in Washington County's history, at the height of a 19th-century coastal economy. Compiled and published by George N. Colby in 1881, the original Atlas of Washington County was drawn in Machias, Maine, and printed in Philadelphia; only 300 copies were printed, now a collector's item. The Coastwise Geographic Edition includes all the archival maps arranged geographically for today's users, plus 40 period photos and captions, preface for historic context, excerpts from an 1881 gazetteer complementing Colby's town profiles, bibliography, and index of historic and current place names. In celebration of the new Downeast Maine National Heritage Area designation, Jane Crosen, Mapmaker is pleased to keep in print this important documentation of Washington County's historic cultural landscape. Quality paperback with dark blue fabric binding, printed in black & white on cream paper with color cover, 74 pages, 12"x 153⁄4".