The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel

Excellent character development. So good to look inside the lives of people that life has not always been good and to see survival techniques developed and the beauty and ugliness existing side by side.

I just finished this, and finally got my eyes dry. This book works it way into your thoughts and heart: thinking about the characters and the circumstances they find themselves in as the years roll by. The ending is a great surprise, one which I did not expect, and that is rare. This book is so worthy of your reading time. I am going to order The Red Tent now.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book - it inspired me to take a beautiful hike in Gloucester MA where this story of the past took place... You can even see some of the foundation of homes...Great historical fiction book!

I`m a big Anita Diamante fan--love historical novels- & although it`s not as fascinating as The Red Tent---it is interesting to learn about different times in different areas. She is quite a storyteller!

But I lost interest very quickly, could not keep up with what was happening the way it was written. Of course it could have to do with my state of mind so I may try it again someday. I was disappointed.

My family has visited Cape Ann. We find it to be a lovely place. That is what led me to read this book. However, it grabbed my interest from the first page. This novel examines the struggles of survival, the results of stereotyping and prejudice, and the best and worst in humanity. It also speaks of the deep bonds that may develop between some humans and their dogs. I recommend it.

Have loved The Red Tent and The Boston Girl novels, but just could not get into this one. I found the book to be somewhat dark in tone and depressing. It demonstrates Ms. Diamant's versatility as a writer, and I will continue to follow her work. However, this one was a miss for me.

“The Last Days of Dogtown” is another book I’m adding to my list of one’s I’m kicking myself over having sat on the bookshelf for too long. That list is growing, and the space on the bookshelf for books that I will never get rid of is dwindling, now that this novel by Anita Diamant is added to it.

As fall approaches I usually like to read books taking the earlier days of America, that of pioneers or early settlers. This novel fit nicely into that category and the plot and characters were so rich, even for one of a smaller page count (short books in my opinion are 400 pages or less). The book is not technically focused on one or two characters, but to that of the people inhabiting one community, usually with one chapter being devoted to one person and their immediate surroundings. This only adds to the stories richness and allows you to see life through each individual’s perspective. As the years go by, forever in the background is the actual setting (establishment of Dogtown), that is dying a slow but irrevocable death.

The author does revisit the characters of Judy and Cornelius and the forbidden love that they share for one another, near the end of the book. For me it was those two who really left an imprint on my heart and helped me devour the book even faster so I could know what happens to them next. Their love is so beautiful, yet so complicated, because of the time and place in which they live. Few books make me choke up at the. This one has left a mark, and though it is not a more recent publication, it is for sure on my list of top ten books I’ve read in 2014.

Dogtown is a dying town at the heart of Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Many people left to make better lives for themselves. Those remaining inhabitants are the poor: widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, whores, drunkards and blacks, called freed slaves. There are even stray dogs who have made their way into town and have made Dogtown their home.

It is the winter of 1814, ABRAHAM Wharf has died. It was CORNELIUS Finson aka Black Neal, who found Abraham with a long knife in his hand. Cornelius carried the corpse to Easter Carter's home, because it was the largest home in Dogtown and people could come and pay their respects there. Abraham was placed in the corner of the parlor, with a yellow gingham cloth covering his face and chest. Easter sends Cornelius to town to find relatives to carry Wharf's body back to Gloucester for a Christian burial.

JUDY Rhines, a poor spinster is the first to arrive. Greyling, a stray dog is her best friend. She is also a good friend of Easter. Judy goes to see Abraham, lifts up the cloth and wonders why there is a curious lack of blood on his throat. Shouldn't his collar be soaked in blood? Shouldn't his hands be stained, his sleeves caked? Perhaps Easter had cleaned it up OR did she?
RUTH arrives and wherever she goes she brings mystery. She is a coffee-colored African, who wears trousers and a cap, has never been seen in a dress and prefers the name of "John Woodman." However, she's known as Black Ruth. She is a stonemason and lives in Easter's attic. Judy is curious and hopes to one day find out more of Ruth's story. Also there is Abraham's sister MARY Lurvey and she can't stop weeping. OLIVER, twelve years old, is accompanied by his peculiar AUNT TAMMY, often called the witch and is always in bad humor. The door opens and in comes MRS. STANLEY, owner of the town brothel and her six year old grandson SAMMY. She brings with her a bottle of RUM in memory of Master Wharf, to go with Easter's cabbage and potatoes. When Sammy first arrived to Dogtown, he had a note pinned to his coat. No one knew who this child was, but Mrs. Stanley introduced him as her daughter's son. No one even knew she had a daughter nor did they believe her story. Finally, the door opens and Abraham's two grandsons are there to pick up their grandfather.

It was over. No one would be going to the funeral. The winter roads were too hard to use. It was time for everyone to return to their crumbling houses to sleep off the effects of the rum. Dogtown turned out to bid farewell to Abraham Wharf.

Judy Rhines is an important character in this book. She's the glue that holds the story together. He father abandoned her when she was only eight years old. She is fiercely independent and a deeply lonely soul, who in spite of all the difficulties ,strives to make a better life for herself. Is she able to succeed? What happens to all the other folks? This book is full of twists and turns and holds your interest from beginning to end.

Anita Diamant's book is beautifully written and is filled with emotion and sensitivity. In her writing, you can feel the pain and loneliness and yet, as hard as life was, the townsfolk never gave up.

I enjoyed this book immensely and give it my highest recommendation of FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS.

This is the fourth novel by Anita Diamant that I've had the pleasure of reading. What immediately struck me is that all of her books are so different. Three of the four are in the historical fiction genre, but this is the only one that's set in America (to my knowledge). I'm amazed at how a writer can read an account of the times (early 1800's in Massachusetts) and put together such a narrative.

The Last Days of Dogtown tells tales of Dogtown's eccentric and dying population, each person considered individually and as part of the community. There were hateful people like Tammy Younger, kind ones like Easter and Cornelius, sad ones like Ruth, and those with a mysterious history like Mrs. Stanley. Diamant is a master at "show, don't tell," and it was easy for me to see Easter's bald head and Judy Rhines' "hen" appearance. Diamant also does a fabulous job of describing the yearnings, dreams, and hearts of the residents.

The reading was "slow going" at first. Many of the major characters are introduced in the first chapter as they gathered in Easter's parlor to see the recently deceased Abraham Warth. He had apparently cut his own throat, and yet it was curious that there how there was no blood. Judy Rhines especially pondered this lack of blood, little knowing that the death was actually connected to her.

Life began to drain out of Dogtown as people died or moved away. Things were righted, some of them. Others were not. Easter moved into town. Oliver Younger and Polly had a good life, and Judy Rhines' life became smoother and easier. Black Ruth solved the mystery she came looking to solve, and Cornelius....Well, I don't want to give all of the stories away.

