The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
About this ebook
When Henry Beston returned home from World War I, he sought refuge and healing at a house on the outer beach of Cape Cod. He was so taken by the natural beauty of his surroundings that his two-week stay extended into a yearlong solitary adventure. He spent his time trying to capture in words the wonders of the magical landscape he found himself in thrall to.
In The Outermost House, Beston chronicles his experiences observing the migrations of seabirds, the rhythms of the tide, the windblown dunes, and the scatter of stars in the changing summer sky. Beston argued: "The world today is sick to its thin blood for the lack of elemental things, for fire before the hands, for water, for air, for the dear earth itself underfoot." Nearly a century after publication, Beston's words are more true than ever.
About the author
Henry Beston was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended Adams Academy before earning his BA in 1909 and MA in 1911 from Harvard College. In 1912, Beston taught at the University of Lyon. He joined the French army in 1915 and served as an ambulance driver during World War I. His service in Bois-le-Prêtre and at the Battle of Verdun was described in his first book, A Volunteer Poilu. In 1918, Beston became a press representative for the US Navy. He was the only American correspondent to travel with the British Grand Fleet aboard an American destroyer during combat engagement and sinking. His second book of journalistic work, Full Speed Ahead, describes these experiences. After WWI, Beston began writing fairy tales. In 1919, The Firelight Fairy Book was published, followed by The Starlight Wonder Book in 1923. During this time, he worked as an editor of Living Age, an offshoot of the Atlantic Monthly. He also met his wife, Elizabeth Coatsworth, a fellow author of children's literature with whom he had two daughters, Margaret and Catherine. They lived at Hingham, Massachusetts, and Chimney Farm in Nobleboro, Maine.
