Elisabeth Ogilvie (1917–2006)
Author of High Tide at Noon
About the Author
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Series
Works by Elisabeth Ogilvie
Elisabeth Ogilvie's Journal 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1917
- Date of death
- 2006-09-09
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- novelist
mystery novelist
young adult writer - Relationships
- Simpson, Dorothy (companion)
- Short biography
- Elisabeth Ogilvie was born in Boston and grew up in Dorchester, Wollaston, and Quincy, Massachusetts. She graduated from North Quincy High School in 1934. She spent summers with her parents and brothers in Maine, beachcombing, boating, and bird-watching, and these times became the inspiration for her writing. With the royalties from her first published novel, High Tide at Noon (1944), she bought an old farmhouse with 33 acres on Gay’s Island, where she lived with her companion, writer Dorothy Simpson, for many years. Her Bennett Island series of novels, which included the Tide trilogy, recounted loves, feuds, storms, and sea tales on a fictional Maine island.
She also wrote a series of novels based on her travels in the Scottish Highlands. She also wrote 14 popular books for young adults, focusing on two new generations of the Bennett family. Her autobiography, My World is An Island, was published in 1950 and reissued in 1990. - Nationality
- USA (birth)
- Birthplace
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- Gay's Island, Maine, USA
Quincy, Massachusetts, USA - Place of death
- Cushing, Maine, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Very much enjoyed this sappy romance amidst a frightening series of events pervading the tranquility of the unspoiled environment of Cape Silver on the coast of Maine. Early 20's Mirabell gets the opportunity to house & dog-sit for her aunt & uncle for 2 autumn months on their idyllic farm on the cape across from Applecross Harbor where she summered every summer as a child. Her old beau from that time period has also returned to the only other house on the cape at the other end, with a show more nature preserve in between. While this did not take place on an island as do most of Ogilivie's books, this might as well have been considering the isolation and difficulty getting around on the cape. Surprisingly, the mysteries and tragedies taking place after her arrival led to many possible explanations and theories, but they were constantly in upheaval as to the cause and reasons. I was always interested in trying to figure it out, and was somewhat surprised as to how it all finished out. Getting there thru the head of the frightened, stubborn 20-something year old Mirabell, who did not always make the wisest decisions, and was usually stubborn for all the wrong reasons, did get occasionally tedious, but Ogilvie's mastery of Maine coastal life trumped it all. Very enjoyable read for me! show less
What a gem!
Joanna Bennett was born and raised on an island in Maine, settled by her grandfather and bearing his name, Bennett’s Island. She is the only daughter, in a family with six sons. In the first chapter, we are told that the island is now deserted, but we are not told why, then Ogilvie begins to tell us Joanna’s story, and the story of what happened to an island that was vibrant and alive with a thriving lobster industry.
High Tide at Noon’s finest character is Bennett’s show more Island. Elisabeth Ogilvie makes it come alive: the flora, the fauna, the sea, and the people, that hardy brand of sea-going families that were once the backbone of our country. She builds characters that have depth and breath.
I have traveled several times to Tangier Island off the coast of Virginia. It is a small island with a population that has roots going back many generations; fishing is its mainstay. I could recognize the same kind of hardiness and entrenchment in Ogilvie’s people. They seemed real, because Elisabeth Ogilvie was one of them. She was familiar with the men and women who populated Maine’s islands and she puts her love and understanding of them down on paper with skill, finesse and love.
When I selected this book for my Women Writers Challenge, I did not know it was the beginning of a trilogy. I usually try to steer clear of series books, but after reading this one, I put the other two on order immediately. I certainly will not leave Joanna where she is sitting at the end of this book, I have to know how her future unfolds and what becomes of Bennett’s Island. I can’t help thinking, despite how hard life can be in this kind of environment, that we are all missing a lot who live inland and cannot sleep with the beat of the surf in our ears. show less
Joanna Bennett was born and raised on an island in Maine, settled by her grandfather and bearing his name, Bennett’s Island. She is the only daughter, in a family with six sons. In the first chapter, we are told that the island is now deserted, but we are not told why, then Ogilvie begins to tell us Joanna’s story, and the story of what happened to an island that was vibrant and alive with a thriving lobster industry.
