Beth Powning (Author of The Sea Captain's Wife)

148 ratings | 17 reviews | avg rating:3.68

Beth Powning鈥檚 Followers (102)

Beth鈥檚 Bookshelves

read (148)
currently-reading (1)
to-read (13)

Beth鈥檚 Friends (112)

Lindsey Reeder

1,592 books | 716 friends

Lee Thompson

726 books | 226 friends

Brett

230 books | 20 friends

Lana Shupe

485 books | 185 friends

Heidi Gallacher

600 books | 1,910 friends

Lynda

44 books | 99 friends

Lana Shupe

511 books | 98 friends

Stephens Malone

19 books | 43 friends

More friends鈥�

Beth Powning

欧宝娱乐 Author

Born

The United States

Website

Twitter

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Arts & Photography, Outdoors & Nature

Influences

E. L. Doctorow, teacher and don at Sarah Lawrence College

Member Since

September 2014

URL

/bdpowning

edit data

Beth Powning was born in Hampton, Connecticut. She attended E.O. Smith High School, and Sarah Lawrence College, where she majored in creative writing. Powning moved to New Brunswick, Canada in 1970.

Powning's work has been widely published in books, anthologies, and magazines. She is known for her lyrical, powerful writing and the profound emotional honesty of her work.

Her latest novel, "The Sister's Tale", will be released by Knopf Canada in both Canada and the US on May 25, 2021. Set in the 1887 maritimes provinces, it includes characters from "The Sea Captain's Wife" and concerns home children, suffragists, and women's rights.

Her 2015 novel, " A Measure of Light", was a Globe and Mail Bestseller, a Globe and Mail Best Book, long-listed ...more

Ask the Author

To ask Beth Powning questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

I loved The Sea Captain's Wife, and I've been eagerly awaiting a new novel from you! Can you tell us about your new book? Why did you choose to write about Mary Dyer, and did you find it more difficult to write about a real person as opposed to a fictional character?

Beth Powning Hi Mary,
I came across mention of a 17th century Quaker and what happened to her (spoiler alert! I won't say what it was that intrigued me....) My hair鈥辞谤别Hi Mary,
I came across mention of a 17th century Quaker and what happened to her (spoiler alert! I won't say what it was that intrigued me....) My hair stood on end, an actual frisson that runs over my scalp. That's a sign that I'm onto something. I don't think it was really any more difficult to write about a real person, since a great deal is NOT known about Mary, and so I was free to invent. The difficulty in writing a historical novel is making sure all the textural details are correct (what KIND of candles?!), as well as all the surrounding greater events. It slows and interrupts the flow of the first draft (you have to keep looking things up!) I learned so much, which is one of the reasons I love setting my novels in the past. Thanks for the questions!(less)

flag

2 likes · like
Comment

Hey Beth, just finished The Sea Captain's wife and really enjoyed it. Just one thing I would suggest. When it goes into the next printing, would you ask your publisher to either put the Glossary of Terms at the beginning of the book or to refer to it at the beginning? It would have made reading (and understanding) a lot easier had I known I could look up the terms right there in the book.

Beth Powning Hi Lori,
That's a great idea. I have had other readers say they were astonished to find the glossary at the end and wished they'd had it. I will most c鈥辞谤别Hi Lori,
That's a great idea. I have had other readers say they were astonished to find the glossary at the end and wished they'd had it. I will most certainly pass this idea on to my publishers!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. I'm working on a new novel right now.
Best wishes,
Beth(less)

flag

1 like · like
1 comment

See all 7 answers from Beth Powning鈥�

Combine Editions
Beth Powning鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.73 · 4,720 ratings · 689 reviews · 18 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The Sea Captain's Wife 3.90 avg rating — 2,369 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sister's Tale 3.71 avg rating — 1,112 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hatbox Letters 3.11 avg rating — 617 ratings — published 2004 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Measure of Light 3.58 avg rating — 376 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life 4.31 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 1996 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year 3.76 avg rating — 62 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow Child: A Woman's Journey Through Childbirth Loss 3.80 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2000 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning (欧宝娱乐 Author), Martha Irving (Narrator) it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow Child A Womans Journey Through Childbirth Loss 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sister's Tale: A Novel 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Beth Powning…

4 posts
Beth Powning's Blog: Other Worlds

People of the Book

I loved "People of the Book", as I've loved everything I've read by Geraldine Brooks. Running beneath the narrative of Hanna, a rare book expert, are the true stories behind tiny objects she finds in the binding of an ancient book: a hair, a blood stain, a butterfly wing. From these objects, stories emerge which the reader is privileged to know and Hanna can only guess at. Set in war-torn Sarajevo Read more of this blog post »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 17, 2018 08:55

View all 4 posts »

Beth is Currently Reading

Beth Powning is currently reading

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

May 18, 2021 10:14AM

Quotes by Beth Powning (?)

“Everything waits and moves. Our hearts, beating. The stars, wheeling over the spruce trees.”
― Beth Powning, Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year

tags: literary-non-fiction

0 likes

“The Sea Letters of Grace F. Ladd, by Louise Nicols;”
― Beth Powning, The Sea Captain's Wife

0 likes

“wind cake: a cake in which egg yolks are beaten in water until foamy, then egg whites are beaten until stiff and folded into the batter.”
― Beth Powning, The Sea Captain's Wife

0 likes

See all Beth Powning's quotes »

Polls

June BoTM Nominations ~ 1st Poll ~ Book Set in Canada
Top 5 Books move onto final poll

The River

by Peter Heller

9 votes, 26.5%

Never Knowing

by Chevy Stevens

8 votes, 23.5%

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

by Jim DeFede

6 votes, 17.6%

Canada

by Richard Ford

5 votes, 14.7%

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum

by Michael McCreary

2 votes, 5.9%

Crow Lake

by Mary Lawson

2 votes, 5.9%

The Sea Captain's Wife

by Beth Powning

1 vote, 2.9%

The Shipping News

by Annie Proulx

1 vote, 2.9%

The Blue Castle

by L.M. Montgomery

0 votes, 0.0%

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje

0 votes, 0.0%

34 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Historical Fictio...: Challenge #6: Report Points Here	302	168	Jun 03, 2011 06:44PM
Nothing But Readi...: Shay's Reading Challenges	54	134	Sep 30, 2011 06:52AM
Cover to Cover Ch...: Shay's Less is More Challenge 2011	43	115	Dec 23, 2011 02:30PM
Nothing But Readi...: Level 2 of the Serious Readers Challenge for 2011	252	354	Jan 03, 2012 12:26AM
Historical Fictio...: Around the World Challenge (Aug 1 - Sept 30, 2012) - Report Points Here	118	235	Oct 03, 2012 06:53PM
One Million Pages...: Shay's 1,000,000 pages	752	290	Oct 05, 2012 11:57PM

More…

Beth鈥檚 Quotes

“I see the steam of the chocolate and the plates of blueberry tarts.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

2 likes

“Everything waits and moves. Our hearts, beating. The stars, wheeling over the spruce trees.”
― Beth Powning, Edge Seasons: A Mid-life Year

tags: literary-non-fiction

0 likes