Siege of Salt Cove

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has decided to replace Salt Cove's signature wooden bridge with a concrete monstrosity. The authorities are unreasoning and unyielding. The town decides on secession. Jessica Stoddard is a quirky seventy-two-year-old who is determined to keep a record of the event for posterity. She has a passion for the truth, but her account is not entirely reliable, because she also has a passion for the rebellion's ringleader who is...well, a much younger man. Toby Auberon is a lawyer and a drop-out. He has returned after years in Rio to perfect his mysterious invention in the solitude of the lighthouse. He is drawn, unwillingly, into the dispute when the bureaucracy switches tactics from bullying to armed occupation. Powerful, poignant, deeply funny, and enriched by the villagers' diverse voices, this is a contemporary farce about a town that dares to rebel against its own government, and to fight back when attacked.

"This is a very strange book but a splendid one, too--surreal, weird, utterly playful."

Anthony Weller has published two novels and a travel memoir of Asia. He has won awards for his poetry and journalism; he is also a much-recorded guitarist. Married, he lives in coastal Massachusetts and Italy.