The Midcoast by Adam White
6/7/22; 336 pages
Random House
The Midcoast by Adam White is a highly recommended debut novel examining a family striving to achieve wealth and status in the town of Damariscotta, Maine
Ed and Steph Thatch have risen from a modest beginning to
a place of wealth and prominence in Damariscotta. Andrew, a high school
English teacher and coach, has recently moved his family back to Maine
due to the lower cost of living there. He knew Ed Thatch back when they
were both teenagers and Andrew worked summers for Ed as a dockhand at
the Lobster
Pound, owned by Ed’s father. As the narrative opens, Andrew and his
family are invited to a lavish reception for the
Amherst College lacrosse team at the Thatch's estate. It is here that
Andrew sees a disturbing photo that will be the impetus for the rest of
the novel.
Questions arise when the police show up at the reception and from this point on Andrew starts looking back at their lives and what led to the current events. Back when Andrew knew Ed, he never would have predicted Ed would become the owner of several lobster boats and a major donor for town projects and Steph would become the town manager. A common theme running through their marriage is the known fact that Steph wants nice things and Ed wants her to have the life she deserves. This is the motive for everything Ed does.
There is a Gatsbyesque element to The Midcoast as it examines
the quest for wealth
and the deception involved as Ed does everything he can to make Steph
happy and Andrew looks at Ed's life from the sideline.
The narrative mainly follows Andrew interviewing people
after the day of the party for a book about Ed's actions. The timeline
is not chronological. The narrative moves around in time culminating
with a return to the opening scene as the last scene in the novel. The
complex plot slowly builds as Andrew discovers more of Ed's actions and
activities. Sometimes the narrative is in first person while other times
it is revealing the actions and thoughts of other characters. Suspense
builds over the mystery concerning a photo Andrew sees while attending
the reception.
The Midcoast is certainly an excellent debut novel that
tackles an impressive amount of details and a myriad of issues in a
complex plot. Not all the characters are as fully realized as I would
hope as some important personal motivating factors seem absent, but this
could be a deliberate choice as certain character's backstories are
told through their own voices. It is not a quick paced thriller, but
once you start reading you will want to know what happened, what the
photo means, and how Ed is involved.
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