‘Harbor’ dialogue stiff, preachy Uneven point of view plagues Maine story

HATCHET HARBOR by Jane E. Hartman, Aquarian Systems, Publishers, 1999, paperback, 187 pages, $16.

Lobster fisherman Ab Parks lives part of the year in Hatchet Harbor, Maine, his hometown somewhere near Merrymeeting Bay. A Colgate alumnus, he prefers the rugged life on the water to any other profession. In the winter months he travels. On one of his journeys he meets Lila Crabtree, the National Geographic filmmaker.

After they exchange their personal environmental philosophies about the Serengeti and the deplorable state of the natural world, they have a brief affair. Ab wants to marry Lila, but she’s happy wed to her work.

On another trip, Ab rediscovers Luise, the love of his life, in the desert in the Southwest, near Tucson, where they rekindle the spark in a motel room.

They didn’t marry when they were younger because Ab wasn’t from the right social class. Luise is the daughter of a wealthy Boston family whom Ab’s mother, Anna, cooked for after her husband was killed in WW II.

Meanwhile Luise marries Jack Thorpe, a gay man. (She doesn’t know that at the time; it tends to complicate things – he’s only interested in her money.) Luise’s family has summered at Hatchet Harbor for years and she and Jack continue to do so after they are married. They own a large modern house Jack built on Heron Point, property once owned by Ab’s mother.

Because Ab is unmarried, handsome, desirable and possesses a keen environmental sensibility, women are after him. For instance, Ruthie Marx, Max’s wife, stages a sea emergency – her boat runs out of gas – and gets Ab to rescue her. Then, out there in the middle of the water, she takes off her bikini and tries to seduce him. He resists, but ugly rumors circulate, spread by Bucky and the other guys who hang around the docks.

Max hears about it, but doesn’t believe it was Ab’s fault because he knows Ruthie has a major problem and needs to see a therapist if only he can convince her, for the sake of their children, to get help.

Jack Thorpe is attracted to Ab, too, and yearns to do something about it, but he has other ‘friends’ to keep him entertained. He doesn’t know about the relationship between Ab and Luise.

Meanwhile, Sally Tyler, is circulating a petition about zoning changes to Hatchet Harbor waterfront property. This stirs up the passions of local folk. From that point on things in Hatchet Harbor get really complicated. Will Jack pursue Ab? And if he does, what will Ab do? What will Bucky say about it? Will Luise divorce Jack? Will Ab spurn Luise in favor of Lila when that lady appears in Hatchet Harbor? And what of Geoffrey Sterling, the has-been actor? Will he get to romp with Ruthie before she mends her ways? And will Margot, Geoffrey’s long-suffering artist wife, stay or go? Will Bucky and Sally get together if Sally ever makes up her mind to leave the husband who beats her?

For me, Hatchet Harbor was not a good read. The characters were not well-developed enough to be believable, nor did the descriptions of life in a Maine town ring true. The dialogue feels stiff and sometimes preachy, especially when Ab is letting others know about his environmental philosophy. Another major problem with the book is an uneven point of view which I found confusing. This book needs to be bigger, broader, and more precisely detailed in order for the reader to identify with the characters and understand the events that motivate them.

Jane E. Hartman is the author of 15 books, including “Cougar Woman” and “Living Together in Nature.” She lives and writes in the Southwest.