The Havener Sisters

Ardeana Hamlin grew up in Bingham, Maine, in the 1950s and 1960s, in the days of the river drives, the veneer mill, and the woods operations. She has always loved writing; Hamlin wrote her first fiction at age 12 and her first poetry at age 16. Over the years, she’s worked a variety of different jobs, including family planning specialist, waitress, babysitter, recreation coordinator, copyeditor, newspaper columnist, and seamstress. Most recently, she worked as a newspaper journalist for the Bangor Daily News for over half a decade. Hamlin is the author of four novels, Pink Chimneys, A Dream of Paris, Abbott’s Reach, and The Havener Sisters. Her hobbies include knitting, creating fiber art pieces, and gardening. She has lived for forty years in the same neighborhood in Hampden, Maine. 

Author photo by Kevin Bennett/Islandport Press.

In the News:

• From Pink Chimneys to The Havener Sisters (November 20, 2015)

• The Havener Sisters: A Delightful Adventure in Historic Maine (November 18, 2015)

• Q & A with Ardeana Hamlin (November 9, 2015)

"Hamlin’s prose is crisp and delicate, like pressed linens. She manages to convey a sense of the times without weighing the reader down – in fact, it’s the fine detail work that really gives this book the sense of a period piece. It’s as though she’s able to pull the reader in and show them snapshots of Maine-gone-by, doing so with a clear sense of love, respect and historical diligence. She imbues her characters with a sense of humanity and warmth while still impressing upon the reader a true sense of time and place. This book is a fantastic addition to Hamlin’s work, and if you haven’t had a chance to see historic Maine through this lens, there has never been a better time to start."—Katy England, The Maine Edge

“The Havener Sisters is one of the warmest, most uplifting books of the past year [ . . .] Hamlin is a masterful storyteller, creating a wonderful, wholesome story of good people, good manners and good deeds." ––Bill Bushnell, The Kennebec Journal