In a nutshell, The Last Days of Dogtown is a well-written collection of stories about the Dogtown characters and how their lives intersected over a period of decades. It was a tough time to live, and the Dogtown residents had a hardscrabble existence. Still, despite meanness and poverty, there was love.

I guess ultimately it depends on what you like to read, but I loved this book and stayed up past my bedtime because I wanted to find out what happened next. No action in this book? I guess it depends on what you call action.

I think Diamant's forte is telling things from the women's perspective, something that's been lacking in history. The other book of hers that I've read is Day After Night and it's very different from this one but both kept me riveted.

I'm not particularly interested in historical fiction as a genre so maybe I judge this book through a different lens. I'm just looking for a believable and intriguing story and this fits the bill.

I don't agree with the people who say the characters are too modern. When you look into history, you find remarkable similarities in people throughout the ages. Even the Bible, as my father liked to say, has it all: murder, revenge, prostitution, love, tragedy, inspiration, you name it. The characters in this book had all retreated to a tiny rural outpost where they were able to live outside tradition societal strictures. Do you think that didn't really happen? There really were Native American women who dressed as men and lived life as warriors, as one example (not from this book). Shakespeare is perennially popular because we can still relate to the characters hundreds of years later. And his plots are pretty unbelievable!

I am an avid reader. I average about 3 novels a week. I loved The Red Tent and was very much looking forward to reading more from Ms.Diamant . However, I began to notice mixed and even negative reviews of her follow up novels. Well am I glad I finally decided to take a look for myself. The last Days of Dogtown was a wonderful read. This book is beautiful written and the characters are so real . Love them or hate them they jump off the page. Their stories are in turn funny,sad and sweet I have come to the conclusion (and I'm sure I'm not the first ) that people were so enamored by The Red Tent that they were not willing to give the author a chance to tell a different story. If you love strong,interesting characters who are guaranteed to stay with you long after the last page . Writing that males you smile,chuckle and fill up all in the same chapter this is a must read. I look forward to enjoying more by this fine author.

Telling the story of the slow abandonment of the village of Dogtown within the city of Gloucester on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, Anita Diamant creates character sketches and vignettes showing the lives of its diverse residents, as they slowly forsake Dogtown for the city during the course of the novel. Ruth, a former slave, who dresses in men's clothing and once called herself John Woodman; Judy Rhines, a nurturing woman who takes care of an invalid in Gloucester; Sammy Stanley, a young man who has grown up in a Dogtown brothel; Easter Carter, who runs an informal tavern in her home and provides Ruth with an attic room; Cornelius, an African, who has secretly shared the love of a white woman in Dogtown; John Stanwood, a rake and thief who draws men to Mrs. Stanley's bawdy house; and Oliver Younger and Polly Boynton, whose courtship, marriage, and family breathe new life into the village, at least temporarily--all are vividly drawn local characters who show their long attachments to Dogtown.

Through these quirky characters, rather than through a strong, unified plot, Diamant recreates life in the early 1800s in this village, where the soil is rocky, the fresh water supply is limited, the weather is cruel, the opportunities for employment are almost non-existent, and the distance from the center of Gloucester and its seaport is well over an hour by foot. The characters, often intriguing, reveal their beliefs and customs--from how to pull a tooth to how to build a stone wall--giving depth to the picture of Dogtown life and showing its contrasts with the more prosperous surrounding area of Cape Ann. Diamant also provides some humor, particularly when John Stanwood believes he has seen an angel and undergoes a dramatic change of personality, but she also shows the unkindness of some of the clergy when the poor and those who are irregular church-goers are in need of their services.

As the characters, one by one, leave the dismal village of Dogtown, their departure is paralleled by the decline in the population of semi-wild dogs which give the village its name. Interesting and pleasant reading, the novel paints a picture of a unique time and place, populated by characters whose lives sometimes overlap in semi-independent episodes. Diamant does not develop a strong, unified plot, however, and the story of the "last days" is presented as an end in itself, rather than as an opportunity to develop strong universal themes. (3.5 stars) n Mary Whipple

Diamant does her rendition of "Our Town" in this very interesting review of a small, poor annex to a larger town in early nineteenth century New England. The book addresses race relations, economics, family structures, commerce, and health among other topics. The reader is the "fly on the wall" as the lives of the people in this settlement are examined. The unpredictability, harshness, and fragility of life are impressed on the reader. Life has changed substantially in two hundred years and it makes the audience glad for the social advancements since that time. While a dark book, it is very interesting sociologically and emotionally. I say get a copy and read it!

As you might suspect from reading the other reviews and descriptions, this is a historical novel set in the early 1800s in a small, dying town outside of coastal Gloucester, Massachusetts. After reading The Red Tent, then Good Harbor, one can really see that Diamant shines in historical fiction. Thankfully, though, Diamant does not attempt to make another book in the mold of The Red Tent. It is its own story, told in a much different manner. As a matter of fact, at times it does not feel like a story at all, but a collection of pictures of people (and some dogs) tied together by their common geography. We see birth and death, struggle and success, hatred and love, poor and rich, sin and virtue, faith and faithlessness. It is a complicated mess of stories mixed together with Diamant's beautiful grasp of the English language. She shows her ability to paint a masterpiece of truth and reality on a canvas of words, harsh and genuine words. Her most compelling narratives were those relating to the prostitutes of the town. She has a gift for allowing us to enter the hearts of her sinners. After all, we are all sinners.

Don't come to this looking for another Red Tent. And don't pick it up if you like a smooth, concrete plotline. But if you would like to be lost in another world for awhile, have your worldview challenged, and be left with many questions, then crack it open and dive in.

This book tells the story of "Dogtown", a small village in the early 1800s that is slowly dwindling away. The village is made up of lots of eccentric and interesting characters, including prostitutes, widows, freed slaves, and single women.

The premise of the book sounded great, and I fully expected to love this book (especially after reading and loving The Red Tent). However, I was very disappointed. The biggest flaw (in my opinion), is something that many "historical" fiction books seem to be plagued with these days: a historical setting with characters straight out of modern times. Really, except for the year written in the beginning of the book, this book could've taken place in 2005 New England. The characters did things/said things that just wouldn't have been done during the early 1800s. There's very little "history" in the book. I'm finding this flaw is affecting more and more books that are supposedly historical fiction.

Another flaw of the book is that it skips around a lot, not only between characters but between years. Several times I had to go back and re-read a section to figure out the chronological order of things that were happening. It's such a short book (261 pages) to cover 15+ years with so many different characters.

All that being said, it is a short and light read, so it goes fast.

