When Janet Freeman Baribeau began writing stories for her mother, tackling a book project was just an idea.

For years, she had only shared her writing with her mother, Celia, until she received a note from her granddaughter in 1996 asking for an autobiographical essay. That project sparked more than a decade of genealogical research that culminates in her new book, “A Bailey Island Girl Remembers.”

Baribeau’s book details her earliest memories of life on the island. The text also reaches back through her family history, extending to some of the island’s earliest settlers, the Linscotts, in the mid-18th century.

Weaving personal and historical narratives across nine generations of Bailey Island history, Baribeau’s book tells more than the story of one person’s experience: It shares details about life in an island community she describes as very closeknit.

“ People relied on one another and everyone looked out for each other on the island,” Baribeau said during an interview at her home on McKeen Street in Brunswick.

In good times, that closeness meant a stopover at a neighbor’s house to warm up on a long trip to the store; in difficult times, it meant a built-in safety net for families who were hit by hardship. Those were the toughest times to write about, Baribeau said.

When she was 13, her father was hospitalized for months, facing a series of surgeries and treatments after a long January clamming trip turned bad and left him stranded aboard his boat in Stover’s Cove. The boat’s outboard motor would not start, and with few options, Baribeau said, her father rowed the long journey back to Bailey Island with bare hands latching to the boat’s oars.

By the time he reached Bailey Island, his fingers were frozen into place.

“ My father wasn’t in the home for a long time, so the (neighbors) would help in all kinds of ways,” Baribeau said of the way Bailey Island residents responded during her dad’s recuperation.

When a Bailey Island family experienced hard times, Baribeau said, it was a matter of course that neighbors would launch a collection or find other ways to help.

“It was the charitable work of neighbors being neighbors,” Baribeau said, “but it was almost like one big family.”

Beyond personal memories, Baribeau said her research for the book uncovered much about the history of Harpswell, about ancestors she did not know, and about a network of island families that made up the fabric of a community.

Legacy

In delving into her past, Baribeau said she wanted to preserve her family’s history for her descendants.

“The way we grew up was so different than the way we raised our children,” Baribeau said. “No bathroom or plumbing — we carried water up from a well in the field — no electricity for a long time. I just wanted my children and other generations to see that way of life and how it was to live that way.”

But she also hopes to inspire others to learn more about their own ancestors and has heard from readers who were so moved.

“ It’s made people think about their own childhood and reminisce,” Baribeau said of “A Bailey Island Girl Remembers.”

Baribeau said researching the book helped her better understand her family, her history and all of the factors that played into her parents’ upbringing.

“I had just found out that ( my father) had to leave school in junior high and had to go to work for his family,” Baribeau said.

That research helped her to understand how her father “had things really difficult at a very young age” and how “circumstances can change people’s lives,” the author said.

Publishing

Since publishing her book with the help of editor Charlie Martin, of Bath, and the Bowdoin- based Will- Dale Press, Baribeau said she has been pleased with the book’s reception. In early November, Baribeau received orders from L. L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport and Bowdoin College’s downtown bookstore to sell “A Bailey Island Girl Remembers.”

Baribeau said she had a first run of 500 copies of the book in June and ran out by July.

“I was so happy for it to be received so well,” Baribeau said. “ I think I felt more proud of myself than I ever have for completing this and for the feedback it’s gotten.”

Baribeau said the book is available at bookstores around the Mid-coast, including Gulf of Maine Books in downtown Brunswick up to Maine Coast Books in Damariscotta. The book also is available at amazon.com, where five reviewers have given the book a top rating.

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