What do You think about Ernie's Ark (2004)?
Rating: 4.875* of fiveThe Book Report: Ernie Whitten no longer has a purpose. He's been a pipe-fitter in Abbots Falls, Maine, at the papermill, for most of his life and now he's...retired, unemployed, not working, whatever...BORED. So he decides to build something.An ark. Like in the Bible. Maybe miracles will come with it, for Marie, his sick wife.Nine stories spin in their orbits around this one major event in Abbots Falls, involving town residents both willing and unwilling, and purposeful and aimless, and old and young.My Review: Sparkles like a gem. The writing is delectable, a sensory feast and an emotional powerhouse. The characters are all limned in quick, indelible strokes and the way Monica Wood works is to make you care just this side of too much for each of them, and then moves on to the next one, all before your readerly feet are fully under you. It's a really cool trick, gotta tell ya.I said once upon a time that I couldn't understand why this wasn't a TV series. I still don't get it. Abbotts Falls should be on the airwaves somehow. Don't hesitate to pick this book up. It will pay your attention back many times over.***3/10/2012 KINDLE EDITION IS 99 CENTS TODAY***
—Richard Reviles Censorship Always in All Ways
A very well-written collection of inter-connected stories set in a small milltown in Maine. The paper mill is on strike, disrupting lives and family loyalties. Change is inevitable, and the stories detail how individuals react and adjust to it. One of the characters in particular, Francine, made me ache for her. Early teens, out of place in all places, shunned by her peers and overlooked by most adults, yet sweet-tempered and ever hopeful. And then there's Ernie - who builds an ark for his dying wife - that's right, an ark. The more I think about the stories, the more I realize how well-drawn the characters are. The town may be in trouble, but it wouldn't be a bad place to live.
—Richda Mcnutt
You think you know someone...Yes, Ernie may be an angry guy but oh, the love he has for his wife! You can see that love from the beginning of the story when it tells of how he daily leaves the arts section of the newspaper beside her coffee, because he knows she loves the arts. Just weeks before he is due to retire, the paper mill goes on strike and his wife is sick. Dan Little and his family worked at the mill where their brother Tim is a scab along with the Blake brothers and others. The strik
—Elaine
