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Maine Books: The Best Books Set in the Pine Tree State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Maine before a trip, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Pine Tree State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
Situated in the far northeastern corner of the United States, Maine is known for its rocky coastline, frigid waters, and lobster fishing. In addition, Portland, Maine, is home to a vibrant art scene, making it a destination for artists and visitors.
The Best Books Set in Maine
One of Maine’s most famous residents is author Stephen King. He was born in Portland, raised in Durham, and now lives and writes in Bangor. Most of his horror novels are set in fictional Maine towns—some of which, like Derry and Castle Rock, appear in multiple books. We haven’t included his back catalog on this list, so be sure to check it out for more Maine books.
The Essential Elizabeth Stone
Book Summary
Elizabeth Stone has been a food and lifestyle icon for over 30 years and is a household name across America. When she passes away, her daughter Julilet is expected to step in to lead the multimillion-dollar empire. Juliet finds herself at a crossroads of doubt – is she good enough to maintain her mother’s image?
With the company at financial risk after the loss of her mother, Juliet is urged to write her biography—sharing the behind-the-scenes life of the self-made entrepreneur, perfect mom, and woman whose own childhood in Maine was filled with comfort food and simple elegance.
But, like the rest of the world, Juliet knows little about her mother’s past. As she digs into her mother’s history, she uncovers a lifetime of secrets and lies. Who was the real Elizabeth Stone?
The Frozen River
Book Summary
In the late 1700s, women were expected to be seen and not heard. But, midwife Martha puts what is right over society’s expectations. When the Kennebec River freezes, a man is entombed in the ice. Martha is called to determine the cause of death.
Months earlier, the man had been accused of rape, and Martha believes he has now been murdered. But, the local physician disagrees and declares the death an accident.
Over the winter, Martha continues to investigate every angle as the trial approaches. The diary she uses to log every birth and death becomes a key component and soon implicates those she loves, leaving Martha with an impossible decision.
The Book Girls Say…
This GMA Book Club Pick and NPR Book of the Year is based on the real diary of midwife Martha Ballard, who defied the legal system.
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How to Read a Book
Book Summary
In Abbot Falls, Maine, three unlikely people are about to have their lives change after connecting at a bookstore. Violet is only twenty-two but was just released from prison after nearly two years due to a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet is a retired English teacher who runs a book club at the prison. Frank is the handyman for a bookstore; he had a complicated marriage to the woman Violet killed.
When Violet, Harriet, and Frank run into each other at the bookstore, they begin to learn about seizing second chances and the power of books to change our lives.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Fellowship Point
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Book Summary
Agnes and Polly have been best friends for generations. They are also part owners of a land trust for a peninsula of land on the Maine coast known as Fellowship Point.
The two friends have led very different lives. Agnes is a celebrated author of children’s books. Additionally, she wrote a series of novels under a pseudonym. Polly has three adult sons and is married to a professor with an inflated sense of ego.
Now in her eighties, Agnes wants to ensure that Fellowship Point will be permanently protected by donating the land to a trust. But doing so requires dissolving the generations-old partnership among the shareholders. Polly finds herself torn between the wishes of Anges and those of her sons.
When a book editor tries to convince Agnes to write her memoirs, long-buried secrets have repercussions for all of them.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a long book (nearly 600 pages), but readers say the payoff is worth it if you enjoy character-driven books and can dedicate your attention to the story. It’s said to be a beautiful, slow-moving novel that you’ll want to savor. Those who don’t enjoy it prefer a more fast-moving plot than this introspective read offers.
Book Summary
Picture-perfect couple Harriet and Wyn met in college and have been an inspirational duo ever since. But, as their annual week-long Maine vacation with their best friends approaches, they have a big decision to make. Do they finally confess that they broke up six months ago and still haven’t managed to tell their best friends?
The cottage they visit each year is being sold, and it’s the last time they’ll all be together in their sacred spot. It feels wrong to ruin the whole mood with their bad news. So Harriet and Wyn decide they can surely fake being in love for one week. After all, they’ve had years of practice.
This book alternates between chapters titled “Happy Place,” through which you see Harriet and Wyn’s relationship form and grow through the years in Maine, and chapters titled “Real Life” where you see them in the current broken-up status.
The Book Girls Say…
We absolutely loved the vivid descriptions of Maine that captured not only the sights but also the tastes and smells!
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Book Summary
In July of 1962, a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Just weeks into the job, four-year-old Ruthie disappears. Her six-year-old brother Joe is the last to see her, and he remains distraught about her disappearance for years.
Norma has grown up as an only child in a wealthy Maine family. Her mother is overprotective, and her father is distant. As she grows up, she believes there is something major that her parents aren’t telling her. She will spend decades trying to unravel the secret her intuition and recurring dreams keep hinting at.
