On Tuesday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m., the library will host Author Gigi Georges who will talk about her book "Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen History of Rural America." In person, on St John's Lawn (across from Library). No registration is necessary.

Borrow a copy of Downeast HERE.

Downeast honors the lives of five remarkable young women, and through them, the paths of young women across rural America. It shines a light, too often obscured, on the indispensable role contemporary rural women play in their communities.

More broadly, Downeast seeks to move beyond the conventional narrative about rural hopelessness and despair, of a local populace clambering to escape. By widening my lens and immersing myself in the Downeast community, what I discovered runs counter to those dominant downbeat portrayals—and debunks the notion that young people, in particular, have to flee to succeed. Yes, there are significant challenges. But there is also much to celebrate.

Downeast is also a recognition of the transcendent power of rootedness. As Americans, we rightly cherish our mobility—especially our ability to traverse freely across our nation’s vast terrain. Yet mobility without rootedness, without meaningful and longstanding connections to those around us, can prompt emptiness and a yearning for something more. This recognition moves beyond questions of rural versus urban; it extends to the relationships we establish with those around us, the degree to which we nurture them, and the ways our interactions foster strong social capital and not merely individual but community-based resilience. It leaves us to ponder the deeper truth of Dorothy’s well-worn adage, that ultimately, “there’s no place like home.

"In this remarkable book, Gigi Georges explores the lives of five girls in rural Maine over four years. She catalogs their dreams, longings, and awakenings with sensitivity and tact, revealing both nuanced aspects of character and larger points about the complicated world in which these girls live. Downeast is important, arresting, and engrossing.”

— Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Gigi Georges, Ph.D., turned to narrative non-fiction writing after an extensive career in politics, public service, and academia. A former White House Special Assistant to the President and U.S. Senate State Director, she has taught political science at Boston College, served as a Program Director for the Harvard Kennedy School, and been a Managing Director of The Glover Park Group—a leading national public affairs firm. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she lives with her husband and ten-year-old daughter in New Hampshire and Downeast Maine.