For more information about the Concord Public Library, visit concordpubliclibrary.net.
The House on Salt Hay Road
Carin Clevidence
2010, 285 pages
Fiction
Carin Clevidence grew up “skating on the frozen canals of the boatyard, crabbing on the river, and sailing on the Great South Bay.” This novel, her first, is based in that locale.
Her tale is informed by the stories of her grandparents and their friends who lived in the area during the 1930s and '40s. You feel how the climate, the bay and the remoteness have formed the characters, most of whom are quiet, strong, self-reliant people. Clevidence's writing exhibits a deep understanding of and affection for the land and its people.
The main characters are brother and sister, Clayton and Nancy Poole. When Clay is 7 and Nancy 14, they are orphaned and taken in by their mother's family. Having no memory of his father who died when he was 3, and losing his mother so young, Clay has an understandable attachment to his sister and to this place.
The story begins when Clay is 12 and Nancy 19. The relationship between the two and the lives of their grandfather, aunt and never-married uncle begin to change after a stranger, who comes to study birds, enters their lives. Clevidence writes with sensitivity about the internal lives of these characters as their insular world changes.
