Downeast

Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America

By: Gigi Georges

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

In Downeast, Gigi Georges follows five girls as they come of age in one of the most challenging and geographically isolated regions on the Eastern seaboard. Their stories reveal surprising truths about rural America and offer hope for its future. “It’s almost impossible not to care about these fierce young women and cheer for their hard-won successes” (Kirkus) in this “heartfelt portrait” and “worthy tribute” (Publishers Weekly).

Nestled in Maine’s far northeast corner, Washington County sits an hour’s drive from the heart of famed and bustling Acadia National Park. Yet it’s a world away. For Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie - five teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region - it is home. Downeast follows their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times, creating a nuanced and unique portrait of rural America with women at its center.

Willow lives in the shadow of an abusive, drug-addicted father and searches for stability through photography and love. Vivian, a gifted writer, feels stifled by her church and town and struggles to break free without severing family ties. Mckenna is a softball pitching phenom whose passion is the lobster-fishing she learned at her father’s knee. Audrey is a beloved high school basketball star who earns a coveted college scholarship but questions her chosen path. Josie, a Yale-bound valedictorian, is determined to take the world by storm.

All five girls know the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction. As the girls reach adulthood, they discover that despite significant challenges, there is much to celebrate in “the valley of the overlooked”. Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature’s rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home.

Revealed through the eyes of Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie, Downeast is based on four years of intimate reporting. The result is a beautifully rendered, emotionally startling, and vital book. Downeast will break listeners’ hearts yet offer them hope, providing answers to what the future may hold for rural America.

©2021 Gigi Georges (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Powerful, insightful read

Beautifully written and inspiring book about five girls growing up in rural Maine. The girls' stories are riveting but the book runs deeper than that. It offers a message of hope for rural America. The reader does a great job too. Highly recommend!

Well Written, Mispronunciations

I enjoyed this book. As someone from Maine, the narrator should have googled pronunciations fir some of the places in Maine. It was jarring and annoying to hear Machias and Aroostook repeatedly mispronounced.

Reality in Downeast, Maine

Excellent journey into the reality of difficulties and courage faced by modern Downeast women .

inspiring, sad, perseverance

best way to describe this book. overcoming the ways they lived, raised and built their lives. well done

An authentic look at life downeast

Loved everything about this book. The research, the subjects, the reader, and the writing are top notch. For anyone that doesn’t know this most special—but challenged—part of the Maine coast, the listener will really understand who Downeasters are and what they really do.

Empathetic profile of the young women of rural Maine

Sympathetic without pity; highlighting the struggles not only of rural Maine but rural America. Would be interesting to revisit these young women 10 years on.

Just ok for me…

The story was a little slow for me. I spend a lot of time Downeast, and know a lot of the historical culture. The characters I know are much more vibrant about their heritage and generations of growing up there.