Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America

Being from Downeast myself, a woman coming of age in a fishing community just as the opioid epidemic really took hold, I was really interested in this book, so much so that I pre-ordered it. While the stories of the five girls totally resonated with me, though I grew up and went to school about an hour away from where they did, the storytelling and writing style left so much to be desired. Perhaps the book was meant for those who have never been to or grown up in rural America, let alone rural coastal Maine, and I can see how a total outsider to rural American poverty would find this book “enlightening” or “eye opening” and if that’s the case I can see the merit. I would have loved to read this book by someone who has lived experience, not someone who was doing an anthropological study.

I live full-time in the Downeast Region and loved this book, because it was EMPOWERING to women, and know so many women in the Downeast community who are excited about the optimism of the book. In fact, I attended an author talk last weekend at the Porter Library in Machias. There was a great community crowd there, and in the discussion, several women talked about how much this book meant to them - that they felt, for the first time, seen and heard. One woman whose daughter grew up with these young women said at the event her daughter was so excited that these stories were being told.<br /><br />Then, today's Portland Press-Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram came out - and an article on the book, the young women, and the WRITING PROCESS was featured prominently. The Portland reporter had interviewed two of the women, who self-identified with their real names and were GLOWING about working with the author. One said "I love the way the book was written and the way it came out in general, but my favorite part is how so many people in the community have talked about it and love reading about the women in our community". Another said she "liked the way she was portrayed in the book" and that Georges "captured the diversity of experiences in our community as well as the commonalities that we share".<br /><br />The paper said that a third young woman from the book had joined, using her real name, in a book event with the author and Hillary Clinton - so I checked out that interview on the Web, and that girl was a senior at Yale and so positive about her experiences working with the author.<br /><br />Another really cool thing was that at the Machias event, the author said that she shared her material with all the young women through the whole 4-year process to make sure they were comfortable with it, and that at the end, they all read their sections and each of the young women signed off on them before the book was published. I personally thought that was so awesome!<br /><br />I'm new to the Goodreads community but feel so passionate about this book and the message it sends, that I really felt I had to write. When I read through some of the other reviews on this page, I thought they might not know how many of us there are here in the Downeast Region who love and appreciate this work and the pride so many in the community have said they feel in it.

All my life, I have been trying to explain to "people from away" what it is like to grow up in Downeast Maine. This book renders the complexity of that experience with sensitivity, honesty and insight. Thank you, Gigi Georges. Although I am a generation older than these girl, I feel seen and understood.

My strongest reaction to this book is my feeling of great discomfort at being a voyeur to all these intimate details of these girls' lives, of their parents' lives and their grandparents' lives. At no point are we told that the girls understood what would happen to the information they shared with the author, that they were given a copy of the material to read before it was published, that they were able to consider the implications to their families' from the revelation of all these family secrets. The point of the story is that in small towns everyone KNOWS everyone else. Though the author didn't reveal the real names of these girls, she gives enough information that most people in the tight knit community she so lauds will know whom she is talking about. The repercussions of the revelation of these secrets on the families seems to not bother the author a whit. I live in one of these towns she is talking about. Granted, I am from away and live here only in the summer. But I am appalled at the level of detail she gave which is so easily traced and I feel great empathy for those families who are now so hung out to dry. It doesn't matter that her tone is so empathic and understanding. These were NOT her secrets to tell.

Being a New Englander I thought for sure this book would resonate with me but it fell flat. There were far too many people to keep track of and then partners, parents, grandparents, etc. I was constantly lost and trying to remember the backstory of whoever I was reading about at that moment. The author would be in the middle of a touching story about one of these girls and then the next paragraph would be quoting extremely dry and uninteresting (to me) statistics. I ended up flipping through all of those pages and by the end of the book really didn't care how life turned out for any of them. Three stars for the personal stories and how brave the girls were for sharing it all publicly.