The Book Girls Say…
This book starts fifty years after the disappearance, with Joe reflecting on his childhood. Norma is then added as a second narrator.
A Piece of the World
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Book Summary
This atmospheric novel takes place in a small coastal town in Maine, and is inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s iconic painting, Christina’s World.
Christina Olson was born at the austere home on a barren hill in Cushing, Maine, that her family had inhabited for generations. After nearly dying as a child and being incapacitated by ongoing illness, Christina could never venture beyond her small community.
For twenty years, the farm hosted painter Andrew Wyeth during the summers. Many of his paintings feature the family’s farm, but Christina herself would inspire his most iconic painting.
While Wyeth makes some appearances in the novel, this historical fiction focuses on Christina as it vividly imagines her life on the farm through the changing Maine seasons.
The Book Girls Say…
While many of our readers rated this book 10/10 last year, keep in mind that the book is slow-paced and has a melancholy tone. If you have any winter blues, skip this one in favor of something more uplifting.
The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane
Book Summary
In Cedar Falls, Iowa, there are two women, each named Janine Brown, who desperately need their own fresh starts. One is heartbroken from a loss, and the other has an abusive boyfriend she is desperate to escape.
When a home and garden TV network announces that Janine Brown from Cedar Falls, Iowa, has won a dream home in Maine, they both assume they are the winner. When each Janine (nicknamed Janey & Nean) arrives in Maine, they discover the mix-up, but neither is ready to return to their prior reality.
While both of their stories are compelling and will stir your emotions, wise and witty Aunt Midge provides a lighter break to keep things from being too heavy. She’ll keep you laughing while the younger Janines sort through past hurts and try to find the best way forward in life.
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Haven Point
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Book Summary
This novel introduces us to three generations of a family that spends summers in a seaside town on Maine’s rocky coastline.
Maren Larsen grew up in a small farming community in Minnesota, but in 1944, amid WWII, she was determined to do her part in the war effort. While working as a nurse at Walter Reed Medical Center, she’s swept off her feet by a doctor named Oliver, whose family summers yearly on the coast of Maine.
Twenty-six years later, in 1970, as the conflict with Vietnam rages, Maren and Oliver are at odds with their fiercely independent teenage daughter. Seventeen-year-old Annie has fallen for a man her parents disapprove of. By the end of the summer, the family has suffered a terrible tragedy, and Annie vows never to return to Haven Point, Maine.
In 2008, Maren’s grandaughter, Skye, arrives in Haven Point to help scatter her mother’s ashes. Skye has inherited her mother, Annie’s, view of Maine. Rather than seeing the coast’s beauty and enjoying the regattas, clambakes, and sing-alongs, Annie believes the people to be snobbish and petty. But Annie never told Skye the full story of what happened during the summer of ‘70.
The Book Girls Say…
This family story is told from the perspectives of Maren and Skye and jumps around between the three timelines. Readers say it’s not hard to keep the timelines straight, but you might want to consider a different option if you don’t enjoy novels that go back and forth in time. Some find it more difficult to follow the shifting timelines when reading the audiobook versus print or ebook.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Orphan Train
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Book Summary
During the 80 years leading up to the Great Depression, so-called Orphan Trains transported children from cities on the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest. The fates of the children on board – whether they would end up with loving families or end up with a childhood of hard labor – were determined by pure luck.
Vivian – now 91 – was one of those children, and the memories of her childhood are now tucked inside trunks in her attic. Eighteen-year-old Molly is aging out of the foster care system and is assigned community service helping the elderly Vivian clean out her home. She will soon learn that the two have much more in common than she ever expected.
The Book Girls Say…
This highly-rated novel is based partially in Maine and partially in Minnesota. Author Christina Baker Kline also set The Way Life Should Be in Maine, which is perfect if you’re looking for more small-town coastal Maine vibes. The reviews are a bit lower, but many still find it an enjoyable read.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in the 1930s
Intergenerational Novels: Books that Connect Generations
Best Books From 2013
Night of the Living Rez
Book Summary
The Penobscot Tribe of Maine long inhabited the area between present-day Old Town and Bangor, and still occupy tribal land on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation. This series of twelve fictional short stories examines what it means to be Penobscot in the 21st century as they grapple with a painful past and an uncertain future.
Each story centers around David’s life, but they are told in a nonlinear order. We meet David’s family and see their struggles through the years. His mother is in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic medicine man. His sister deals with mental illness. David and others become dependent on methadone, and his grandmother suffers from Alzheimer’s.
The Book Girls Say…
This book addresses many difficult topics and potentially triggering issues. It is not a happy or easy read. Reviewers say that the stories are told matter-of-factly, but include a balancing dose of wit and humor.
The author is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation, where he grew up. He is an Assistant Professor of English in Creative Writing and Native American and contemporary Literature at the University of Maine.
