The Country of the Pointed Firs is a fictional novella with a few short stories added to the book. Jewett manages to write a masterpiece without a gripping plot. I could let this book lie for days on end and pick it up and enjoy the next page for what it is: a skillful description of a Maine region, particularly it's people. The story is written from the perspective of a young women who visits a small town looking for solitude to write. 

An excerpt: 

"Twas pretty when they sang the hymn wasn't it?" asked Mrs. Blackett at suppertime, with real enthusiasm. "There was such a plenty o' men's voices; where I sat it did sound beautiful. I had to stop and listen when they came to the last verse."

I saw that Mrs. Todd's broad shoulders began to shake. "There was good singers there: yes, there was excellent singers," she agreed heartily, putting down her teacup, "but I chanced to drift alongside Mis' Peter Bowden o' Great Bay, an' I couldn't help thinking' if she was as far out o' town as she was out o' tune, she wouldn't get back in a day."