Whether it’s Stephen King adding a cultural phenomenon to his silver screen roster, or Morgan Talty solidifying his authorial status with another breakout hit, there’s no denying Maine stimulates the literary imagination. 

On March 26, author Shannon Bowring shared her experiences using her upbringing in Aroostook County to inform the fictional setting of Dalton, Maine in her award-winning “Dalton” trilogy. Her debut novel, “The Road to Dalton,” follows the rippling effects of a seemingly innocuous fender-bender as tragedies unfold and lives intertwine in a small town.  

The novel was an NPR Best Book in 2023 and won the Maine Literary Book Award for Fiction in 2024. The third book, “In A Distant Valley,” comes out Oct. 7.

“I kind of took on this sense of responsibility that I wanted to show readers a new part of Maine, which to me, was the real part of Maine, because it was the only one I knew for 18 years of my life.” 

Bowring explained she has a “pride of place,” even as she struggled growing up in such an isolated environment. She found her strongest work always came from her experiences. So, when it became clear that to understand her characters, she needed to understand their town, what better place to pull inspiration than the towering trees and potato fields of her childhood?  

She also wanted to shy away from the more popular literary depictions of Maine: a market saturated with “literary tourism," aka non-Maine authors presenting water-downed versions of the state’s coastal life. Although Bowring doesn't fault anyone for enjoying those novels, they don’t feel genuine to her.  

Bowring’s Maine isn’t always pretty. There’s poverty, addiction and mental illness, but it’s also full of hard-working, blue-collar people. 

“I didn't want to skirt away from that ... a place can be beautiful, but also very complicated and sad sometimes, but hopeful. That, to me, is what Aroostook County was.” 

However, the desire for accurate depiction left Bowring feeling stifled. It wasn’t until she began writing her second book that Bowring felt the freedom to evolve Dalton from a carbon copy of her hometown into its own being: a character in itself. While Bowring’s newest release is the end of the “Dalton” trilogy, it may not be the last readers see of Dalton (even if it's just in cameos). 

“It's so fun that we can do that in fiction, that we can just build worlds that expand on and on. It's so humbling to know that readers connect with it, love it, and feel like they're part of it.” 

The lecture was hosted by Patten Free Library (Bath) as part of Maine Courses, an educational series created through collaboration between Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, Curtis Memorial Library (Brunswick), Falmouth Memorial Library, Patten Free Library and Scarborough Public Library.