The Cider House Rules
Book Summary
In rural Maine, Dr. Wilbur Larch is a saint and obstetrician, founder, and director of the orphanage in the desolate town of St. Cloud, a former logging camp. He also performs safe abortions, which is not a legal practice.
This is also the story of Dr. Larch’s favorite orphan, Homer, who lives in some interesting foster situations as he grows up. But, Homer is never adopted and instead follows in Dr. Larch’s footsteps with one distinction: he refuses to perform abortions.
The Book Girls Say…
This 1985 classic is a longer read, at over 600 pages. Readers tend to love or hate Irving’s style, which is very slow-moving but with rich imagery and some zany characters mixed in.
The Singing Trees
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
While this book starts in 2019, it soon goes back to 1969 and chronologically tells the story of Annalisa’s life until the end of the 70s. She is a passionate and talented young artist trying to find her voice as the country is affected by the Vietnam War.
Annalisa leaves her grandma and small town and moves to the thriving art scene in Portland, Maine. While her primary pursuit is art, she meets Thomas, an Ivy-league student with a much different background than her own. He upends her quest to become a museum artist in ways she didn’t expect. But her unexpected love may be unraveled by an unforgivable lie.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers say that this coming-of-age book is both heartbreaking and uplifting. The fashion and food will transport you back in time to the art scene of Maine in the 1970s. The author started his career as a songwriter, which becomes apparent through lyrical writing and the inclusion of references to the musicians of the era.
The Wishing Game
Book Summary
Lucy is a 26-year-old teacher’s aide hoping to adopt her student, seven-year-old Christopher. He tragically lost his parents, but she needs to be in a better financial situation for both the actual adoption process to be approved and to take care of Christopher long-term.
She’s always found comfort in books, especially the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. The author stopped writing and became reclusive years ago, but she still regularly re-reads his work. Just when Lucy is about to give up on adopting Christopher, Jack Masterson re-emerges and announces a new book. However, it’s not a standard release. Four contestants will get to come to the real Clock Island and compete for a chance to win the single copy in existence, which is worth at least six figures.
The Book Girls Say…
This adventurous story is full of heart with a side of magic!
Saving Mrs. Roosevelt
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Book Summary
Shirley lives in Maine and is frustrated by her limited ability to assist the war effort. When she learns about an opportunity for single women to join SPARs, the first female branch of the Coast Guard, she rushes to sign up despite objections by her father.
After rigorous training, she’s singled out for a special mission back home in Maine. The intelligence community has uncovered a plot against the first lady, and they need Shirley’s help to stop it.
The Book Girls Say…
Several reviewers noted that this Christian fiction feels like it was written for a middle-grade or young-adult audience. The writing is clean and simple, but readers enjoyed learning about the topic, and most rate it highly.
While the book is listed as the third book in the Heroines of WW2 series, the books are all totally separate and even have different authors, so don’t feel like you need to read them in order.
The Promise of Stardust
Book Summary
Matt and Elle were meant to be. He was just two years old the first time he hugged her, seventeen when they first kissed under a starry sky, and thirty-three when she agreed to marry him. In their late 30s, they were longing for a baby when a tragic accident left Elle brain-dead.
Matt knows that Elle always feared a long, slow death, so he resolves to take her off of life support until he learns that she is pregnant. The doctors aren’t able to offer any guarantees, but they tell Matt that if Elle remains on life support, their baby has a chance at survival. Matt wants to take that chance, but his mother, Linney, feels strongly that it’s the wrong decision. She’s willing to fight her own son in court to fulfill Elle’s wishes as set forth in her living will.
The resulting controversial legal battle will stretch far beyond their family.
Olive Kitteredge
Book Summary
Retired teacher Olive deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large. This Pulitzer Prize winner is a collection of short stories that form a novel about Olive and those who intersect with her life.
The stories include a former student who has lost the will to live, Olive’s own adult child who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities, and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
The Book Girls Say…
The overall tone is somber and includes several depressed characters, so skip this one if you’re feeling down.
11-22-63
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
English teacher Jake Epping is recruited by his friend Al, the local diner owner, to help with the most unlikely of requests. Al discovered a portal in the diner’s storeroom that transports him back in time to the era of Ike and Elvis. He becomes obsessed with using the portal to go back in time and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But when he realizes he won’t be able to complete the mission, he enlists Jake for the job. Jake reluctantly agrees to go back to 1958 and live the early years of the 1960s in the small town of Jodie, Texas, while devising a plan to stop JFK from dying on 11/22/63.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is NOT what you’d expect from Stephen King. Instead of horror, you’ll find suspenseful historical fiction crossed with science fiction (and even a twist of romance) that addresses the most compelling aspect of time travel. How do actions taken in the past affect the same future you started in?