High Tide at Noon’s finest character is Bennett’s show more Island. Elisabeth Ogilvie makes it come alive: the flora, the fauna, the sea, and the people, that hardy brand of sea-going families that were once the backbone of our country. She builds characters that have depth and breath.
I have traveled several times to Tangier Island off the coast of Virginia. It is a small island with a population that has roots going back many generations; fishing is its mainstay. I could recognize the same kind of hardiness and entrenchment in Ogilvie’s people. They seemed real, because Elisabeth Ogilvie was one of them. She was familiar with the men and women who populated Maine’s islands and she puts her love and understanding of them down on paper with skill, finesse and love.
When I selected this book for my Women Writers Challenge, I did not know it was the beginning of a trilogy. I usually try to steer clear of series books, but after reading this one, I put the other two on order immediately. I certainly will not leave Joanna where she is sitting at the end of this book, I have to know how her future unfolds and what becomes of Bennett’s Island. I can’t help thinking, despite how hard life can be in this kind of environment, that we are all missing a lot who live inland and cannot sleep with the beat of the surf in our ears. show less
Continuing in my quest to read all of Ogilvie's works, next up was 'The Face of Innocence." Odd piece, but one that grabbed me oddly and i cranked through it quicker than normal. A seemingly happy housewife is jolted into confronting a horrible past that she has kept from her family and all who now matter to her....and the threat is real that her world could literally be turned upside-down......lots of sappy emotional stuff that Ogilvie does fairly well, but also a lot of dumb decisions by show more our main character that made me often say out loud 'Just tell him!" But then there would be no need for the book. The end takes an odd unexpected twist for me which is always a good thing.....but to me, the lesson is that the longer you hold something in, the more dangerous it becomes and the more difficult it is to resolve. Enjoyed it way more than i thought, especially looking at my 'glamorous' cover (A huge pet peeve of mine!!!!). Sadly, Maine was only mentioned 2-3 times in the entire book....BOO....no one does Maine quite like Elisabeth Ogilvie! There are other Maine-themed Ogilvie books still to be read on my shelf......i survived. show less
Elizabeth Ogilvie’s second novel in her Tide Trilogy finds Joanna Bennett exactly where we left her in the first book of the series. It felt like a seamless story that required no time to re-enter--no significantly elapsed time, no gaps to fill. The breezes of the island began to blow, but this time they built themselves into gales, and they were gales of a personal, internal nature.
It was satisfying to see where Joanna was off to, and while things were left in a very positive light at the show more end of the first novel, there was struggle ahead, which makes for a more interesting story and a more realistic one as well. After all, Shakespeare has already assured us
for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth;
And who would Elizabeth Ogilvie be to deny that?
I am thoroughly enjoying these books, and having a little crush on Nils, the handsome and strong Swede, who never has to raise his voice to be heard. I have grown fond of many of the salty characters on Bennett’s Island, Maine and love having a glimpse of what life would have been in such a remote place in the 1940s.
We leave the Bennetts and Sorensons as America enters the Second World War, with Stevie, the youngest brother, off to the Philippines. I cannot help thinking the next book will be a heartbreaker. show less
It was satisfying to see where Joanna was off to, and while things were left in a very positive light at the show more end of the first novel, there was struggle ahead, which makes for a more interesting story and a more realistic one as well. After all, Shakespeare has already assured us
for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth;
And who would Elizabeth Ogilvie be to deny that?
I am thoroughly enjoying these books, and having a little crush on Nils, the handsome and strong Swede, who never has to raise his voice to be heard. I have grown fond of many of the salty characters on Bennett’s Island, Maine and love having a glimpse of what life would have been in such a remote place in the 1940s.
We leave the Bennetts and Sorensons as America enters the Second World War, with Stevie, the youngest brother, off to the Philippines. I cannot help thinking the next book will be a heartbreaker. show less
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- Works
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- Rating
- 3.8
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- 114
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