Harbor History Museum and the Gig Harbor branch of the Pierce County Library invite you to join the Gig Harbor Literary Society, dedicated to exploring the literary world of historical fiction, nonfiction, and other works of interest.
The November meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 7th at 6:00pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for the November meeting is The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.
Novelist Ivan Doig revisits the American west in the early twentieth century, bringing to life the eccentric individuals and idiosyncratic institutions that made it thrive.
“Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. That unforgettable season deposits the ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by the promise of the Big Ditch—a gargantuan irrigation project intended to make the Montana prairie bloom. When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education"—none of them of the textbook variety—Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region's one-room schoolhouse. A paean to a way of life that has long since vanished, The Whistling Season is Ivan Doig at his evocative best.
Attendees are welcome to bring an appetizer or dish to share with fellow bibliophiles. The Museum will provide complimentary non-alcoholic beverages. Enjoy a drink while you talk books? You are welcome to BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine). Library and Museum staff will lead the discussion. Materials will be available for checkout at the Gig Harbor Library, as well as for purchase online at Amazon.com.
This event is FREE and open to the public. Seats are limited; RSVPs are encouraged. To RSVP or for questions, please contact Zachary Sokolik, Marketing & Events Coordinator, at marketing@harborhistorymuseum.org or 253-858-6722.