If you prefer horror, don’t miss King’s other popular books set in Maine, including Carrie, Pet Sematary, and It.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in the 1960s
Books that Transport You to Another Time or Place
Beyond that, the Sea
Book Summary
As bombs fell on London in 1940, many parents made heart-wrenching decisions to send their children out of the city for their safety. In this book, we’ll watch Bea travel to America as an 11-year-old to spend the remainder of the war with the Gregory family. They live most of the year in Boston but spend summers on their private island in Maine.
As she becomes closer to the Gregorys, life feels right. Perhaps even better than with her old life in England. In 1945, she is suddenly called back home. While she’s reluctant to return, she does, but memories of her American family fill her thoughts. You’ll continue to see her try to balance both of her worlds as she tries to find love and a life of her own.
Empire Falls
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Book Summary
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel takes a deep look at the blue-collar heart of America. For the past 20 years, Miles Roby has been slinging burgers in Empire Falls, Maine – a town filled with abandoned mills and lifelong friends and neighbors.
Miles isn’t sure what kept him in his hometown all these years – he didn’t intend to end up here. He even left for a short time before being called back. Two decades later, he is divorcing his high school sweetheart and raising his teenage daughter. This novel is less about the plot and more about the character development as we get to know a wide cast of residents of Empire Falls.
The Book Girls Say…
This is not a happy, fast-moving book. The characters have a depressing life and do not always have a great attitude, so many readers find them unlikable. However, if you love slower-paced, character-driven stories set in small towns, you may love it.
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Maine Clambake Mysteries
Book Summary
Busman’s Harbor, Maine, is bustling with tourists during the summer months. Julia Snowden returned to her hometown to rescue her family’s struggling clambake business, and now people are lining up for a taste of authentic New England seafood served up by the Snowden Family Clambake Company.
What Julia never expected was that in addition to serving up seafood, she’d also wind up solving crimes.
In Clammed Up, the first book in this cozy mystery series, there’s something sinister boiling. A killer crashes a catered wedding at the Snowden family mansion, and the best man is found hanging from the grand staircase. When the suspicion falls on her old crush, Julia must put the chowder pot on the back burner and join the search for the real murderer.
The Book Girls Say…
Many of the books in this series include traditional Maine clambake recipes.
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Lucy Stone Mysteries
Book Summary
This 31-book cozy mystery series is set in a small Maine town and features married mom Lucy Stone as an accidental amateur sleuth. In the first book, Mistletoe Murder, she’s working nights for extra Christmas money at the famous mail-order company Country Cousins. But when she discovers Sam Miller, its very wealthy founder, dead in his car from an apparent suicide, the sleuth in her knows something just doesn’t smell right.
The newest book in the series is Bridal Shower Murder with a publication date of 3/25/25.
Memoirs & Non-Fiction Books About Maine
When We Were the Kennedys
Book Summary
This short (235-page) non-fiction is a memoir with a strong focus on the town of Mexico, Maine. In the early 1950s, the Oxford Paper factory was a primary employer of the resistents, who were mostly Catholic immigrants. The father of the Wood family provided a good life for his wife and four daughters through his job as a foreman at the paper mill, so when he suddenly passes away, the girls are set adrift.
A few months later, the nation also suffered the loss of its handsome Catholic leader, John F. Kennedy, echoing the personal loss felt in the Wood home.
The Book Girls Say…
While this book is about the author’s childhood loss of her dad, it’s also a larger story about Mexico, Maine, and what it meant to be a company town.
Adventurous Travel To & From Maine
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
In the 1950s, at age 67, great-grandmother Emma Gatewood set out for a walk with less than $200 in her pocket. But this wasn’t just any walk. She was determined to be the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone.
She achieved this big goal and then became the first person (man or woman) to walk the trail twice and then three times. When reporters learned of her quest, they began calling her Grandma Gatewood, and she even made it to the pages of Sports Illustrated.
This biography tells of her adventures, with stories pulled from her diaries, trail journals, letters, and even interviews with her family members.
The Book Girls Say…
This nonfiction book won the National Outdoor Book Award for History/Biography in 2014, and was also a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best History and Biography.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Ride of Her Life
Book Summary
This non-fiction biography sounds more like a fictional tale. In 1954, 63-year-old Annie Wilkins decided she had to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. The Maine farmer had no remaining relatives, had lost her family farm, and was given two years to live by the doctor.
Instead of resting as the doctor recommended, Annie bought a retired racehorse named Tarzan, put on a pair of men’s Dungarees, and set out from Maine in November. Her only other companion was her dog, Depeche Toi. Annie, Tarzan, and Depeche Toi traveled over 4000 miles with no maps through America’s big cities and small towns. Through the kindness of strangers and her incredible determination, Annie had the adventure of a lifetime.
The Book Girls Say…
If you loved the historical fiction novel Finding Dorothy, you may also enjoy this non-fiction book by the same author.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this book list of books about Maine and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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