A vivid and gripping story of an epic Maine snowstorm that tested the very limits of human endurance. For many, the past few years have been defined by climate disaster. Stories about once-in-a-lifetime hurricanes, floods, fires, droughts and even snowstorms are now commonplace. But dramatic weather events are not new and Northeaster, Cathie Pelletier's breathtaking account of the 1952 snowstorm that blanketed Maine, offers a valuable reminder about nature's capacity for destruction as well as insight into the human instinct for preservation. Northeaster weaves together a rich cast of characters whose lives were completely uprooted--and endangered--by the storm. Housewives and lobstermen, loggers and soldiers were all trapped as snow piled up in drifts twenty feet high. The storm smothered hundreds of travelers in their cars, covered entire towns, and broke ships clean in half. Yet Mainers (or, to some, Maniacs) are made of hardy stock.

In the midst of the blizzard's chaos, there were mighty acts of heroism and quiet but courageous generosity. Doctors braved the storm out to help deliver babies, ordinary people kepy their wits while buried in their cars, others made their way out of forests to find kind-hearted strangers willing to take them in. It's likely that none of us know how we would handle a confrontation with such a villain as a blizzard or other natural disaster. But Northeaster shows that we have it inside of us to fight to survive some of the harshest conditions that mother nature has at her disposal.