Early 1814 begins the end of an era in a remote village in Massachusetts, its slow passing mourned through the intimate details of fading lives, Diamant's compassionate paean to this distant time and place filled with the wonders of relationships where few words are spoken but much communicated, the bonds as deep and quiet as a long winter waiting for spring. Few of the residents of Dogtown are young, none possessing class or wealth, simply a collection of hardscrabble lives cobbled from an ungenerous earth, a bare-bones society that exists on nature's remnants. It is the author's disposition of these characters that is memorable; save a few ignoble souls, most are simply unfortunates, loosely forming a society destined for obscurity.

Judy Rhines is one of the more significant characters, a woman who has spent her years in servitude to others, finding at last a place among the inhabitants of Dogtown, a spinster who meets her own needs and asks for little; "Even my dreams were full of being told to clean a mess, or haul some more water, or stir a pot." Judy cherishes the friendship of Easter Carter, an older woman who might easily have worn the mantle of "witch" for her healing gifts so near Salem, a burdened history not far removed from Dogtown's poverty. Judy happens upon a short, but forbidden romance with a local man, Cornelius, their mutual comfort cut short by the threat to Judy's reputation and Cornelius's life. Then there is Black Ruth, a freed African come recently to the village on a private mission, her youth tormented by the loss of her mother at birth and her soul hardened by the harsh days of her existence. There are others, kind folks who have not been destroyed by their circumstances, reaching out to one another in innumerable small deeds.

Dogtown is in its last days, slowly decaying, spiraling into the past, no one left to tell the stories of one generation to another. The author writes with precision of those who go unnoticed in any society, revealing the scattered dreams of the dispossessed, endowing them with the dignity of survivors who clearly recognize the randomness of their fates. In their mutual love and real charity, these characters are larger than life, a microcosm of a world where suffering is familiar and a moment of nature's incredible beauty is transcendent for all the lack of human comfort. The depth and subtlety of this novel is an unexpected gift, Diamant proving herself a keen observer of humanity in all its excesses, from the obscene to the sublime. Luan Gaines/2006.

So many times you read articles in national publications touting a book as one of the next big hits for the upcoming season and they turn out to be duds!

Well, this time I took a chance on Anita Diamant's newest novel "The Last Days of Dogtown" and it proved to be the real deal. I truly loved this book, as it was a throwback to so many novels of old. Today authors feel they have to go on for 500+ pages and at the end you have no true feelings for the characters of the book. But, in a mere 260 pages Diamant has provided us with many, many characters who are basically set forth in their own chapter of the book and you feel the need to keep constantly turning pages to see how the affairs of Dogtown turned out.

Diamant starts us out with a question from one of her main characters, Judy Rhines, a question as to why there was so little blood on a suicide victim, and from there introduces us to the main characters of the book in the very first chapter. Thereafter it is a story of those characters that compel us to keep on reading as she intertwines both the current state of that individual with stories of the past that help fill in some of the blanks that are in Dogtown.

It is not until almost at the very end that Judy finds out why there was so little blood, and this revelation came as a complete shock to me. For some reason I never saw it coming, nor did Diamant ever really dwell on that issue again for over 250 pages. Instead she kept us going with stories of so-called witches (Easter Carter) and evil relatives (Tammy Younger and Mrs. Stanley). From the few blacks who inhabited Dogtown we saw how that even in the so-called free North there truly was a stigma upon being black, with the local minister not wanting to preside at a funeral of the last black inhabitant of Dogtownuntil subtly coerced by Judy Rhines.

This book has brought forth characters that I will remember for a long time such as Easter Carter, Judy Rhines, Oliver Younger, John Woodsman a/k/a Black Ruth and many more. One of the more memorable chapters for me was a short passage about a local dog called Greyling. While not a total outcast in Dogtown, Greyling was not born to the town and never ascended to the top of the dog world, which was OK with him. He had his place and he knew it and liked it. Makes one think of our own towns and how difficult it is for newcomers to become part of a community.

In the end, this is just a lovely book that could have been any town in the US. It is a story that could be repeated in Boom Towns gone dry, Gold Rush villages, on little towns that just happened to be on the outskirts of a larger town, etc. It is a story of both the death of a town, as well as a story about those who "escaped" and made better lives for themselves. It is a story that will stay with me forever.

Blaine DeSantis

The story was well-written and the characters well-developed. This was an unusual book, in that I didn't find any reason for the story. The jacket says she wanted to bring to life an early New England world that history has forgotten. I know why. It was boring. Not much happens in Dogtown, other than the usual gossip and cast of characters living mundane lives. I kept waiting for something to actually happen in the book, but was continually disappointed. I cannot wait to move on to something more riveting - like non-fiction.

I am confused at the constant mention of 'The Red Tent' in other reviews ... I was not expecting a similar book and am very glad for its differences. This was a nice light read that pulled you into the lives of the residents of Dogtown. It was hard not to feel their cold days or taste their simple food of fried fish and boild carrots. Anita is a master of pulling you into her worlds.

The charaters totally made this book ... I could not get enough of Easter and her kindness. I try to put myself in that world and cannot say I would be as bold as she was in terms of her living alone and caring for 'the Africans'. But I must say that the story between Judy and Cornelious was what made my heart weap ... I felt their pain and understood their reservation.

Overall this was a great book.

Anita Diamant's "The Last Days of Dogtown" is an unusual novel about the final days of a rural hamlet in Massachussets. Set in the early years of the nineteenth century, the story takes the reader into the daily lives and humble homes of the eccentric loners who inhabit a town dwindling into oblivion.

Opening at the funeral of old Abraham Wharf, who slit his own throat, we meet many of the characters whose stories will be told in subsequent chapters: Judy Rines, a lonely spinster, but fiercely independent, upon whom many of the others depend for support and advice; Black Ruth, a free African, who dresses as a man and works as a stone mason; Mrs. Stanley, madam of a brothel, and her two sad but lovable whores, Molly and Sally, and her grandson, Sammy, who comes of age in the Dogtown brothel; Easter Carter, proprietress of the town's tavern; and Oliver Younger, who survives life in the home of his mean and foul-mouthed Aunt Tammy, to marry, have children, and lead a normal life after leaving Dogtown.

The stories are haunting and in turns sad and funny, and we finally mourn at the bedside of Cornelius Filson, another freed slave, the town's last remaining inhabitant, who dies in the Gloucester home of Judy Stiles, who has rescued him from the county workhouse.

It is the wonderful compassion of these isolated characters that draws the reader in, as if he were a member of the clan, and keeps him turning pages until Dogtown's final curtain.

