Fair Harbor
Joseph C. Lincoln set this 1922 novel in the fictional Cape Cod village of Bayport, where Captain Sears Kendrick is laid up after a railway accident wrecks his legs and ends his life at sea. Looking for something useful to do while he recovers, he reluctantly agrees to manage the Fair Harbor for Mariners’ Women, a charitable home for the widows and female relatives of sea captains. What follows is a warm, gently comic tale of a blunt skipper trying to steer a household of strong-willed women, weathering their suspicion, and finding an unexpected attachment to Elizabeth Berry, who helps run the home. His old shipmate Judah Cahoon, a salty ex-sea cook, supplies much of the laughter. Lincoln was among the most popular writers of Cape Cod life, and the book shows his easy humor and eye for local character.