Tucked into the extreme Northeast corner of the United States, Washington County in Maine is one of the most isolated and poverty riddled places in our nation. To the east and north is Canada, to the west is the even more isolated, forest wilderness of central Maine, and to the south is the frigid Atlantic Ocean. Most of the inhabitants either fish, catch lobster or pick blueberries. There are minimal jobs and career options, with a sparse population riddled by fentanyl and drug abuse. A smattering of tiny towns and villages cling to the rocky coast.<br /><br /> "Downeast" is a portrait of five Maine girls and their families. Gigi Georges is quick to point out that most of the population are from long lines of family, held here by a fierce loyalty, determination and tradition. Caught up in the heartbreaking realities of life today......rural poverty, isolation, joblessness, opioid addiction, the harsh and dangerous environment, and finally the Covid Pandemic.... Washington County makes for a stark, modern day portrait.<br /><br /> "Downeast" offers an observant and compassionate glimpse into the detailed lives of five young women, coming of age in this setting. It pulls no punches, but instead presents an honest, shocking, heartbreaking story of these five lives and what they have to deal with through high school and beyond. So much history and family tradition is both a security and a trap. With amazing empathy, Georges describes how these girls manage and navigate the difficult decisions of their lives, struggling with their demons and the outside world that has forgotten them or tries to make sure they remain irrelevant.<br /><br /> As with many things in life, our weaknesses are also part of our strengths. Coping and caring and learning to work together through grit, honesty and faith are central to their perspectives. This book is surprisingly reassuring at our human ability to be resilient and overcome problems. These five girls are simply amazing, and offer hope by their example and determination. But NOTHING in this story is whitewashed, sugar coated or skimmed over. The pain and difficulties of life are presented realistically and bluntly. Somehow these five girls all find ways to create their own paths and move their lives forward.<br /><br /> I liked this book a lot. It was current and interesting. There were a lot of characters, as each girl and her family and its history were presented, making it difficult to keep it all clear at times. But I felt like I knew each girl by the end, and was amazed at their combined determination and spirit.<br />This book was very much like J D Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy", which was also a glimpse into the legacy of poverty and isolation in rural America. Instead of lobstering, fishing and blueberries, Vance's book was more about chasing elusive factory jobs and changes in the economic realities in the Heartland. <br /><br /> Both stories offer serious food for thought, as this nation of untold wealth and privilege leaves so many of its people to deal with isolation, neglect, abuse and poverty. These kinds of portraits need to shine light on these problems, so we as a nation can admit our failures and find ways to do better.

Familiar feeling trek to the rural, eastern county in Maine where I spent the first 19 years of life. Appreciated the author’s respect for the region and her focus on the strength and role of women in corners of rural and impoverished areas of America like Washington County. Felt that her writing helps to shatter the stereotypes of people living in communities like these—it is not a book of judgment or condescension. ?<br /><br />Amused by the shout-out to one of my own high school English teachers (named here as “Molly Richardson”) who appeared at the end of the book. :) And the shout-out to “Catherine” of Blacks Woods Rd fame will make those from this region smile in recognition as well. <br /><br />Note for the Harper Collins editors: It is “Roque BluffS” not “Roque Bluff”. Downeaster’s will understand.

Having lived and worked in this community since 2016, it was hard not to be very critical of this book and I'll admit I was a bit close-minded going in! It felt like yet another example of a nonlocal author romanticizing the most challenging aspects of this place. She also made it very obvious who each of the characters are despite the name changes which hopefully doesn't have any negative repercussions to those people. I hope that readers see through the gloom and come experience this special place for themselves.

I thought I was going to read a coming of age story of 5 women. This book is so much more than that. It's a history lesson, it's an economics lesson and a lesson in rural America before and during COVID and it's a lesson on strong females making their way, life and space in their corner of the world. This book is interesting and a bit surprising and I like it!

As someone who grew up in Maine, with entirely different circumstances, I was so moved by this book. I found the author’s approbatory tone regarding the Downeast community’s “continued hope and resilience,” off-putting. But there is no denying George’s ability to write. I was captured by every girl, and became entirely invested. The book was heartfelt and compelling.