"The Last Days of Dogtown" is the story of a dying town. Most of the residents are outcasts or are considered undesirable in some way by the people who live outside of Dogtown. The events in the book actually take place over several years, and as the inhabitants either die or move away, the pack of dogs giving "Dogtown" its name also die away. This is not a cheery book; these people have hard lives and some of them experience little joy. When I was first reading it, I didn't like it all that much because it just seemed too bleak. I wondered if anything good would happen to any of the characters. Well, it does. Diamant has created a cast of charaters that became real to me. While a few of these characters are extremely unlikeable, many are filled with compassion. Dogtown was dying, but there was a real sense of community among Judy, Easter, Oliver, and some of the others. People looked out for each other. Even Cornelius, who wanted little to do with anybody, looked after Ruth in his own way. I think what won me over in the end was the simple humanity of these people struggling to make lives for themselves in a harsh environment.

Anita Diamant is a talented author. The Red Tent was recommended to me; it is one of the best books I've read in a long time. So I tried Last Days of Dogtown, a completely different kind of story... and was drawn right in. I've recommended it to all my good fiction loving friends.

So many times you read articles in national publications touting a book as one of the next big hits for the upcoming season and they turn out to be duds!

Well, this time I took a chance on Anita Diamant's newest novel "The Last Days of Dogtown" and it proved to be the real deal. I truly loved this book, as it was a throwback to so many novels of old. Today authors feel they have to go on for 500+ pages and at the end you have no true feelings for the characters of the book. But, in a mere 260 pages Diamant has provided us with many, many characters who are basically set forth in their own chapter of the book and you feel the need to keep constantly turning pages to see how the affairs of Dogtown turned out.

Diamant starts us out with a question from one of her main characters, Judy Rhines, a question as to why there was so little blood on a suicide victim, and from there introduces us to the main characters of the book in the very first chapter. Thereafter it is a story of those characters that compel us to keep on reading as she intertwines both the current state of that individual with stories of the past that help fill in some of the blanks that are in Dogtown.

It is not until almost at the very end that Judy finds out why there was so little blood, and this revelation came as a complete shock to me. For some reason I never saw it coming, nor did Diamant ever really dwell on that issue again for over 250 pages. Instead she kept us going with stories of so-called witches (Easter Carter) and evil relatives (Tammy Younger and Mrs. Stanley). From the few blacks who inhabited Dogtown we saw how that even in the so-called free North there truly was a stigma upon being black, with the local minister not wanting to preside at a funeral of the last black inhabitant of Dogtownuntil subtly coerced by Judy Rhines.

This book has brought forth characters that I will remember for a long time such as Easter Carter, Judy Rhines, Oliver Younger, John Woodsman a/k/a Black Ruth and many more. One of the more memorable chapters for me was a short passage about a local dog called Greyling. While not a total outcast in Dogtown, Greyling was not born to the town and never ascended to the top of the dog world, which was OK with him. He had his place and he knew it and liked it. Makes one think of our own towns and how difficult it is for newcomers to become part of a community.

In the end, this is just a lovely book that could have been any town in the US. It is a story that could be repeated in Boom Towns gone dry, Gold Rush villages, on little towns that just happened to be on the outskirts of a larger town, etc. It is a story of both the death of a town, as well as a story about those who "escaped" and made better lives for themselves. It is a story that will stay with me forever.

Blaine DeSantis

The story was well-written and the characters well-developed. This was an unusual book, in that I didn't find any reason for the story. The jacket says she wanted to bring to life an early New England world that history has forgotten. I know why. It was boring. Not much happens in Dogtown, other than the usual gossip and cast of characters living mundane lives. I kept waiting for something to actually happen in the book, but was continually disappointed. I cannot wait to move on to something more riveting - like non-fiction.

I am confused at the constant mention of 'The Red Tent' in other reviews ... I was not expecting a similar book and am very glad for its differences. This was a nice light read that pulled you into the lives of the residents of Dogtown. It was hard not to feel their cold days or taste their simple food of fried fish and boild carrots. Anita is a master of pulling you into her worlds.

The charaters totally made this book ... I could not get enough of Easter and her kindness. I try to put myself in that world and cannot say I would be as bold as she was in terms of her living alone and caring for 'the Africans'. But I must say that the story between Judy and Cornelious was what made my heart weap ... I felt their pain and understood their reservation.

Overall this was a great book.

Anita Diamant's "The Last Days of Dogtown" is an unusual novel about the final days of a rural hamlet in Massachussets. Set in the early years of the nineteenth century, the story takes the reader into the daily lives and humble homes of the eccentric loners who inhabit a town dwindling into oblivion.

Opening at the funeral of old Abraham Wharf, who slit his own throat, we meet many of the characters whose stories will be told in subsequent chapters: Judy Rines, a lonely spinster, but fiercely independent, upon whom many of the others depend for support and advice; Black Ruth, a free African, who dresses as a man and works as a stone mason; Mrs. Stanley, madam of a brothel, and her two sad but lovable whores, Molly and Sally, and her grandson, Sammy, who comes of age in the Dogtown brothel; Easter Carter, proprietress of the town's tavern; and Oliver Younger, who survives life in the home of his mean and foul-mouthed Aunt Tammy, to marry, have children, and lead a normal life after leaving Dogtown.

The stories are haunting and in turns sad and funny, and we finally mourn at the bedside of Cornelius Filson, another freed slave, the town's last remaining inhabitant, who dies in the Gloucester home of Judy Stiles, who has rescued him from the county workhouse.

It is the wonderful compassion of these isolated characters that draws the reader in, as if he were a member of the clan, and keeps him turning pages until Dogtown's final curtain.

"The Last Days of Dogtown" is the story of a dying town. Most of the residents are outcasts or are considered undesirable in some way by the people who live outside of Dogtown. The events in the book actually take place over several years, and as the inhabitants either die or move away, the pack of dogs giving "Dogtown" its name also die away. This is not a cheery book; these people have hard lives and some of them experience little joy. When I was first reading it, I didn't like it all that much because it just seemed too bleak. I wondered if anything good would happen to any of the characters. Well, it does. Diamant has created a cast of charaters that became real to me. While a few of these characters are extremely unlikeable, many are filled with compassion. Dogtown was dying, but there was a real sense of community among Judy, Easter, Oliver, and some of the others. People looked out for each other. Even Cornelius, who wanted little to do with anybody, looked after Ruth in his own way. I think what won me over in the end was the simple humanity of these people struggling to make lives for themselves in a harsh environment.

Anita Diamant is a talented author. The Red Tent was recommended to me; it is one of the best books I've read in a long time. So I tried Last Days of Dogtown, a completely different kind of story... and was drawn right in. I've recommended it to all my good fiction loving friends.

