“I have just finished reading ‘When We Were the Kennedys’ by Monica Wood. It is an enthralling look at growing up in a Maine mill town, Mexico, host to the famous Oxford Paper mill. I chose this book partly due to recommendations, and partly due to its real-life look at Maine in the 1960s. I was amply rewarded.
“I am now two-thirds of the way through Richard Russo’s ‘Empire Falls.’ Although a work of fiction, it is based on solid Maine ground. Again it provides insight into living and growing up in Maine, which is the main reason I chose to read it. Again, I have been fully rewarded.
“Both books are so well written that they bring the characters to life. Wood brings out the flavor of what that time was like in Mexico. Russo also brings his characters to life and makes you feel that ‘Empire Falls’ is a real place by referencing nearby towns (Mexico, Maine, for one) and those further away (Cape Cod and several Florida towns).” — MICHAEL MATHEWS, Camden
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