Adam White’s novel The Midcoast details the socioeconomic rise of the Thatches, a lobstermen family in Damariscotta, a small town in mid-coastal Maine. Purportedly through sheer effort, Ed and Steph Thatch quickly become one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Damariscotta. Yet, hidden behind the glamor of their various estates and parties are the illegal drug deals that constitute the source of their revenue. 

The Thatches’s saga is intertwined with portrayals of gender dynamics, class, and the upward mobility embodied by the American Dream. Steph’s pursuit for socioeconomic progress challenges the gender norm that restricts women to the domestic sphere. Through Steph, White presents the possibility of breaking gender norms through personal effort.

Steph’s visit to Amherst College initiates her desire for progress. She realizes that while the Amherst students she encounters are free to “go to classes just to learn about stuff”, she is bound to Ed and to her children. Her realization of this contrast plants a “little angry seed” inside of her that eventually matures into her revolt against social expectations: “its branches overtook every part of her and Steph felt stiffened in revolt against the life she’d made for herself.” Her burgeoning desire for change leads her to resume her truncated education. She goes to the library and begins “checking out every kind of book.” Yet realizing that “the reading began to feel pointless and scattered,” Steph seeks college admission. When she gains acceptance, she “transfer[s] all that intensity from the library books to her textbooks.” Once aloof to education, Stephanie increasingly sees the process as a structuralized freedom from the constraints of her life. Her desire to be like Amherst students and pursue her intellectual curiosities grows. Through Stephanie’s evolving relationship to it, White presents education as a way to free the mind. With knowledge, the limited landscape of Maine expands, and with it, the sphere of womanhood in society expands too. 

Steph’s constant dissatisfaction with the status quo leads her to pursue more challenging tasks. Upon graduating college, she wins election to the position of town manager and “immediately [gets] to work improving Damariscotta.” Her rapid movement from one task to another accentuates her restlessness for progress. Rather than contend with the status quo, Steph pushes for changes to expand Damariscotta’s potential. When plans for reform stall, she attempts to co-opt other residents. She offers Cammie, her friend from high school, a discounted lease on the house Ed purchased in return for her support for Steph in town meetings. Cammie’s observation – “I don’t think I fully understood how powerful Steph had become” – illustrates the stark contrast between Steph’s past in poverty and her present social prominence. Propelled by her ambition, Steph catapults herself to success. 

Beyond achieving personal success, Steph works to achieve change in her surroundings. She becomes “one of the most vocal members of Damariscotta’s town meetings,” devoting herself to elevating the town’s national recognition: 

Her plans for the town were what she worked on in the mornings, in her office, with blueprints, notepads, and sketch paper spread around her like the charts of a fifteenth-century explorer. She authored a plan to bring in tourism, homeowners, and tax revenue, and projected a new village full of modern amenities and welcoming storefronts, with green space on one side, parking on the other.

Steph’s calculations aim toward achieving reform and progress – giving her children “better access to school, sports, friends,” expanding the popularity of Damariscotta, “dreaming into existence” a new Farmer’s market. Her restlessness cultivates her desire for more, for the next thing. Translating her desires into action, Steph becomes the most powerful woman in Damariscotta. She calls herself “the mayor,” a title that exceeds her elected position. The town residents willingly follow suit because, as they note, “she’d pretty much earned the right anyway.” Her subtle change of her title reveals how her access to power increases her desire for it. 

Behind Steph’s success is Ed who engages in illegal drug businesses under the facade of a hard-working lobsterman. The dynamics between Steph and Ed reverses traditional gender dynamics. While Steph charts the future trajectories of herself, her family, and her town, Ed follows. Andrew notes that Ed is “a man who, above all else, believed in the virtues of sacrificing his own safety, maybe even integrity, in the name of supporting his wife and family.” Ed believes that he is responsible for giving Steph “everything she ever wanted.” Her desires ultimately become his: “all Steph really wanted (which was all he really wanted) was a nice place to live, material comfort, status“ As Steph fractures the interwoven gender and socioeconomic constraints imposed upon her, Ed shifts his goals to support her. He watches EJ while Steph attends college, switches from lobsterman to drug dealer to pay for Steph’s tuition, expands his drug business to fulfill Steph’s decision for a bigger house, and abruptly terminates his business when “Steph tells him to stop.” Steph’s desires motivate Ed’s life. 

Steph’s journey probes the plausibility and impact of the American Dream. In my conversation with Adam White, White discussed the “entrenched gender and socioeconomic constraints” that hamper the pursuit of “the upward mobility of the American Dream.” Steph’s story attempts to achieve the American Dream, yet the glass ceiling prevents her from truly acquiring status. Her pursuit of success serves as a paradigm for individuals seeking to achieve the American Dream amid entrenched social hierarchies.