I am surprised at the other reviews describing the ending as depressing or that the end lacks a happy ending. I found myself smiling with content and relief at the end of the novel. I am one of those people that appreciate the good moments, even if they are swallowed up by bad moments. I found the story had little gems and nuggets of blessings in the midst of an otherwise depressing existence. I was especially pleased that the very last things to happen in the story offered those little gems. No, the story doesn't end in a fairy tale manner, but for those who felt it was sad or depressing, you may want to revisit the moments and relationships. I am the type of person who appreciates the smallest relief or satisfaction after long years of grueling suffering. That is why I enjoy the Shawshank Redemption and The Color Purple. Back to this author; it is my first time reading one of her books. I am now looking forward to reading another.

Having grown up in New England and spent time wandering the woods and finding old cellar holes I loved this book! I always wondered what happened to the people and what their lives were like. Dogtown was a real place in the 1800's in the Gloucester, MA area. All that is left is cellar holes. The book weaves together the story of the dogs and the last people that inhabited Dogtown.

I love the writing. She shows you through story, the innocence and isolation of the place and era. The characters and their life stories are brilliantly intertwined. When one characters story seems to end, another's has already hooked you. Dogtown is a place where living everyday life is a struggle, and a place you can live freely if you don't quite fit in or have had a difficult start to life. Dogtown is also a place to escape from.

The book conveys the cold and dangers of New England winters during that time. Where something as simple as slipping on ice and twisting an ankle could be your death. The natural beauty and simplicity of the era is also prominent in the stories.

If you liked this book, I'd also recommend a more contemporary book about the characters in a small town Maine village, called, Olivier Kittredge.

If you want to learn more about the real Dogtown:
{...}

I enjoyed the novel on many levels. At first, I thought it was going to be a series of first person accounts by fringe members of early colonial society, but eventually the author brought everyone together and braided the experiences into a connected narrative. Having read about early colonial settlements, I enjoyed one that featured characters who were outside the "acceptable." It was interesting to read about their abilities to come together and forge a community.

This was my first Anita Diamant book, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the flow of the story, and the diversity of the characters, and how many of them looked after one another, knowing that everyone else was against them.

Upon finishing this book, I googled Dogtown, Ma, and saw that it's only 2 hours from my house...so I'm in the process of trying to convince my husband to take a trip up there with me so I can see the now deserted little ghost town, along with Gloucester. While Dogtown was an actual town, gossiped to be inhabited by witches and prostitutes, this is a fiction book, based very loosely on what's know to be it's last days.

If you like somewhat historic novels with eccentric and down-on-their-luck characters, then you'll love this book. It opens in 1814 with the death of Abraham Wharf, and follows the dwindling residents of Dogtown for the next 30 or so years. While this was my first book from Ms. Diamant, it most definitely will not be my last. I highly recommend this :)

THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN by Anita Diamant

April 29, 2006

the store rating 5/5

I read Diamant's THE RED TENT a few years ago and loved it, but I gave it only 4 stars. On the other hand, THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN is one of the few 5 star books I've read so far this year, a beautifully written story about a town and its quirky inhabitants, taking place in the 1800's near Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Each chapter focuses on one town member, moving progressively forward in time with each chapter, with the last one detailing the departure of main character Judy Rhine, as she ends this part of her life to move on to a place where no one knows her history. It signals the end of Dogtown, a tiny part of CapeAnn that is tucked away from the rest of the world.

Judy Rhine is a loner. She is a spinster, with no prospects of marrying - there is no family, no dowry, nothing that she can offer a prospective husband. So she lives alone, but has a full life with friends such as neighbor Easter who bring joy to her otherwise empty existence. She lives with a stray dog, Greyling, who is her comfort and her friend.

Unknown to anyone, she has also befriended Cornelius, an ex-slave who comes around during the spring and summer to be with Judy. She pours out her soul to him, but Cornelius is not one to waste words, and shows her how he feels with his body. One year he doesn't return, and she is devastated. She knows their love could never be made public, and deep down she feels this is the best, but she misses him terribly. She moves on with her life, focusing on her friends.

Cornelius' reason for leaving Judy has to do with one Abraham Wharf, a man who threatened Cornelius years ago about setting foot in Judy's home. Cornelius knew that the white men in town would need little reason to beat and kill a black man, let alone for sleeping with a white woman. Cornelius keeps this secret about Wharf's threat until right before Cornelius passes on, but for years he lives alone, watching over Judy and his other friends from afar.

Other eccentric residents of DogTown are Molly and Sally, who live with their "madam" Mrs. Stanley and her grandson little Sammy, who was being raised in a house in which who knew what was going on. Sammy was a timid boy, and his story does have a happy ending, but it takes quite a while for him to get rid of the stories that are associated with him and his grandmother's house.

Ruth is the strange black person that at first comes to town claiming she's a man, and like Cornelius she also keeps to herself for many years. Then there is Oliver Younger, who lives with the most abhorred person in town, Tammy Younger, who treats Oliver like dirt. Tammy has a secret that she's kept from him for years, but when he finally finds out, there is hell to pay.

Easter is a woman that is loved by all. A caregiver, she befriends Ruth and gives her a home. While the book sleeves make Judy Rhine the central character (the novel begins and ends with her), I felt that Easter Carter was the heart and soul of the town.

And last but not least, there are the dogs of Dogtown. They are mentioned throughout the book, and introduced by name. They are a big part of the story in a subtle way. Greyling even has her own chapter, the dog that befriended Judy Rhine and kept her from being lonely on those long winter nights when Cornelius would disappear. And Tan befriends Cornelius in his later years. The dogs are always there, but just as the town is slowly dying, the dogs themselves are slowly losing their numbers.

The theme of the book seems to be one of loneliness. People who are trying to eke out a living in a town that is slowly dying. Anita Diamant puts great care in the description of each character's lives and personalities, and they are all distinct. While there were so many wonderful interesting characters, a few stood out for me: Ruth, Judy Rhine, Easter Carter, and Cornelius. I felt sorry for Sammy Younger (who later changes his name to escape the history that always followed him) and I was happy for Oliver who eventually found true love and a family of his own. This was a book that I found was perfect from start to finish. I am definitely recommending THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN.

I read this book first, then found The Red Tent. I enjoyed both of them very much. Diamont is a brilliant writer of multi-layered fiction that is more complex than it might appear at first.

She avoids the traps so many writers of historical fiction fall into: the tendency to overload with historical detail, or of creating characters that are contemporary to us, but placed in a historical context. In her books, the history is simply the backdrop for the experiences of human beings whose lives fit into the time and place. Both these books opened doors into lives that would otherwise have been opaque to me, and illuminated my own life in the process.

I wonder if the reason that those who were disappointed by Dogtown after reading The Red Tent is because there was something in The Red Tent that particularly resonated for them--and they were seeking the same resonance in Dogtown. Both these books resonated for me, and drew me into the world they created. I am looking forward to reading more of Anita Diamant's work.

