Among the Isles of Shoals

GoShoals | 9:32 am | June 25, 2012 | Announcements

The writings of Celia Thaxter create a wonderful book review turned descriptive piece:

Writer Celia Thaxter’s 1873 description of the isles does not disappoint. She portrays the Shoals as a tranquil and isolated paradise, the few inhabitants of which soon “forget the hurry and worry and fret of life.” Though located just a few miles from the New England coast (nine at their closest point, according to Thaxter), the nine islands seem as removed from civilization as a distant planet.

“The eternal sound of the sea on every side has a tendency to wear away the edge of human thought and perception; sharp outlines become blurred and softened like a sketch in charcoal; nothing appeals to the mind with the same distinctness as on the mainland, amid the rush and stir of people and things, and the excitement of social life,” she writes.

Read the full article!