A Marsh Island (1885) by Sarah Orne Jewett is a gentle yet vivid tale of life in a small New England coastal community that follows the adventures of Dale, a Manhattanite landscape painter in the Great Marsh of northeastern Massachusetts.

One of Jewett’s lesser known works and “the first American gay novel” according to lecturer Dr. Don James Brown. A Marsh Island details the story of a love triangle, in which all of the characters involved seek to, in one way or another, to flee from conventional marital life.

Told through rich, naturalistic detail, the novel follows the intertwined lives of islanders who live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, exploring themes of queerness, friendship, tradition, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.

“A warm draft of kindness billows from A Marsh Island an 1885 novel by Sarah Orne Jewett that has been handsomely reissued by the classics line Smith & Taylor... Discerning, tender and pellucid in its beauty, this is the kind of small, perfect novel it is hard to imagine anybody not loving.” —Sam Sacks, WSJ