I eagerly chose this novel, having read The Red Tent by Diamant several years ago. While I did not dislike this novel, I felt it really lacked depth. By that I mean that the characters were all introduced to us, many of them, but I do not feel that I really got to know most of them in any depth at all, perhaps due to the style of the novel with one chapter per character with a few exceptions (for example Judy). I thought perhaps this may be deliberate in an attempt to keep the focus on the town itself rather than any individual person; however, I closed the book without a definite feeling even for the town of Dogtown, the town which Diamant states was her jumping point to begin the novel in the first place. Overall I feel her idea of choosing a town that has died and speculating on the people there an exciting one, an excellent premise for a book, but I was disappointed in her telling of the tale. Her word choice and writing showed talent that I recalled from The Red Tent, but this particular novel really was not to my liking.

North of Boston, in the early 1800s, Cape Ann is a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic and home to Dogtown Common. Between Sandy Bay on the coast and Gloucester Town on Gloucester Harbor, Dogtown is a dying village. Ironically, author Anita Diamant begins her story with the death of Abraham Wharf by his own hand in 1814. The villagers show respect and some grief for Wharf in the spacious parlor of Easter Carter.

The party of mourners includes Judy Rhines, Easter's closest friend, and twelve-year-old Oliver Younger, accompanied by his peculiar Aunt Tammy, often called a witch and ill-humored as well. Others in the company are Ruth, a black woman who dresses in menswear; Mrs. Stanley and her son, Sammy; Mary, the grieving sister of Wharf; and those who come out of the cold for liquid hospitality.

Diamant paints a picture of rural nineteenth century with a gray palette. An occasional bright passage illuminates her word canvas with pale sunshine hues. For the most part, life is cruel in Dogtown. From Boston to Gloucester, whispers of witchcraft, poverty and idiocy abound when the little village is mentioned among knowledgeable persons. Of course, none of the rumors are factual. But legends become volumes when tongues wag about townspeople. Roaming packs of dogs have made the village their home when the fishing and farming industries dry up. Greyling, one of the more fortunate strays, makes a home with Judy Rhines.

One by one, secrets kept for generations within the families of Dogtown become truths known by others. Oliver has had a miserable childhood with Aunt Tammy after his parents die. Tammy persecutes him publicly and humiliates him daily. He is one of the bright rays of sunshine crossing Dogtown. With the help of Judy, whom he trusts, the paper that sets him free from Tammy is a secret no longer kept. Each member of the tight community has darkness they wish to remain hidden.

Diamant's earlier successful novel, THE RED TENT, was a tale of reality for its characters --- structured lives in a remote setting. THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN, though far removed in place and time, tells of a people oppressed by poverty, illness, ignorance and racial inequality --- realities of their own. Reaction to this book, though lukewarm at first, warmed with a passion to read to its conclusion.

Judy Rhines, a spinster (though not of her choosing), is the center of the novel. The others interact through and around her, as she nurtures their physical and emotional upheavals with compassion and sensitivity. When her needs are met by a shadowy character, she rejoices only to be disappointed by rebuff. How she is sought after for help and how she responds are threads that blend the gray palette into a watercolor of lives given meaning. Though not a quick read, this book based on a pamphlet from history is a meaningful study of the early New England character and a good literary piece.

THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN is not triumph over tragedy, but an opening of the human spirit to the possibility of loving.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

While this book isn't in the same league as Diamant's The Red Tent (one of my favorite books of all time), it's still good in a quiet, lonely sort of way. It chronicles the decline of small town in Cape Ann, a harsh, rocky place where widows, orphans, whores, drunks and witches scrape a living. Each chapter follows a different character, although the community is so small that they all pop in and out of one another's lives, and by the end of the book you feel like one of them. You know their secret passions, their shame, their good deeds and bad, and how each comes to conquer or fall prey to the demon that is Dogtown.

This book is a fictional imagining of what life must have been for the last inhabitants of Dogtown, a settlement outside of Gloucester, MA. Those inhabitants were mostly widows, single women, freed slaves, some shady male characters, and a couple of families. The town and townspeople are looked down upon as misfits, rogues, and, to put it bluntly, losers. The settlement is dying, literally.

I finished the book, and I thought it was OK, but only OK. I'm trying to figure out why it didn't grab me, and it's a struggle. Maybe it's because the characters do not always seem to deserve our sympathy -- they seem so over-the-top pathetic, eccentric, or victimized that you just want to shake them. Or maybe it's the way the characters are drawn -- sometimes they seem more like caricatures. Too many plot threads going on at once? Could be. Like I said, I can't quite put my finger on it.

Still, it's decent historical fiction, and it's got me looking forward to visiting the site of Dogtown, where you can hike and yes, bring your dog.

i enjoyed the book very much. I appreciate historical fiction. The book contained a varied cast of characters with interesting little stories. I think it could have been longer. Plenty of opportunity to delve deeper. A couple of the characters we never learned much about. The ending was a bit abrupt. But it was a quick, easy and entertaining read.

I was very impressed with The Red Tent. I loved the way the characters and their interactions were developed throughout the story. Although not a lengthy book, the author achieved real depth quickly and easily with her narrative. The Last Days of Dogtown simply did not have the same depth. The story seemed very disjointed; there is no real beginning and no definitive end. Although some of the vinettes of the various characters were interesting, the compilation of the whole was somewhat pointless. I love to read because I feel like I always learn something from whatever I read. Fiction in particular is either informative or evokes some type of reaction or emotion. In all honesty, this book was uninteresting.

Dogtown, where people are destitute and unfortunate, or so it seems. We meet lots of characters from Dogtown, each with their own problems and dilemmas. We read how they survive and some even form friendships or find love. There isn't much I can say from all the other reviews that have been written.

However, I can say that I did enjoy this read. At times it plodded along, but I stuck with it, hoping to find out what happens to Sammy, Black Ruth, Cornelius, Judy, Polly and more.

You will want to know, so add this book to your library too!

My first problem with this book is that when the characters are introduced, it seems like the author is trying to rush and introduce everyone as quickly as possible without really flushing their personalities out. What resulted was what felt like a list of names that held little significance until later in the book when their back stories were finally told. This really had a negative impact on the story, which is supposed to be about a dying town, but in the end it's eventual decline provoked no response from me. I didn't care about it or any of the people living there because I didn't have a chance to get to know them.

Also, I read some reviews complaining about the sexual content of the story. I personally didn't find it shocking, but it did tend to weigh down the story. It almost felt the story wasn't interesting enough so the author decided to throw in some sexual content to at least keep the reader interested. I made it through the book, but that was only because I wanted to see what everyone was so up in arms about.

Overall, the book was a series of watery back stories held together by brief sexual scenes. The characters weren't interesting enough to hold my attention and the story dragged along with very few issues that made me want to keep reading.

