The Siege of Salt Cove: A Novel [Hardcover]

Anthony Weller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS has decided to replace Salt Cove's signature wooden bridge with a concrete monstrosity. The authorities are unreasoning and unyielding. The town decides on secession. Jessica Stoddard is a quirky seventy-two-year-old who is determined to keep a record of the event for posterity. She has a passion for the truth, but her account is not entirely reliable, because she also has a passion for the rebellion's ringleader who is...well, a much younger man. Toby Auberon is a lawyer and a drop-out. He has returned after years in Rio to perfect his mysterious invention in the solitude at the lighthouse. He is drawn, unwillingly, into the dispute when the bureaucracy switches tactics from bullying to armed occupation. Powerful, poignant, deeply funny, and enriched by the villagers' diverse voices, this is a contemporary farce about a town that dares to rebel against its own government, and to fight back when attacked.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Weller (TheGarden of the Peacocks, etc.) spins a simple premise into gold in this delightfully written, darkly comic novel. Salt Cove, an old fishing port an hour north of Boston, has everything a classic New England beach village should: a picturesque cove with bobbing sailboats, austere granite outcroppings, stone beaches and traditional architecture, including a dilapidated but still lovely 19th-century wooden pedestrian bridge. When the Massachusetts Department of Public Works decides the bridge must be replaced by a safer—and far uglier—"concrete structure," the Salines vow to fight. After a period of failed negotiation and escalating conflicts, the villagers decide their only option is to secede from the United States. Weller lets the tale unfold through 31 individual characters, each of whom narrate one or more first-person chapters. The chief historian and chronicler is Jessica Stoddard, an older longtime resident whose notes and comments provide the novel's sturdy backbone. The hero and leader of the rebellion is Toby Auberon, a reclusive ex-lawyer who lives in the local lighthouse and is obsessed with constructing "the greatest pinball machine ever created." The conflict escalates after Salt Cove secedes, and the villagers scramble to arm themselves and figure out why the state is so determined to tear down their bridge. The novel's time is fluid, slipping easily between past, present and future, and Weller adds a touch of magic realism as he allows several characters to speak from beyond the grave. While this all might sound confusing, it isn't. Weller is in complete control of his material, a master conductor creating a symphony out of what would have been, in lesser hands, a simple melody.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This appears to be a satiric tale about a small Massachusetts town whose residents, faced with the state-ordered destruction of their beloved wooden bridge, decide to secede from the U.S. The story, told by an assortment of townsfolk, is humorous, even borderline silly--and that's before one even considers the allusions to Shakespeare and classical mythology. One of the novel's central characters is Toby Auberon, a former lawyer (often mistaken for the town drunk) who's now living in a lighthouse, working on a mysterious invention. Is he a combination of Shakespeare's Oberon, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Sir Toby Belch, the drunk from Twelfth Night, and if so, what does it all mean? And what about another of the book's narrators, former porn star Clitemnestra? Why the allusion to Clytemnestra from Greek mythology? This is a very strange book but a splendid one, too--surreal, weird, utterly playful. Literary types will enjoy the comedy, and they will have a good time figuring out what, if anything, is going on beneath the surface. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393058867
• ISBN-13: 978-0393058864
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "If all else fails, we should be ready to secede.", May 31, 2004

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Siege of Salt Cove: A Novel (Hardcover)

When the Massachusetts Department of Public Works decides that the picturesque, wooden footbridge linking the village of Salt Cove to the mainland of Leicester is unsafe and will be summarily torn down, the three hundred full-time residents are outraged. And when they see the proposal for the new bridge, a concrete monstrosity strong enough for fire trucks and wide enough for two-way vehicular traffic, they vote for all-out rebellion. Stalwart, unbending Yankees with family histories rooted in the rocky soil of Salt Cove, they are not about to let outsiders tell them that they will benefit from this concrete assault on their aesthetic sensibilities. The idea of two-way vehicular traffic is even less appealing, as it will bring outsiders into the village. With New England determination and some hard-headedness, they decide to take on the state and wage a mini-war in an attempt to break a state-imposed siege of the village.

Recording the events is Jessica Stoddard, a 73-year-old spinster and life-long resident of Salt Cove. Fiesty and independent, Jessica fears no one and tolerates no nonsense. Directing the rebellion is a quiet man in his early forties named Toby Auberon, a relative newcomer to the village, regarded as a hippie, who has leased the now-automated lighthouse and, until now, has kept his legal background a secret. Jessica, Toby, and an additional thirty (or more) characters narrate their own versions of the events in Salt Cove, each of these beautifully realized voices unique and easily recognizable, and many of them hilarious. Quirky imagery combines with these singlar voices to create especially memorable pictures of people and events.

Told with tongue in cheek and a good deal of mild satire, this is a loving picture of village life by an author who respects his characters and sees them in the context of a wider world. And however implausible the developing love story may seem between Jessica and the much younger Toby, Weller makes us understand and appreciate its sweetness, especially in contrast to the outside events. As the government escalates the siege to include Humvees, National Guard tanks, underwater demolition experts, the FBI, and SWAT teams, Salt Cove counters with its tireless citizens, a crazy militia unit from Missouri, a missile found in a fishing net, and plastique explosives. The inevitable bloodshed is a jarring event, a harsh blow which comes just when the reader is loving the characters and smiling at their actions. Full of New England eccentrics who willingly risk all, the novel realistically depicts governmental insensitivity to locally important landmarks but ultimately leaves the reader smiling. (4.5 stars) Mary Whipple

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simple Bridge - With Intricate Underpinnings, December 22, 2004

By 

Scott Mason - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Siege of Salt Cove: A Novel (Hardcover)

You would not think a simple story about an old bridge and a big city bent on tearing it down would make for compelling drama. But then, there's nothing predictable about The Siege of Salt Cove. The characters come alive, and the story draws you in, and pretty soon you can't put the book down. It's both a comical and poignant tale. But it's the distinct voices of the characters that really stay with you. You feel you know them, and as you turn the final page, it's awfully hard to see them go.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Annisquam unveiled, November 19, 2004

By 

Eileen Macdougall "cootmom" (Wilmington, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Siege of Salt Cove: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful fictional study of a lovely real district of Gloucester, MA, where you can visit the wooden bridge and hike around the rocky shoreline and the quaint village. The characters are singular and their viewpoints are represented with a wonderful mix of humor and pathos. Particularly moving is Jessica's internal struggle to supress her longings for a man who is not in her age range but turns out to be quite suitable for her on many levels. Suspense is well maintained throughout and the ending is very satisfying. I just loved it!