The Midcoast by Adam White
Summary
It’s spring in the tiny town of Damariscotta, a tourist haven on the coast of Maine known for its oysters and antiques. Andrew, a high school English teacher recently returned to the area, has brought his family to Ed and Steph Thatch’s sprawling riverside estate to attend a reception for the Amherst women’s lacrosse team. Back when they were all teenagers, Andrew never could have predicted that Ed, descended from a long line of lobstermen, or Steph, a decent student until she dropped out to start a family, would ever send a daughter to a place like Amherst. But so the tides have turned, and Andrew’s trying hard to admire, more than envy, the view from Ed’s rolling backyard meadow.
As Andrew wanders through the Thatches’ house, he stumbles upon a file he’s not supposed to see: photos of a torched body in a burned-out sedan. And when a line of state police cruisers crashes the Thatches’ reception an hour later, Andrew and his neighbors finally begin to see the truth behind Ed and Steph’s remarkable rise. Soon the newspapers are running headlines about the Thatches, and Andrew’s poring over his memories, trying to piece together the story of a family he thought he knew.
A propulsive drama that cares as deeply about its characters as it does about the crimes they commit, The Midcoast explores the machinations of privilege, the dark recesses of the American dream, and the lies we tell as we try, at all costs, to protect the ones we love.
Book Setting: Owls Head, Rockport, and Camden, Maine
Rising Tide Co-Op: Where Ed would stop and tell people about his daughter Allie.
Phillips Exeter Academy: Where Andrew went to high school and worked at the hockey school over the summer.
S. Fernald's Country Store: Where Andrew’s Mom worked.
South Bristol Gut: The Thatch Lobster Pound is located.
Schooner Landing: Inspiration for Steph’s parent’s store.
Inner Duck Rock: Ed tells Steph’s father that this is where the best stripers are.
The Great Salt Bay Community School: Where Andrew went to elementary school.
Newagen Seaside Inn: Ed and Steph had their “Life Together” party.
Farmington Fair: Steph, Ed, and Cammie went to a demolition derby here when they were in high school. Ed and Steph got into a fight with a game stand attendant.
King Eider’s Pub: Ed and Andrew would meet here at lunch time to discuss college lacrosse and Allie’s lacrosse career.
University of Southern Maine: One of the schools Allie got accepted to.
Penobscot Bay: Ed would stop here to swap out the boat license.
Waterman Cove: A house that Ed robbed was on this cove.
Bremen: The town Ed and Steph moved to after moving out of the trailer.
Bates: Amherst women’s lacrosse played against Bates. It was during this weekend that Ed got his concussion.
Pemaquid Pond: Where Allie gets high with Dougie.
Damariscotta Hardware: Andrew runs into Ed here after Allie has been accepted to Amherst College. Ed invites Andrew to come to the Amherst lacrosse banquet.
Lisbon Falls: EJ meets Lew here to reassure him that he will get back in the loop with the Canadians.
Seal Cove: Ed brings the lacrosse team and family here to “catch” lobsters that he had already trapped.
Reviews
“I tore through the saga of the Thatch family in two nights. The Midcoast is a reader’s dream—tense, ominous, and deeply wise.”
— David Benioff, co-creator of Game of Thrones
“The Midcoast expertly weaves sharply realized scenes and a profound sense of empathy into a plotline full of tension, resentments, and dangerous secrets. In capturing Maine, Adam White has captured America as a whole, with our complicated mix of class mobility and class constraints. In his talented hands, we understand how virtues like love and loyalty can still lead us to a sea of vices. . . . A wise and powerful debut!”
— Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas
“The Midcoast is a suspenseful, funny, and chilling uncovering of small-town secrets within a propulsive family drama. . . . A perfect summer read about a perfect vacation haven.”
— Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek