David Park Curry

Sometimes I pick up a book knowing nothing of the subject. This is such a book. I was hooked immediately, as the author focused on the incredible impressionist paintings of the Isles of Shoals by Childe Hassam. Suddenly, a new world opened up, as I read the poetry of Celia Thaxter and marvelled at the illuminating colors of Hassam's artwork.

As a reader, I feel a book should open up new vistas, so I was thrilled to be drawn into the magic. The garden of Thaxter, I knew not. The Isles of Shoals, off the East Coast, I knew not. Childe Hassam, I knew not. Ignorant, perhaps, but somewhat enlightened now. I even Wiki'd the murders on Smutty-Nose Island, because the author mentions them in one unexplained sentence.

In fact, I will miss my daily dose of the gorgeous medicine this collection gave me, whether it's the oils of poppies or the watercolours of white sailboats against an aquamarine sea.


Book Season = Summer (visit the Shoals)… (meer)