Last Summer at Maine Chance by Jessica Everett
The setting for the Last Summer at Maine Chance is based on reality. In 1934, Elizabeth Arden opened the Maine Chance, the first destination spa in America. She chose Maine as its natural beauty appealed to the city people who searched for peace and quiet. The lavish estate attracted wealthy guests. The real treatments and events of the time are woven into the novel. The Maine Turnpike project was a real project which opens the story with protagonist Cynthia Proctor in 1954. She is chosen to take part in assisting on a projected economic impact of the planned Maine Turnpike expansion on tourism. Her name doesn’t appear under the article as women are not seen fit to study economic major at the time. The school doesn’t renew her scholarship and the paid position she hoped to win by writing the article is given to a boy with better connections. She doesn’t get much support from her parents as her mother wants her to get married instead of studying major that is meant for m...