Young Henry Coombs abruptly leaves this hardscrabble fishing community to join the army. His departure stuns his family which is already struggling with illness and the perils of bad weather. Within the context of Henry’s journey, the reader learns fascinating details of life in a military encampment, the war’s effect on the Maine home front, and the devastation of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Scott’s gift for period detail, subtle humor, and fully dimensional characters makes this an engrossing and haunting novel.