Anita Diamant's readers who value her talent to create unusual characters will quickly fall under the Dogtown spell of endearing/innocent people coupled with nasty/manipulating ones, all blended in a bit of delicious humor. Dogtown or Commons Settlement, as well as the twenty dogs, also become characters in this memorable book.

Diamant's storytelling gift weaves past, present and future details of each ingenious character as readers settle into a trance, following the bits and pieces of each life to exquisite wholes. Readers know the author's world through many little tales as strays, human and animal, find their way to Dogtown, near Gloucester, on Cape Ann, in the mid-1800's. Who are these poor, lost, freed slaves, villains, widows, spinsters and prostitutes, locals and new arrivals, and why are they here? Follow the mysterious clues.

Known as a soft touch because of her goodness, Judy Rhines, spinster, tenderly cares for others. Her innate kindness and innocence coupled with unusual passion for justice reflects a character who may live on in literary history. Oliver and Polly Younger repeatedly come to the aid of needy folks, causing readers to mourn this lost sweetness in our old world today.

Two marvelously realized characters are Black Ruth and Cornelius Finson, both freed slaves, whose lives are created from slave parents to their days in Dogtown and onto old age. Diamant's character driven stories amaze readers with their biographical detail, an unusual reality, that makes them so real.

The book has it's share of controlling, quite evil people. Abraham Wharf found dead with knife in his hand. Was he murdered or did he commit suicide? John Stanwood, the racist, rascal drunk, who becomes a victim of delicious humor. Others include the Brimfield farm family, Charity Somes, Mrs. Stanley and Tammy Younger.

Anita Diamant doesn't leave her readers hanging, wondering about the future of her characters. The book title, itself, presents a glimmer of happenings to come.

This book was chosen by two book clubs for their March, 2006, discussion in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

My enjoyment of this book was magnified by having first read Dogtown by Elyssa East, so I knew the geography, history and legends of the setting. I read this book because I loved East's book and I wasn't ready to move onto a new subject, and I'm so glad I found my way to Diamant's novel. I became attached to the place and people like they were real. I am usually ready to finish a book by the time it ends, but with Last Days Of Dogtown I felt bad to say goodbye.

I'm still trying to form a solid opinion about this one. Of course, I bought it because of Red Tent, which I loved. This story centers on a dying town and it's inhabitants, who have no future to speak of, other than the youngsters, who got out. Each chapter spotlights a character and you get a brief history about the what and why of their state of mind. I felt these residents lives had been wasted, with the exception of Easter who was the only light in a dark place. No plot, just characters and situations.

Enjoyed the premise of this novel and learned that the south was just as i thought : bigotted and un friendly because of race! Well written with tremendous insight this is a summation in an era of great uncertainty! She is a super writer and this book is indicative of her ability!!! You will learn a lot and expand your horizons!

I wanted to love this-- once lived next to Dogtown in Gloucester, the author is local and well liked-- but I think the Wash. Post review above was perceptive in declaring it "an overlay of a modern sensibility on an imagined past". The many colorful characters are not rendered fully dimensional in my mind, riding between a tendency toward caricature and a too-contemporary outlook. The material is well-researched, yet the prose reads a bit flat-footed; were the imagery more colorful and creative, I'd be more drawn in. Still, I think Diamant is on the edge of better things, a writer to keep an eye on.

My first exposure to Diamant was the book The Red Tent, which I really enjoyed reading. This book is similar to The Red Tent, in ways of mixing in a little fiction, folklore, and history. However it wasn't as engaging to me as The Red Tent. It left me with a feeling of "hmmm" after I was finished. The Last Days of Dogtown tells the story of the people of Dogtown. Often poor and ridiculed, Their day to day lifestyle consists of trying to eat and/or work. This book is interesting because it tells of a time that we are not familar with, and it makes you think of how times have changed now.

I was able to finish the book rather quickly and reccommend it.

Starts out slow and is hard to follow at first. You really don't know if this is a story or a collection of shorter stories until after several chapters.
Some of the stories are very interesting and are emotionally investing but then some are not. Overall it was a slow read.

This beautiful novel is written with sensitivity and the author has a distinct way of capturing human emotion and feelings. I can almost feel the cold and the heat, smell the flowers and feel the pain and loneliness of the characters. This book can take one back to a time and place in their own lives, one locked in memory, but forever changed.

The novel is quite unique from The Red Tent. The mark of a good author is one that can write without shadows of their previous works. I have become a fan of Ms. Diamant and cannot wait to read more of her books. What a storyteller!

This book was a bit of a roadblock in my reading progress. It is not the type of book that you can tear through -- either because of ease of writing or edge of your seat action. It is a slow-placed book with lots of characters but little action. None of the characters are ever completely revealed and you are left with lots of unanswered questions. If you enjoy character studies and historical fiction, you will enjoy this book. If you don't ... well don't read this one!

It was an OK book. It is mostly about characters who lived in the town around 1820. There is a mild love story in the book. It really doesn't have a plot; it is mainly a fictional history of the last people who lived in this poor Massachusetts town-how they lived and died.

I keep loving every book written by this author. I lived minutes (walking) from Dogtown for thirteen years, and can attest that the feeling - the spirit - of the area - is alive in these stories of very human, beautifully-drawn characters. Anita Diamant is a genius at portraying the love women have for each other, and for that - and the nearly-perfect writing - I am grateful. Thank you - to one of my favorite authors. Also - sorry to sound greedy, Anita - but when's the next book coming out? I so look forward to it.

Diamant disappointed me with this one. The historical background was OK but no depth to the history of a rich historical area.( I have lived in nearby Marblehead). The individual chapter plots lukewarm, the initial language uneccesary - failed to be attention forming. I left it at the library as a gift this morning. Now I have to find another book for bookclub for 2006

I loaned it to another bookclub member to review it (she also is a reviewer for our town library). She agreed - no equal to the RED TENT. V. Daring(not a child's review)

At first I was disappointed because the book isn't as good as The Red Tent. In the end, I appreciated it on it's own merits-- a book with several memorable characters whose hardships touch our souls.

Diamont's novel has a strikingly similar format to Now You See It, Stories from Cokesville, PA, by Bathsheba Monk. Both books are stories about residents of a dying town and both authors have a talent for turning plain folk into interesting characters.

Anita Diamant is a good writer, but her works set in the Gloucester, MA area just don't resonate with a true sense of place. "The Red Tent" is worthy of all the great things said about it, but "Good Harbor" and "The Last Days of Dogtown" just don't leave me with a deep sense this author truly understands the community. These last two novels are servicable, craftwise, but I was hoping for more. I've spent over thirty years on Cape Ann ... there's a large arts community there, but one lacking a voice that challenges, that shows the community in a new way. There's too much provincialism and conformity in the Gloucester arts community and I thought that Diamant, as a semi-outsider, might have brought a fresh look on the community. Perhaps those of us who want that will just have to wait for the publication of Novus I. Bickerstaff's "From Duncan Hill." The rumblings about that novel indicate Gloucester, and all of the North Shore, will never be the same.

