The Wooden Nickel: A Novel [Paperback]

William Carpenter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2003

Lucky Lunt is a third-lobsterman who works the same Maine waters as his father and grandfather. But the world is changing faster than Lucky can fathom and he is soon embroiled in a turf war that forces him to abandon what he should hold most dear: family, health, solvency and even the rules of the sea.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Move over, Richard Russo, there's an impressive new chronicler of the lives of hard-edged working men on the scene. The protagonist of Carpenter's second novel (after A Keeper of Sheep) is a Maine lobsterman, Lucas "Lucky" Lunt. His name is ironic, because the only luck Lucas has is bad. At 46, he's already had two angioplasties that have left him with a fluttering ticker, deeply in debt and unable to haul the huge lobster traps alone. After 20 years of docility, his wife, Sarah, is suddenly asserting her independence, his son is a delinquent skinhead, and his daughter is heading for college. He hires Ronette, the recently separated wife of the local lobster buyer, to be his sternman, and not surprisingly, the two fall into each other's arms. When Ronette becomes pregnant, Sarah leaves, and the downward spiral continues when Lucas gets into a territorial dispute with other lobstermen and wings one of them in an exchange of gunfire. He refuses to promise future good behavior and loses his fishing license. Sarah seizes the family home that has been Lunt property for three generations, and he's reduced to living with Ronette in a dilapidated trailer. He then begins fishing illegally for a renegade buyer and encounters a rogue whale that has more in common with him than he realizes; the climax involves fast and furious action. Carpenter's prose is strong and sinewy: the Maine fishing community is evoked with pungent realism, and the characters are memorable in their attempts to eke out an existence in a harsh environment. This is a fully engaging story that creates a powerful portrait of a man struggling to make sense of a world that seems rigged against him. Agent, Alison Bond. Regional tour.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The second novel from the author of The Keeper of Sheep tells the tale of Lucky Lunt, a third-generation Maine lobsterman trying to be true to his roots in a world that is hurtling into the future. Recent heart surgery has left Lucky deeply in debt, struggling with the physical tasks of his job, and deprived of life's little pleasures: alcohol, tobacco, and meat products. His wife is selling crafts to summer people, his daughter is getting ready to leave for college, and his son has turned his back on the family trade in favor of urchin diving. When Lucky takes on a female deckhand, his life drastically changes. Carpenter's prose matches the harsh, gritty life of the seaman. The language is strong, and the gruff characters are more likely to accept the ancient laws of the sea than the laws of humans. Lucky's irregularly beating heart has some gold in it, but readers will find getting through to it a challenge. This realistic portrayal of a harsh life in a closed society holds rewards for those willing to look below the surface. For larger fiction collections. Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (March 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316089745
• ISBN-13: 978-0316089746
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,232,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The new old man of the sea rages against a new day, March 31, 2002

By 

Dennis E. Wooldridge - FictionAddiction.NET (Deltona, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wooden Nickel: A Novel (Hardcover)

The rocky coastline and cold waters of Maine are vividly reflected in the lives of those who bring to life William Carpenter's "The Wooden Nickel." Lucky Lunt is a man somehow outside his own time. A third generation lobsterman, he knows and cares very little about the world outside the waters of Orphan Point, Maine. Lucky knows lobsters, the trucks and boats of everyone within miles by the sound of their engines, county songs on the radio, and stock car racing. But mostly Lucky knows lobsters. He doesn't trust anything or anyone outside the radius of his own interests, and he doesn't understand the changes that life is throwing at him. Old before his time, plagued with a heart that seems hell-bent to quit working, he is losing touch with his children and his wife. Lucky Lunt is a man who's losing touch with life. And life is about to throw Lucky unimaginable curves.
Too many of those curves come in the form of Ronette, not-quite-divorced wife of the man who buys Lucky's lobsters and Lucky's newly hired "sternman." Lucky's wife Sarah, a woman trying to find herself in the art of sea glass mobiles now that her children are leaving home, is wary of the young Ronette and the changes she will bring into there lives. Even Sarah doesn't know the storms ahead, however, and soon Lucky is faced with challenges unimagined in his simple life just a few years before. Lobster harvest wars, the breakup of his family, financial despair and even battles with a rouge whale all become part of Lucky's life. The lobsters aren't the only ones being trapped in the waters of Orphan Point!
The characters of "The Wooden Nickel" are painted with a fine brush and anyone whose even visited the lobster villages of eastern Maine will find familiar ground and peoples populating its pages. Although written in a voice so strong that you'll sometimes smell the bait bags, raw fish and salt spray, the story fluctuates between harsh reality and questionable fancy, especially in the reactions and decisions of the characters within. "The Wooden Nickel" is a classic story of a very ordinary man trying to hold his ground in a rapidly changing and unfamiliar world. Sometimes life isn't what we want, but it's what we get.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful romp -with teeth, March 19, 2002

By 

John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wooden Nickel: A Novel (Hardcover)

While I enjoyed Carpenter's first outing as a novelist (A KEEPER OF SHEEP) WOODEN NICKEL heralds a real development in his style. Here we have Lucky Lunt, a middle aged lobsterman past his prime, who is confronted with a combination of The Family From Hell and a tide of change sweeping both the Maine coast and the fishing villages that dot its bays and islands. Lunt tries to both Make Do & Do Right, but the world has changed behind his back, and it seems that the old rules no longer apply. Lucky is not exactly Nice To Know but by about halfway through you are rooting for him without shame. While there are moments when I laughed myself sick, there are also images and events to break your heart. The ending, an almost epic encounter with both a whale & Lunt's fellow humans, will leave you hanging beyond the final sentence. Is it a comedy? Is it a tragedy? That is ultimately up to you, but it is a damn good read. Carpenter knows both his shore & his people well -one can run into any of his characters if you hang out at the right docks at the right time somewhere between Eastport & the New Hampshire Line. The places are just right also -anyone who has been Downeast will recognize Carpenter's sure hand on the description of fog & shoals & harbors & sealife. He's been there & back & now we can tag along with Lucky & enjoy it too.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great character tale, March 16, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wooden Nickel: A Novel (Hardcover)

Under fifty years old, Orphan Point, Maine lobsterman, Lucas "Lucky" Lunt has major troubles caused by a weak heart already requiring medical attention. Between his medical bills and his inability to care for the heavy lobster traps by himself, Lucky owes a fortune. His wife Sarah seeing his weakness asserts her independence by selling glass sculptures. Their son is a bigger loser than Lucky while their daughter flees their abysmal home for college.

Lucky needs help and cannot obtain it from his immediate family. He hires Ronette Hannaford, a wife separated from a lobster buyer, to serve as his sternwoman. The unhappy seafaring duo makes love and Ronette becomes pregnant. Sarah leaves her cheating spouse and Lucky loses his fishing license after a dispute turns ugly. He moves in with Ronette and begins fish poaching before a final confrontation with a whale.

Rarely does a talent explode on the scene out of nowhere, but that is the case here as THE WOODEN NICKEL is a great character tale that will remind the audience of Moby Dick or The old Man and the Sea. The story line digs deep into the hard lifestyle of the Maine working class fishermen and women as they struggle to eke out a living in a world that has changed not often for the good. On the surface the lead protagonist seems shallow, but in actuality Lucky goes ocean deep as he cannot fathom what is happening to his world. This parable of modern life is so good that this reviewer plans to read William Carpenter's first novel KEEPER OF SHEEP.

Harriet Klausner