May Sarton’s exquisitely rendered tribute to her home state

Over the course of her career, May Sarton wrote on a range of topics and places in both prose and poetry, and traveled across the world in search of new subjects. There is, however, one place that she always returned to in the end: Nelson, New Hampshire.

Written in honor of the town’s bicentennial, As Does New Hampshire follows the course of a year in this rural hamlet. Sarton gracefully describes the ever-present role of nature, which always reminds humans that their presence on earth is temporary. She conveys both the beauty and the difficulty of a New England winter, and the full bloom of spring and summer. Above all, though, As Does New Hampshire is a lasting tribute not only to Sarton’s home, but to the greater concept of home found in the heart of every reader.