Best Books Set in Maine

Every state is known for something. As you work your way through the list, don't miss the best books set in Maine.

Maine, the northeasternmost U.S. state, is known for its rocky coastline, maritime history, and nature areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. Moose are plentiful in Baxter State Park, home to Mt. Katahdin, the endpoint of the Appalachian Trail.

Lighthouses such as the candy-striped beacon at West Quoddy Head, dot the coast, as do lobster shacks and sandy beaches like Ogunquit and Old Orchard.

In this post:

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The Cider House Rules

Audible Audiobook
John Irving (Author) - Grover Gardner (Narrator)

The Cider House Rules

Author: John Irving

This is the screenplay of the novel “The Cider House Rules”. Set in the rural town of Maine, this tale follows the bizarre story of Hormer Wells, from his apprenticeship in the orphanage surgery to his adult life running a cider-making factory and the relationship he has with his wife's best friend.

Empire Falls

Richard Russo (Author)
English (Publication Language)

Empire Falls

Author: Richard Russo

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Empire Falls, Maine: once a thriving hub of industry, this small town nestles in a bend of the vast and winding Knox River, and has always been the empire of the wealthy Whiting family. Now the last Mrs. Whiting presides like a black widow spider over its declining fortunes.

Olive Kitteridge

Strout, Elizabeth (Author)
English (Publication Language)

Olive Kitteridge

Author: Elizabeth Strout

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

Olive, Again: A Novel

Amazon Kindle Edition
Strout, Elizabeth (Author)

Olive, Again

Author: Elizabeth Strout

“Olive is a brilliant creation not only because of her eternal cantankerousness but because she’s as brutally candid with herself about her shortcomings as she is with others.

Her honesty makes people strangely willing to confide in her, and the raw power of Ms. Strout’s writing comes from these unvarnished exchanges, in which characters reveal themselves in all of their sadness and badness, and confusion.

The great, terrible mess of living is spilled out across the pages of this moving book. Ms. Strout may not have any answers for it, but she isn’t afraid of it either.”—The Wall Street Journal

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Maine (Vintage Contemporaries)

Sullivan, J. Courtney (Author)
English (Publication Language)

Maine

Author: J. Courtney Sullivan

This breakout New York Times bestseller from the celebrated author of Commencement and The Engagements, introduces four unforgettable women and the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.

The Weight of Water: A Novel

Amazon Kindle Edition
Shreve, Anita (Author)

The Weight of Water

Author: Anita Shreve

The Weight of Water is a 1997 bestselling novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction based on the Smuttynose Island murders, which took place in 1873.