Saturday, 20 January 2024

Maine - Facts


 The name of the book is Maine, which is the state where the family summer house is. Maine  is the easternmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States.


The house is near Cape Neddick. Cape Neddick is a census-designated place  in the town of York in York County, Maine.

Kathleen's home in California is in Sonoma. Sonoma is a historic city in northern California at the heart of the renowned Sonoma Valley winemaking region. 

Alice lives in Canton, Massachusetts, the rest of the year. Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts,s. It is approximately 11 km west of downtown Boston. Newton comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages without a city centre.

When Mary meets Henry, she tells Alice that he isn't fighting in the war because of a bus accident he was involved in and left him with a slight limp. That is a 4F, and Alice mentions that Frank Sinatra didn't go because of a punctured eardrum. Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was officially classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") by his draft board because of his perforated eardrum. However, Army files reported that Sinatra had actually been rejected because he was "not acceptable material from a psychiatric viewpoint;" his emotional instability was hidden to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service".

In her youth Alice wanted to be an artist and she was totally impressed when she first visited the Gardner Museum. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded by Isabella Stewart Gardner, whose will called for her art collection to be permanently exhibited "for the education and enjoyment of the public forever."

One painting that she liked was El Jaleo. El Jaleo is a large painting by John Singer Sargent, depicting a Spanish Romani dancer performing to the accompaniment of musicians. Painted in 1882, it currently hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston.

Alice discovered what cotillion classes were and she decided to have some classes. Cotillions are private programs where kids (normally middle school aged) come together for a series of classes and events to learn manners, etiquette, and social dance. 


Mary, Alice's sister, died in the fire of Cocoanut Grove, a nightclub, when she was trampled to death. The Cocoanut Grove fire was a nightclub fire which took place in Boston, on November 28, 1942, and resulted in the deaths of 492 people. It is the deadliest nightclub fire in history and the second-deadliest single-building fire. The Cocoanut Grove was one of Boston's most popular nightspots, attracting many celebrity visitors. The fire was initiated by an electrical short and fueled by methyl chloride in the air conditioning unit. Flames and smoke spread rapidly through all areas of the club, and people were unable to escape efficiently because of the locked exit doors.


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New Book - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Chapters 1 - 2)

 First Published: 1814 This is a book by Jane Austen which I have never read.