Customer Reviews

The Wooden Nickel: A Novel

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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.

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.

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

Lucky Lunt, the lobsterman protagonist of this engaging novel, is not a particularly likeable character, but he is entirely lovable in all his fragile humanity. Author Carpenter knows well the indefatigably irascibility so central to the archetypal fishermale, a dying breed along the Atlantic shore. Ronette, his sternlady-cum-earthmother, is no less mythic and memorable in all her splendorous white-trashiness. This novel provides an alternative, yet valid portrait of Vacationland Maine, one this writer finds an entirely refreshing after too much outlet shopping, clear-cutting, and cutesy lobster kitsch. Comparisons have already been made to Richard Russo and Carolyn Chute and they are apt. Empire Falls and Egypt, Maine are absolutely just up the backroads from Orphan Point. There's some brilliant writing here and I suspect and hope to hear more from William Carpenter, whose job of teaching literature at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor must be awfully fun. And indeed there just seems to be something awfully fun about any English teacher who writes a book in language as blue as the Atlantic sky and as salty as the briny air on a chill day in October in Maine.

Lucky Lunt, age 46, is the central figure of this tragedy. His wife Priscilla leaves him. His son Kyle is a kiffing hippie. His daughter is off to college. Enters Rhonda, called Ronette, who is leaving her husband Clyde Hannaford to take up life with Lucky. They all live in a small town on the coast of Maine and spend their days fishing for lobster.

Lucky's boat is The Wooden Nickel, the name his father and grandfather already gave their lobstering boats. Ronette, part-time waitress at the Blue Claw, is the stern lady helping Lucky, who is in bad shape. An angioplasty for $26'000 still has to be paid for. Priscilla takes away his house but leaves him with the mortgage yet to be paid. His boat needs new equipment and his pickup isn't too healthy, either.

From the beginning, a Greek tragedy develops unremittingly. Almost every step Lucky takes brings a new disaster. His fight with other lobstermen almost lands him in jail. Taking up with Ronette promptly gets her pregnant. A whale destroys his lobster pots. But the other lobstermen do not fare that much better.

What makes this book so outstanding is not just the telling of an alien way of life, but the way it is told with unlimited and surefooted humor. The characters come to life through their dialogs and actions. The language is awesome to behold. You will laugh with these people while wondering how such a hard and unrewarding life can be so funny.

Lucky's last stand is a modern reenactment of Moby Dick. He is now completely destroyed, yet there is still a shimmer of hope on the horizon.

As a coastal Mainer I can comfortably say that the characters Mr. Carpenter depicts seem reasonable, if not somewhat under-represented. Of course, this is simply the framework of a larger message. True to what the reader's guide later mentions, this author lures the reader into a supposedly humorous story, and then pulls the rug out from underneat. This book is not a comedy. In this respect, it reminded me of "A Fine Balance," in that it got worse and worse. Forget about allusions to Moby Dick, or anything else -- this novel is original. It is hoped that in the end, the reader will sympathize with the main character, appreciating his raw and enviable humanity. While rough around the edges, and mostly to the core, Lucky Lunt will be there when you need him. I could not put this book down.

I read this book with delight in the way the author explained the story of the fisherman. I found this book was much deeper than the waters off Maine. It deals with decisions in life. Everytime Lucky got the chance to make a decision he has a knack for making the wrong one. But there were exceptions such as when it came to his unborn child or his daughter needing help when ready to go to college. It also looks at how people operate in certain patterns in their decisions and how a family often falls apart as a result of a string of poor choices. There is much to be learned from the pages of this book plus it's just a wonderful story about how life in a harsh environment molds people over time.

Outstanding! A good friend of mine who owns and operates a commercial fishing supply store on Cape Cod gave me a copy of this book. Bravo Mr. Carpenter! You did your homework. (Not too hard when you live among these finest-kind of fishermen). A very entertaining and humorous account of a Maine lobsterman and the sometimes tumultuous life that goes along for the ride. A very good read. I recommend it highly!

This wonderful novel has none of the mushy psuedo literarism of the Oprah novel age. At times it reminded me of Ken Kesey and J.D. Salinger. Well written and intelligent. A must read.

Vivid, irressistible characters and a climax worthy of Melville.
Rarely have characters so clearly represented working-class America and the struggle for survival in our lower income classes. Not to mention, it's a hoot. I laughed out loud too many times to count.
Read this book. You'll never forget it or regret it.