On Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m., Deborah Gould, of Brunswick, will talk about her book, “Household.” Gould grew up in Maine. She has worked as an editorial assistant, on a dairy farm, in printing and graphic arts, and in educational interpreting and English language acquisition for students with cochlear implants.

Her first novel, “Household,” was published by Reck House in 2011. 

She was a finalist for the 2012 Maine Literary Awards in the short fiction category and the winner of the 2014 Maine Literary Award for short fiction. 

You can learn more about Household by visiting www.reckhousepress.com/bkhhd.php, and about the author by visiting www.reckhousepress.com/audg.php, and her personal website, www.debgould.com.

About “Household”: What does a house hold? With rich plans for the future, Margaret and Lee have bought their first home, an old farmhouse in rural Maine. But as they sand and patch and paint and polish, Margaret feels Lee becoming as distant as the nearest town, as inaccessible as the stones that wall the property. Margaret's idea of family, that circle of warmth and cherishing, is also receding. Lee becomes more erratic and unreachable, until Margaret's fear is "something real, like dust or rotting leaves."

Then Margaret herself begins to retreat, back into the gentle agrarian world of Ellen Thatcher, the woman who lived in her house more than a hundred years earlier.Trying to learn all she can about the Thatchers, Margaret spools through microfilms of newspapers and agricultural reports, deeds and probates.

And as she researches, imagines, and identifies with Ellen, Richard, and their five children, she finds a family to belong to. Happiest — and safest — in company with the Thatchers, who give her comfort in "their common, lovely lives," Margaret clutches this past tightly as she tries to survive, from one day to the terrifying next, inside the dissolution of her household.

All events are free and open to the public. The remaining Friends sponsored programs are as follows:

Sept. 24 – Van Reid – “Moss Farm” and “American Zig Zag”

Oct. 1 – Paul Betit – “The Man in the Canal”

Oct. 8 – Wendall Kinney – “The Bull and I” (CD)