Novel in print for first time in decades
Sept. 27, 2021—Ruth Moore’s 1962 gritty novel Second Growth is now back in print for the first time in nearly five decades, increasing the number of classic Moore novels reissued by Islandport Press to four, as the independent book publisher moves to reestablish the standing and visibility of a woman who stands as one of Maine’s greatest novelists.
When originally published, The Saturday Review called the book “an honest piece of storytelling. In the rugged company of Faulkner, Caldwell, and Steinbeck, Ruth Moore holds her own without seeming to raise her voice in strident urgency.”
Second Growth is a richly textured novel follows the lives of Hillville residents and the sometimes sullen, resentful violence that pervades the down and out town. Moore successfully explores a dramatic range of human experience from the innocence of childhood to the wisdom of age, from the sweetness of young love to the sorrow of death in both body and spirit. In this once prosperous Maine town, everyone is now desperately looking for the revitalization spawned by a second growth.
Last year, Maine-based Islandport Press acquired the rights to the Ruth Moore catalog—which includes 14 novels—and has been redesigning and reissuing many of those books, including The Weir, Spoonhandle, and Candlemas Bay. The publishing house also announced it will create new works, including Voices off the Ocean, a collection of writing from Moore’s books, and has launched an online presence for Moore at www.ruthmooremaine.com.
“Ruth Moore is not only a Maine treasure, but a critical literary voice for the state of Maine and the coast,” said Dean Lunt, editor-in-chief at Islandport and the editor of Voices. “We are thrilled to begin playing a role in reviving interest in Moore’s work and her life story and expanding her reach into the literary world.
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