Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Cape Cod. I’ve been going there for summer vacations since I was a child. For years, my husband and I have made the trek to Provincetown, the excuse being the Tennessee Williams Festival. True we love the festival but it is only a solid reason not to miss. The only gap was our years in southwest Florida. 

On our annual visit, we stop at least once at East End Books which is everything a bookstore should be. There is wide variety of books you just don’t seem to find elsewhere. And the fabulous woman we invariably see behind the counter is either chatting up book recommendations or as she did this past visit, arranging visits and meals for a sick friend.

This is where I found this jewel. The House on Oyster Street, a novel by a Cape Cod resident Heidi Jon Schmidt. It was a perfect read for me, especially during this snowstorm that just didn’t seem to want to stop.

The set up:

Charlotte Tradescome is a woman disappointed in her life. She married Henry, a man twenty years her senior who is an emotionally barren intellectual whose literary endeavors are the core of his life. In short, he is a critical, opinionated man, engulfed in negativity.

They have a small daughter, Fiona. They live in cramped apartment in Manhattan. Charlotte has a job she doesn’t respect. It is an understatement to say things are not going well for her and improving her life doesn’t seem possible.

When Henry’s father dies and leaves them their ancestral home in Wellfleet, Charlotte decides to take a bold action (despite Henry’s reaction) and moves them there. Afterall, what does she have to lose?

Charlotte and Fiona come alive living near the water but  Henry just carries on with his work as he always has, oblivious to his location

The long time residents are facing many of the problems that can be found in other resort communities. Wellfleet is no different. The year rounders scrape by as summer people build their large ostentatious homes that have no place there and impede their livelihoods.

And it is Charlotte, who unwittingly sets in motion, a huge problem for the locals. The underpinning of this story is the conflict between the washashores who come in and expect changes to meet their needs, and those whose families have always lived there and don’t want that change. Not so dissimilar to what is happening on a larger scale elsewhere in our country. 

As you might expect, the touch starved and lonely Charlotte develops a relationship with a local man, Darryl Stead, a reformed alcoholic, oyster farmer and all around handyman who works hard to get by. He’s everything Henry is not.

In that sense, the Charlotte-Daryl relationship is typical of a story like this. But, this one, thankfully doesn’t go where you might expect. They are complicated characters who know who they are. They may falter but at heart, they are strivers, always pushing forward.

Charlotte blossoms as the story moves on. More than she realizes. At its heart, it is the story of a woman who has never spread her wings and doesn’t know how far she can fly. Watching her metamorphosis is a joy. But maybe the best part of this story is how Charlotte’s open spirit is infused into her daughter, Fiona.

There is much to learn in this book about oyster farming, water rights, and the way character’s lives are shaped by history. In the hands of this writer, it is done well. The writing is lovely. Some of the passages stopped me. They were worth reading again.

Schmidt wrote three novels prior to this one and the latest one is The Harbormaster’s Daughter. I think I’ll check it out.

Happy reading!