Northern Borders: A Novel

I'm always happy to discover a new author who pleases me. I found this book well-written and so engrossing that it was difficult to put down and catch up on the rest of my life. I really enjoy small-town stories, and this is one of the best.

The story begins in the summer of 1948 with six-year old Austin Kittredge sent by his widowed father to live with his grandparents at the Kittredge family farm, Lost Nation Hollow, Vermont just a few miles south of the Canadian border. His grandparents are disagreeable and contentious toward each other, yet provide a welcoming and protected home for the boy. The grandparents' marriage is known locally as the 'Forty Years' War.' When their domestic relations with each other reach another frequent impasse, one or both retire to their respective safe domains; grandmother to her 'Egypt' room and grandfather to his 'Labrador' hunting lodge. Despite their frequent feuds, Austin thrives in the rural setting. Summer turns to fall and he stays show more to attend the local one-room school.

The novel is written in the manner of an adult looking back at a more simple and unspoiled time in their life. This coming-of-age story follows Austin for the next dozen years. Memorable family members and community neighbors are involved in working, hunting, fishing, and other adventures and events. Sometimes outrageous happenings are made believable; an elephant comes to live its final years on the farm. The extended Kittredge family gathers for an annual family reunion and its Shakespeare play each summer. The farm, Kingdom County, and his grandparents are the 'center of everything' for Austin's childhood years.

The author, Howard Frank Mosher, skillfully develops humorous yet believable characters. Two elderly cousins, brothers as different as night and day yet linked by family loyalty - - one a part-time Methodist minister and the other a moonshiner, poacher, and long-time blasphemer. An aunt returns for a summer visit and brings with her a Western influence and the reminder that her previous departure was linked to her suspected involvement with a local bank robbery. Years pass, Austin matures and the story evolves to an unexpected conclusion.

I'm drawn to Mosher's writings because he knows rural and outdoor life. He is adept at integrating beautiful landscape descriptions with characters and events that typify the northeast country near the Canadian border. Highly recommend his work. (lj) show less

An all-time favorite, probably in my top 5 list of "most enjoyed books!" Very sweet and funny, "Northern Borders" is really a book of stories from the wild "northeast kingdom," that very rural region of Vermont

full of eccentric characters. New Englanders will recognize the grandfather as the quintessential Yankee: taciturn and distant, he nonetheless displays a soft side in the unexpectedly sweet and touching end chapters.

-- When I read NORTHERN BORDERS yrs. ago I didn't fully appreciate Mosher. Recently I decided to reread the novel. Mosher writes about the beauty of Green Mtn. State as well as the Kittredges & neighbors. After his mother dies Austen Kittredge lives with paternal grandparents on their farm near Canada. Grandfather operates a sawmill. Grandmother tends a flock of chickens. Painting on book jacket & events in Austen's life remind me of Earl Hamner, Jr. & his fictional Walton family. An elephant visits Lost Nation Hollow. Grandfather's sister Rose stages Shakespeare plays for family reunions. NORTHERN BORDERS is a classic coming-of-age story. --

a yioung boy lives with his grandparents in the northeast kingdom of verymont in the late 40's and early 50's - reads like memoirs although it is anovel.