Storm Tide

First published in 1945, "Storm Tide" is the second book in the Joanna Bennett series. This is the second Elisabeth Ogilvie book I've read. "Rowan Head" captured my imagination and put a smile on my face. This book creates the delightful setting of Bennett's Island off the coast of Maine near a coastal village of Brigport. As the story begins, Joanna returns to the island with her new husband Nils Sorenson. We are introduced to Joanna's brothers Mark and his wife Helmi, the good-natured Stevie & the moody Owen. The exposition recounts Joanna's stormy marriage to Alec and his death. Less passion and more Joanna's reliance on Nils to take her back to Bennett's Island mark her new marriage. Nils keeps looking for a loving wife, but increasingly becomes alienated by her lack of affection. The crisis in the relationship caps as Joanna reveals that her love making in the marriage bed is a loveless act of duty as part of the wife's job. At this, Nils removes himself from the island and heads to his relatives' mainland home to work on a boat they are repairing. The separation tests the limits of Joanna's pride. Her eight-year-old daughter Ellen misses her stepfather. A subplot focuses action on an abandoned boat Nils finds drifting. He tows the boat to shore. The missing fisherman, Winslow Fowler, has a brother Randy who comes and hits on Joanna. When she rejects him, rumors mysteriously spread throughout Brigport that Nils not only found the boat but murdered Winslow. This is compounded by an effort by the Fowler family to drive the Bennett family off their island. The book climaxes as the Bennett clan and the residents of the island come to town and confront the rumors. From a feminist analysis, we might find the love story dated as Joanna eventually capitulates, seeks Nils, and falls in love with him and assumes her "rightful" place as the husband's helper rather than as an independent assertive woman. On the other hand, it is a sweet love story where the husband eventually causes his wife to fall in love with him. "Storm Tide" is a gripping story from the World War II era; one that deserves a modern audience. Enjoy!