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North of Boston, in the early 1800s, Cape Ann is a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic and home to Dogtown Common. Between Sandy Bay on the coast and Gloucester Town on Gloucester Harbor, Dogtown is a dying village. Ironically, author Anita Diamant begins her story with the death of Abraham Wharf by his own hand in 1814. The villagers show respect and some grief for Wharf in the spacious parlor of Easter Carter.
The party of mourners includes Judy Rhines, Easter's closest friend, and twelve-year-old Oliver Younger, accompanied by his peculiar Aunt Tammy, often called a witch and ill-humored as well. Others in the company are Ruth, a black woman who dresses in menswear; Mrs. Stanley and her son, Sammy; Mary, the grieving sister of Wharf; and those who come out of the cold for liquid hospitality.
Diamant paints a picture of rural nineteenth century with a gray palette. An occasional bright passage illuminates her word canvas with pale sunshine hues. For the most part, life is cruel in Dogtown. From Boston to Gloucester, whispers of witchcraft, poverty and idiocy abound when the little village is mentioned among knowledgeable persons. Of course, none of the rumors are factual. But legends become volumes when tongues wag about townspeople. Roaming packs of dogs have made the village their home when the fishing and farming industries dry up. Greyling, one of the more fortunate strays, makes a home with Judy Rhines.
One by one, secrets kept for generations within the families of Dogtown become truths known by others. Oliver has had a miserable childhood with Aunt Tammy after his parents die. Tammy persecutes him publicly and humiliates him daily. He is one of the bright rays of sunshine crossing Dogtown. With the help of Judy, whom he trusts, the paper that sets him free from Tammy is a secret no longer kept. Each member of the tight community has darkness they wish to remain hidden.
Diamant's earlier successful novel, THE RED TENT, was a tale of reality for its characters --- structured lives in a remote setting. THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN, though far removed in place and time, tells of a people oppressed by poverty, illness, ignorance and racial inequality --- realities of their own. Reaction to this book, though lukewarm at first, warmed with a passion to read to its conclusion.
Judy Rhines, a spinster (though not of her choosing), is the center of the novel. The others interact through and around her, as she nurtures their physical and emotional upheavals with compassion and sensitivity. When her needs are met by a shadowy character, she rejoices only to be disappointed by rebuff. How she is sought after for help and how she responds are threads that blend the gray palette into a watercolor of lives given meaning. Though not a quick read, this book based on a pamphlet from history is a meaningful study of the early New England character and a good literary piece.
THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN is not triumph over tragedy, but an opening of the human spirit to the possibility of loving.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
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