Beginning ~ in the frosty winter of 1814

Beginning

Judy Rhines decided to take the footpath through the pasture.  It was half the distance of walking all the way down the Commons Road and back up Dogtown Road, and she wanted to get there early enough to be of help.

The Last Days of Dogtown – by Anita Diamant, 2005, historical fiction (Massachusetts), 304 pages

Set on the high ground at the heart of Cape Ann, the village of Dogtown is peopled by widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, whores, free Africans, and "witches."  Among the inhabitants of this hamlet are Black Ruth, who dresses as a man and works as a stonemason; Mrs. Stanley, an imperious madam whose grandson, Sammy, comes of age in her brothel; Oliver Younger, who survives a miserable childhood at the hands of his aunt; and Cornelius Finson, a freed slave.  At the center of it all is Judy Rhines, a fiercely independent soul, deeply lonely, who nonetheless builds a life for herself against all odds.  This is an extraordinary retelling of a long-forgotten chapter of early American life.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.