Tabor Academy Presents: “Bookshelf by The Sea” 

Written by Dr. Sarah Kniesler, Chair of the English Department  

Recently, Mr. Ian Patrick ’84 and I were reminiscing about how we first encountered and came to appreciate Jane Eyre, one of the novels “AT Multi-Genre Literature” students read in the summer. I described a cross-country flight during which I fell in love with the complexities of Charlotte Brontë’s writing and the, at the time, incomprehensible intricacies of Georgian/Regency social etiquette. This novel started my love affair with highly descriptive, dated tomes that often send me running for a dictionary. A decade after visiting Thornfield Hall for the first time, I began my doctoral program in Victorian literature; nine years after that, I honored the role Jane Eyre had in my life by having one of the opening scenes inked onto my arm. 

Even though I adore reading and teaching Jane Eyre, I do not expect everyone to feel the same. As I told Mr. Patrick, I devoured Jane Eyre mostly because, “I didn’t know books could be like that.” Books, for me, are about connection: connection to my emotions, to characters, to worlds outside my own, and to other readers. Even though discussing a shared passion for a specific book is always exciting, as an English teacher, hearing a student volunteer, “I really enjoyed this book,” never fails to make my day. 

Tabor Academy’s English Department has embraced this mentality, designing assignments that encourage students to identify as readers by emphasizing choice and making personal connections with the material. Thanks to the work of my colleagues, summer reading assignments are now open-ended; over the summer, all Tabor students are asked to read one book of their choosing and, upon their return to school, they create a book review to share with the community. 

After seeing the passion our students can bring to their reading experiences, the English Department is eager to share our book reviews with the wider Tabor community. We hope you’ll enjoy seeing what our students are reading and, perhaps, walk away with a recommendation! 

Without further ado, I would like to kick this initiative off with a review of my own: 

Connections across Wild and Distant Seas: A Review 

I picked up Tara Karr Roberts’ Wild and Distant Seas mostly because a friend put it in her “To Read” list on Goodreads, and I thought the cover looked interesting. Since I arrived at the School by the Sea seven years ago, more nautical texts have made their way onto my bookshelves, and I picked up this book partially out of duty. I did not bother reading any reviews before diving in, so the Moby Dick connections were an unexpected but pleasant surprise. As a modern woman reader, this novel speaks to me in ways Moby Dick never has, and I found it compelling to read about how four women’s lives intersect with the sea.  

Essentially, Roberts has taken a character from Moby Dick, Evangeline Hussey, and has created a story about her and her female descendants. In many ways, Wild and Distant Seas reminds me of Madeline Miller’s Circe: a woman writer reworks a famous tale by turning a minor female character into the protagonist of her own story.  

As time passes in Wild and Distant Seas, we follow the Hussey women as they carve their own paths between coastal regions around the world: Nantucket, Boston, Rio Grande do Norte, and Florence. While Evangeline and her descendants are independent and physically disconnected from those who precede them, none of these women can truly escape their family’s history and/or their unifying quest for connection and identity.  

The intergenerational structure of Wild and Distant Seas appeals to me. I have been drawn to family stories with changing narrators ever since I read Michael Dorris’ Yellow Raft on Blue Water in middle school. Currently, Louise Erdrich’s interconnected, intergenerational novels, such as her Love Medicine series, are some of my favorite reads. 

Overall, I found Roberts’ prose easy to digest. As with most debut novels, Wild and Distant Seas was inconsistent: at times, it was nimble and elegant, but at other times, I found it clunky, particularly when it came to dialogue. And while Moby Dick blends historical fiction and adventure story, Roberts chose to incorporate elements of magical realism into her historical novel. I am still uncertain how I feel about this choice! In some ways, the magic feels like a convenient plot device; in other ways, it reads as a natural extension of the mysteries of the sea. 

As autumn approaches, I find myself wishing that I was beginning this novel now. With the detailed descriptions of sage or rosemary-spiced chowder bubbling away and dismally destructive storms causing the sea to rage, I can imagine curling up with this book on a dreary November day, relishing the warmth of a wool blanket—and a cat or two—and a nice cup of Lady Grey tea.  

Sarah Kniesler joined Tabor in 2018 after teaching literature and composition at the University of Florida while earning her Ph.D. in English. She received her B.A. in English from Mount Holyoke College and holds a M.Litt. in Women, Writing, and Gender from the University of St. Andrews. After coaching girls rowing for several years, Sarah transitioned to managing costumes for the musical. Sarah is also a houseparent in Lillard Hall South, where she lives with her cats, Lady of Shalott and Morgan le Fay.