Three stars only because Diamant is a superb writer, because of the brave love story concepts and well-fleshed out characters, and because the concept itself of the dying town seems like it would be a nice one. But none of this can overcome the fact that this novel is incredibly boring and forgettable. I gave it away the second I finished it. You won't finish the book screaming for the lost hours of your life back or anything, but if you never read it, you aren't missing anything. Sorry, Anita... I love you, and valiant effort, but DULL, DULL, DULL!

After reading The Red Tent, I just had to read The Last Days of Dogtown. Last Days is an excellent read. I actually stayed up all night reading this book because I could not bear to go to sleep without knowing exactly how the lives of the characters would turn out. The characters in the book are vivid and memorable, and the tone in which Diamant tells the story is haunting and hopeful at the same time. I look forward to more work by this author.

I just finished the book, and have mixed feelings about it. On its own The Last Days of Dogtown succeeds as a sensitive character study, evoking much feeling and atmosphere; alongside The Red Tent however, (Diamant's previous best-seller) this novel pales in comparison.
I know I shouldn't compare this book to one of the author's previous works--The Red Tent--since they are intended to be different. However, I can't help but be disappointed in The Last Days Of Dogtown when I remember how much I loved The Red Tent. While the latter contains so much depth, so many layers, The Last Days of Dogtown is quite shallow and ultimately unsatisfying. I can't help but feel that with more research and more substance this book could have been great instead of average.
Perhaps I'll feel differently reading it again at a later date.

This was a good read. It plodded a little and wasn't quite as wonderful as The Red Tent, but few books can be, and I think the quiet plot was really spot-on for the period and the place. The setting was very evocative--she really recreated Cape Anne quite vividly.

I eagerly started this book, having loved The Red Tent, but was very disappointed. It was difficult to even finish the book. As I read I found that I didn't even really care about many of the characters, due to the fact that they lacked development. As I finished the book I was simply glad to be done, but felt none of the satisfaction I normally feel upon finishing even a "good" novel.

I loved the Red Tent and was anxious to read another of Ms. Diamant's books, especially after hearing her speak.

I loved all the characters and their stories.

My only negative point is that I occasionally found it difficult to remember the past of some of the characters. Perhaps that was because I kept re-reading her beautiful sentences.

As a resident of Newburyport for nearly 20 years, this book rang a personal bell with me. The entire Cape Ann/North Shore of Boston area has its own little eccentricities and idiosyncrasies. This is as true today as it was centuries ago. Diamant's "Last Days of Dogtown" is a fabulous trip into the many quirks (and quirky people) of this beautiful area of Massachusetts. Highly recommended for all, even those who have never set foot on the east coast!

Wow! What a great book. Each character was rich and interesting. I've never been to the East coast but, I could see it, smell it and feel the biting cold, thanks to the pictures Anita's words painted. It is one of those books I was a little sad to finish. I hope her other books hold up to my expectations.

Every night, while immersed this novel, I looked forward to going to bed so I could read the next bits. Dogtown is a quiet and immensely real book; it moves forward by character, not plot, and each character is peculiar, real, and beautifully present. I loved and believed each pencil drawing, each step forward into the next phase of this town's life. Nothing here is extraneous or overblown; the small movements of the human heart are appreciated the way God appreciates them, precisely, without hysteria, and with full attention.

I love Gloucester, and I love hiking in Dogtown, so I was hopeful about this novel. However, I didn't think it was terribly plausible at all, and the characters were rather thinly drawn. There were too many of them, also. I thought a relationship or two described in the book was HIGHLY unlikely to have taken place, let alone quietly accepted, in early 1800s America.

there were a lot of characters in this book, with a little information on each of them. It doesn't go too in depth on any of them, nor does it describe too well how they lived in the 1800s. It started out kind of hard to follow because there were so many little choppy characters. A good book, but not a "must read."

A great historical novel with believable characters. A look into the lower white class of early America we don't usually get to see. Once again Anita Diamant writes a wonderful story based on historical lives.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I've read 2 others by this author and loved them. I was confused with the number if characters in this book and felt like none of them were fully developed. Story did not have much of a plot. It was one o those books that was good enough to finish but I wasn't sad when it was over.

Another cracking story from Anita Diamant. A pleasure to read. Twists and turns and characters intermingling all over the though out.
Joshea Hosea author I Taught God to Gamble

I really enjoyed this book. It was unlike anything I have read. There is a very nice pace to this book, as well as a beginning, middle, and satisfying end. I find this to be a rare commodity in books lately. I look forward to more from this author.

I just keep waiting for Anita Diamant to write another book on par with The Red Tent - but this one doesn't hit the mark either. The characters in this novel are colorful and have depth - but some many of them are lost in the shuffle and we do not know what happens to them as the book closes.

I really enjoyed "The Red Tent" and I wanted to love "Dogtown" as much as "The Red Tent," but unfortunately, I did not. I found this book to be dry and hard to get into. Reading became a chore. I wasn't particularly fond of any of the characters and didn't feel connected to them. Overall, the story just wasn't that compelling.

I found myself thinking about the characters in The Last Days of Dogtown long after I finished the book. Ms. Diamant has a gift for evoking the look and feel of a time and place in history. She truly brings this rural Massachussetts town to life with her wonderfully woven stories and engaging characters.

Anita Diamant's The Red Tent is one of my all time favorites, I recommend it often. But her books The Last Days of Dogtown & Good Harbor are no where near the same quality. Both were very forgettable.

Try as i might, i could not even finish this book. i really wanted to like it but the charachters were never really fleshed out; I never knew that much aboutany of them...causing me not to care very much.

It is a rare day that i do not finish a book and i have read several other's by her. but i just gave up one day,closed it, and did not feel badly about it

After reading the Red Tent and thoroughly enjoying it, I was eager to read another book by Anita Diamant. However, I found this to be a huge disappointment and literally had to force myself to finish it. I found the sexual exploits and descriptions way overdone and difficult to stomach at best. I kept waiting for that part to end as I found them so offensive. I feel she could have taken a slightly less graphic approach and still achieved similar results. Most of these descriptions bordered on soft core porn. I wanted to be able to recommend this book to my mom and sister and other friends who also loved the Red Tent, but frankly, I would be embarassed to recommend it to anyone. Pure filth, in my opinion.

I devoured The Red Tent and couldn't wait to get my hands on this book by Anita Diamant. I was very disappointed. It just didn't captivate me the way The Red Tent did and I didn't even bother to finish it.