“Brilliant. . . . A shimmering meditation on the ebb and flow of love.” —New York Times
“In her elegant, sophisticated prose, Dillard tells a tale of intimacy, loss and extraordinary friendship and maturity against a background of nature in its glorious color and caprice. The Maytrees is an intelligent, exquisite novel.” — The Washington Times
Toby Maytree first sees Lou Bigelow on her bicycle … Times
Toby Maytree first sees Lou Bigelow on her bicycle in postwar Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her laughter and loveliness catch his breath. Maytree is a Provincetown native, an educated poet of thirty. As he courts Lou, just out of college, her stillness draws him. Hands-off, he hides his serious wooing, and idly shows her his poems.
In spare, elegant prose, Dillard traces the Maytrees’ decades of loving and longing. They live cheaply among the nonconformist artists and writers that the bare tip of Cape Cod attracts. When their son Petie appears, their innocent Bohemian friend Deary helps care for him. But years later it is Deary who causes the town to talk.
In this moving novel, Dillard intimately depicts willed bonds of loyalty, friendship, and abiding love. She presents nature’s vastness and nearness. Warm and hopeful, The Maytrees is the surprising capstone of Dillard’s original body of work.
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this was fantastic. it takes place on the cape and dillard’s writing about the ocean and the dunes and fishermen etc. is very derek walcott-esque. highly recommend.
My second reading of The Maytrees (and my back-to-back first and second listenings to the audio), came at a time of chaos in my life. Perhaps that’s why I love the book so much: for its simplicity and distillation.
It’s not that the prose is simple, it’s often idiosyncratic. But I love the elemental lives of the Maytrees and their friends, and …
Unengaging
Beautifully written, but I didn’t fall in love with the characters. Non-linear chronology in the story telling. However, it’s a modern-day classic.
Dillard always transports me to a different place and time. Very descriptive of oceanside life in historic Provincetown.
boring
Beautifully written, appealing complex characters, redemption
Annie Dillard on the Cape. What’s not to like? Her writing is lyrical and her descriptions of nature evocative and beautiful.
It read like poetry not a novel. A little slow. Loved the descriptions of Provincetown.
Interesting characters and the occasional brilliant sentence. Though at times it seems like the author is trying to impress with her vocabulary.
A real slog
I’ve only read Dillard’s essays until The Maytrees and now I want to read her other novel. Such beauty in the language! I’ve loved her essays for the same reason…her voice speaks to me!
Her writing is incredible — lyrical and brilliant.
I found this book hard to read, but persevered because I wanted to read a book by Annie Dillard.
Predictable and
Boring and lazy prose.
Moving
I couldn’t get past the first few pages. Talk, talk, talk and nothing is said.
The Maytrees is like reading half-pennies in heaven. Such rhythm. Such rhyme. And this is sheer prose!