A Country Doctor

Bright, vivacious, and "wild as a hawk," Nan Prince is a young child when she is adopted by the local general practitioner, Dr. Leslie. He encourages Nan's curiosity and indulges her innate interest in medicine, despite the opposition and skepticism of their small Maine town.

Nan comes to fiercely love the townspeople she is growing up among, but she remains distracted by fantasies of being swept up by her wealthy but mysterious aunt, Miss Prince, a woman who refuses to acknowledge Nan’s birth. As Nan reaches adolescence, her determination to become a doctor sets her apart from the other young girls.

But after Nan departs for medical school, she is surprised with the long-desired invitation to spend a summer with Miss Prince. Nan quickly wins over the "smart" urban society of her aunt’s acquaintances, though her new friends are all amazed and scandalized by the thought of her becoming a physician.

But when Nan falls in love with a handsome and clever lawyer, she faces a crossroads: Will she pursue medicine, her first love, or abandon it for the rewards of matrimony and a comfortable life of fortune?

This inspiring classic interweaves the untrammeled beauty of Sarah Orne Jewett’s beloved rural Maine with a young woman’s courageous fight against the prejudice and societal expectations that threaten to swallow her ambitions, as she redefines for herself what her dreams can be.