A Country Doctor, by Sarah Orne Jewett

I finished this novel this morning, and what a wonderful treat it was. I loved so many aspects of the writing, especially what I might call the modest simplicity of it. Jewett is not a pretentious writer. She doesn’t show off her writing skills, but simply tells a beautiful story. Mind you, in the telling of the story is embedded extraordinarily lovely writing, but it’s as if she did this by accident as she told her touching story. The sentences are as simple and beautiful as flowers in a modest garden. I lingered over many sentences the way I might study a few flowers as I walk through my wife’s garden.