Fellowship Point

Allice Elliott Dark’s Fellowship Point (2022) begins as an elderly woman’s quest to protect the Maine peninsula she loves (Fellowship Point) from development. As the novel unfolds, it showcases the friendship between this woman (Agnes Lee) and her lifelong companion (Polly Wister), who have spent summers together on the Point since their childhood. Coming of age at a time when roles for women were limiting, Agnes and Polly have taken separate paths but remained intensely connected to one another. As both women reckon with aging and life fulfillment, Agnes (the author of a children’s book series) is approached to write a memoir. In doing so, Agnes wrestles with divulging secrets she has kept hidden for decades.

Dark, the author of two novels and two short story collections, is best known for her award-winning short story “In the Gloaming” (1993), which was included in The Best American Short Stories of the Century and adapted into two different films. That story, like Fellowship Point, tackles themes of illness and aging. Dark has also authored essays and reviews, appearing in publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and is an Associate Professor at Rutgers-Newark, where she teaches in the MFA program.