The Country of the Pointed Firs · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett.

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Chapter 1
I: The Return
The narrator returns to the coastal village of Dunnet Landing, a place she first visited two or three summers earlier during a yachting cruise. She reflects on the unique charm of the town, its rocky shore, dark woods, and flower-filled gardens, and describes the deep affection she feels for the place, comparing it to falling in love and then growing a lifelong friendship. One evening in June, she arrives alone by steamboat and is greeted by a crowd of spectators as she walks up the narrow street.
Chapter 2
II: Mrs. Todd
The narrator describes her summer lodging at Mrs. Almira Todd's small house, which lacks seclusion due to Mrs. Todd's bustling herb business. Mrs. Todd is a skilled herbalist who grows a variety of medicinal plants and brews remedies for neighbors, often dispensing them with secretive caution. She also makes famous spruce beer. The narrator assists Mrs. Todd in her business, but eventually withdraws to focus on her writing, though their intimacy deepens. One misty night, Mrs. Todd reveals a past love for a man above her station, a love thwarted by his mother and circumstance, leaving her with lasting regret.
Chapter 3
The Schoolhouse
The narrator, seeking solitude from Mrs. Todd's bustling medical practice and gossip, rents the vacant schoolhouse on the hill for fifty cents a week. She spends many undisturbed days there, enjoying the sea view and the quiet, returning to Mrs. Todd's for supper. Mrs. Todd visits once to gather tansy, explaining that being scuffed down makes it grow better, like people who had it hard in youth.
Chapter 4
At the Schoolhouse Window
The narrator arrives late at the schoolhouse after attending the funeral of Mrs. Begg. From the window, she observes the funeral procession, noting Mrs. Todd's genuine grief, the mysterious Captain Littlepage, and the disliked Mari' Harris. The beautiful summer day contrasts with the somber event, and the narrator feels a growing sense of isolation and detachment from the community, realizing she does not truly belong.
Chapter 5
Captain Littlepage
The narrator is working in the schoolhouse when Captain Littlepage visits. He speaks of the recent death of Mrs. Begg, then shares his belief that truth about the afterlife can be known in this world. He recounts his final voyage as master of the Minerva, which ended in disaster, and laments the decline of seafaring and the narrowing of community life in Dunnet Landing.

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I: The Return

II: Mrs. Todd

The Schoolhouse

At the Schoolhouse Window

Captain Littlepage