Homespun Tales

In these three homespun tales of an imagined Maine village, Kate Douglas Wiggin turns riverbanks, meetinghouses, and a Shaker community into living sources of story. Her affectionate introduction links each tale to a place she knew and loved, promising vivid New England scenes shaped by memory, local color, and the quiet power of landscape. From the Saco River's working waters to the old church pews of village life and the disciplined serenity of the Shakers, the collection captures the beauty, humor, and restraint of rural Maine. Rose O' the River opens with Stephen Waterman's deep bond to the river and his longing glance toward Rose Wiley, the flowerlike girl across the water. The story follows Rose in her modest home, where her beauty, orderliness, and easy wit meet the rough talk of grandparents and the dangerous world of log driving. In The Old Peabody Pew, Nancy Wentworth waits more than ten years for Justin Peabody's return, her hidden devotion unfolding amid Christmas Eve church work, village thrift, and the stubborn imperfections of communal life. Susanna and Sue draws on Wiggin's childhood visits to a Shaker settlement, portraying faith, discipline, and human longing with warmth and truth. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.