The Last Days of Dogtown, Anita Diamant
I read the Red Tent by Anita Diamant years and years ago when it first came out and loved, loved, loved it. No seriously if you have not read it yet, go out to your local library or book store and get it ASAP. It’s such a great read. I enjoyed it so much that as soon as Good Harbor, Diamant’s next book came out I pounced on it. However, I came away disappointed. Maybe it was because my own mother had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer just before I read this book about a woman recently diagnosed with breast cancer dealing with the realities of it all – I was just too close to the subject matter. (Don’t worry my mom is fine now!) I’ve had Last Days of Dogtown on my shelf for sometime and I’ve thought about picking it up many times, but somehow never have, until now.
Last Days of Dogtown, takes place in the 1800’s in a remote town in Massachusetts. In it, Diamant gives voice to those that would have been marginalized during that time period – widows, spinsters, orphans, freed slaves who never really felt free – she created this little community of characters that are so special they absolutely deserve to be read about.
Last Days of Dogtown is a subtle novel; it reads almost as a compilation of short stories that are all tied together. Each chapter in the beginning focuses on individual characters living in Dogtown, but towards the end of the novel those characters are woven together in a sense of community. It is a beautifully told story and one that really touched me. It reminded me in writing style of Olive Kitteridge which was a book I adored. This is more subtle, with softer characters, but also a little more bleak or gray where as to me Olive Kitteridge portrayed a much more hopeful color like yellow or orange. Perhaps those are just their respective book covers getting into my brain.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you have enjoyed Diamant in the past I think you too would enjoy it. I’ll have to go read Day After Night next.
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Have you ever read a book that has hit to close to home, and you ended up not enjoying it as much as you thought you would?
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