‘The Peculiar Gift of July’: Solace at the Corner of Nowhere

The folks in a small island town have their lives shaken up when an unusual young girl named July is dropped in their midst.

"The Peculiar Gift of July" by Ashley Ream tells the story of an island community in Maine. Dutton Publishing

“The Peculiar Gift of July” by Ashley Ream is a charming story that’s part soap opera and part vacation on the page. It features a delightful cast of small-town characters who are stuck in ruts, either of their own choosing or due to tragic circumstances.

Some of them are even pretty close to losing it all. When a young orphan girl who may have mild precognitive abilities gets added to the mix, things might unravel even quicker or, just maybe, finally start to get better.

The Oddments of Ebey’s

The story takes place in a town called Ebey’s End, “a green speck of an island so far north and west of the Northwest” that folks are in danger of learning the metric system and the Canadian national anthem. It’s also known for “oddments” washing up on shore—notable items of flotsam and jetsam.