A Marsh Island

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. As a young child she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and encouraged to take frequent nature walks. Today she is best known for her nature writing and regional works set along the coast of Maine. At nineteen, Jewett had a short story published in The Atlantic. She is the author of Deephaven (1877), Old Friends and New (1879), Country By-Ways (1881), A White Heron and Other Stories (1886), and A Native of Winby and Other Tales (1893). Her novels include A Country Doctor (1884) and The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896). For most of her adult life, Jewett lived with her close friend, Annie Adams Field, in what was then termed a “Boston marriage.”