ISLAND SECRETS: STORIES FROM THE COAST OF MAINE

Playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) wrote: “There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses.” Some people, however, keep secrets for so long it doesn’t matter anymore except to them. And “Island Secrets” tells those stories well.

One secret happily revealed is Maine author Catherine Lee’s wonderful writing skill, showcasing exceptional storytelling talent with 12 short stories in this magnificent collection. Six stories have been previously published in literary journals, but all 12 can now be enjoyed by a wider, appreciative audience. Readers will be enchanted by Lee’s imagination, imagery, characters and the situations most folks would like to keep secret.

There is tragedy, sadness, anger and disappointment here, but also some wry humor, romance and heartwarming tenderness. In “Never Love a Fisherman,” a tragedy at sea leaves a pregnant young wife clinging to hope despite knowing “hope’s just another form of denial.” Several sad stories deal with family feuds, abuse and drunkenness with unforgiving fathers who won’t bury the hatchet, but will instead spend their lives sharpening it.

“Island Secrets” tells of the fracture of a long friendship, and the joys of a most satisfying seduction and a May-December romance. “Island to Island” is a happy tale of a family working out a terrific business deal. “Borderline” is a charming story about teenage romance and youthful inspiration between a California surfer dude and a Penobscot girl.

Other stories explore what happens after a suspicious death at an island rock quarry; an elderly woman gathers her family and makes an announcement, but no one picks up on what she is really saying; and an unemployed drug addict whose life is circling the drain continues to make bad decisions until one day he finally figures it out.

VISUALIZING NATURE: ESSAYS ON TRUTH, SPIRIT, AND PHILOSOPHY

Deer Island poet and editor Stuart Kestenbaum is a thoughtful, artful man. You would expect him to be, as he is a former Poet Laureate of Maine and director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. But this book is an even more creative idea.

“Visualizing Nature” is a collection of 20 short essays provided by 21 contributors who were asked to reflect on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1836 essay “Nature.” Kestenbaum challenged them with these questions: “How does the natural world speak to us and how do we listen?” And the results are incisive and revealing.

Kestenbaum lives in Maine, and so do three of the contributors. But all the essayists provide a satisfying variety of thought, image and understanding of nature. An excerpt from Emerson’s “Nature” essay sets the tone: “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.”

Maulian Dana is a Penobscot tribal ambassador and her essay reminds us that the earth cares for us “even when we don’t deserve it.” Portland writer Betsy Sholl’s essay, “Roll and Hiss and Foam,” describes her childhood fascination with the ocean and seashore. Rockland herbalist Deb Soule explains the many medicinal uses of the biennial herb Teasel.

Other essays explore the language of nature (words really are meaningful); mapping the changes of nature’s geography over the years; sitting quietly outdoors on a summer night listening and watching; swimming in a cold-water pond; the “anti-garden” movement; and Doug Tallamy’s eloquent ode to the mighty oak tree: “I cannot imagine life without them.”

Best, however, is Wallace Kaufman’s poignant and tender essay “Life Cycles,” where he describes teaching his young daughter the mysteries and wonders of the life and death cycles of nature.

Bill Bushnell lives and writes in Harpswell.

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