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Stern Men was very readable, but it was bumpy and ultimately, it fell flat.
Before the story gets going, we hear about the settlement of the two islands of the coast of Maine - Fort Niles and Courne Haven - and various other historical aspects.
Fishing, especially lobstering, is the main money-making activity on the islands.
The most interesting characters were the women, Ruth Thomas, whom everyone calls intelligent, although I can't quite understand why. Her mother left the family and the island when Ruth was a little girl. Her next-door neighbour, Mrs Pommeroy, becomes her mother figure. The two have a lovely relationship.
The dialogues were well written, they felt quite authentic. But generally, I found the writing clunky, with too much exposition. A good editor could have made this better.