Ernie's Ark

by Monica Wood

Book Overview

"Like Elizabeth Strout, her fellow chronicler of small-town Maine life, Monica Wood imbues her characters with the complexity and humanity of real people. Ernie's Ark is as true as life."--Christina... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345477162
• ISBN13: 9780345477163
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Read

Monica Wood's story is set in a small town which is affected by the closure of a local paper mill. Wood follows several characters, each with a unique and touching perspective. I cherished this book and often give it as a gift to other readers.

Another Winner for Monica Wood!

I *discovered* this writer when I read "My Only Story" which I absolutely loved. I then followed up with "The Secret Language", an entirely different but equally rewarding read. So when I heard about "Ernie's Ark" there was no doubt that I would read it! And it was a joy.I always enjoy reading books of connected stories and this was one of the best. Wood created a foundation with the first story and proceeded to build on it until she finished constructing a marvelously detailed structure. I loved how each story started anew but then incorporated some character or event from a previous story, creating one of those "a-ha" moments.Abbott Falls, Maine could have been Anytown, USA and showed Wood's familiarity with this kind of environment and with the effect that a mill, a union, and striking workers can have on the town. The wonderfully developed characters are people we have met before in our lives. Perhaps we did not know all their secrets, but we have known them, I am sure.This is a book of life, death, love, hate, fear, anger, joy, and most of all, about redemption. I cannot wait for her next!

Delight and insight!

This work compares very favorably with Richard Russo's Pulitzer-winning EMPIRE FALLS and covers much of the same territory. Like Russo, Wood is intimately and intricately familiar with the people she characterizes so well. Some of these stories could happen anywhere; some only in smalltown Maine. The stories are loosely connected and characters overlap in what in the hands of a lesser writer, might seem a contrived structure, but which here adds a depth of patterning to the already complicated relationships between these entirely lovable, if foible-full creations. You won't find Abbott Falls on any map of Maine, but towns and situations of similar ilk about everywhere, especailly in the smalltown Maine of the human heart.

Wow!

ERNIE'S ARK is an astounding book. This collection, like the ark of the title story, is built one piece at a time, one story on top of the last, until the reader is left with a magnificent monument to its characters. Set in the town of Abbott Falls, Maine, during a lengthy labor strike, the stories focus on those struggling to make connections with their loved ones during difficult times. In the title story, Ernie, a striking pipefitter who was days from retirement when the strike began, tends to his dying wife, Marie. In an uncharacteristic moment of artistic vision, he begins to build what he calls an "installment", a large ark in his backyard that gives him hope during a time when he should have none. In my personal favorite, "That One Autumn." Marie, on her deathbed, reflects on a frightening incident that solidified her marriage and which now allows her to leave it, loved. "The Temperature of Desire" explores the grief of the union man Danny when his beloved younger brother crosses the picket line. "Solidarity Is Not a Floor" follows Francine, the eighth grade daughter of an errant father and professor, who loses her right to an honor because hers is not a union family. When events take an unexpected turn, Francine is given a glimpse into the adult world, thus giving her the strength to confront her father. Wood explores lives that touch each other, sometimes briefly, introducing the main character of each story as a cameo role in a preceding one. These stories are about making human connections, about love and confusion, about betrayal and faith. Taken separately, the stories would be admirable, but together they acquire an ever increasing power that resonates long after the reading. I can't recommend this collection highly enough. I became a fan of Monica Wood's work when I read MY ONLY STORY, but this collection of stories, both heartbreaking and triumphant, shows the maturing talents of a writer just now hitting her stride.

Absolutely delightful!

I LOVE this book! If you have never read anything by Monica Wood, make this your first! You will fall in love with her after reading this book! What a touching and inspiring story (collection of stories) of a small town in Maine and the residents' response to it's economic crisis. The characters are so real and the events of their lives so familiar. . . makes you think Ms. Wood must've not only written about it, but LIVED it! Her ability to create such an accurate portrait of this town and it's residents is truly remarkable. She possesses an acute understanding of human nature and small town sensitivity. Monica Wood is on my "must read" list and I anxiously await her next book. Kudos to this supreme writer on this magnificent book!