My Love Affair With the State of Maine

Book excerpt: What happens when two enterprising young women give up their Madison Avenue salaries, leave the glamorous whirl of New York behind, and move up to Maine to become proprietors of a country store? That's what Scotty Mackenzie and Dorothy Mignault did back in the 1940s, and Scotty's spirited account of their often hilarious setbacks and triumphs has been a well-love classic ever since. When she traded in her silk stockings and pumps for jeans and tennis shoes, Scotty learned a lot--about the people of Goose Rocks Beach, near Kennebunkport, where the store served summer people and year-round residents alike; about the hard work it takes to run a business during the hectic tourist season; about the wisdom to be gained from the solitude of a Maine winter; and most of all, about the strength of a community that sticks together through the best of times and the worst of tragedies. For Goose Rocks Beach, the tragedy swept in with the flames of the infamous Fire of '47, which leveled the small seaside community. Not only is My Love Affair with the State of Maine as fresh and enjoyable a read today as when it was first published, but over the years its value as a snapshot of a bygone era has increased. This new edition contains pictures and an afterword from Scotty herself, filling us in on her adventures since the book was written. It is a rare glimpse of the Maine that was, and that lives on in the hearts of all those who have had their own love affairs with the State of Maine.