“Rebecca Road” by Mary Ford

Rebecca Road

Mary Ford
Gatekeeper Press (2025)
ISBN: 978-1662949500
Reviewed by Joan Kirschner for Reader Views (06/2026)

Mary Ford’s Rebecca Road: A Tale of Shipwreck, Love and Second Chances is the story of Cathe Sullivan, a young widow who lives with her young son, Sean, in Scituate, a scenic small town on the rocky Massachusetts coast, near Boston. The year is 1956. Her husband, John, lost his life at sea during the Korean War. The Sullivans came from South Boston, “Southie,” long a working-class enclave of Catholic Irish Americans. It was John who suggested the move to Scituate, thinking its sea air would be better for Sean, a polio survivor. Now Cathe feels trapped there, far from her familiar neighborhood in Boston, which is close yet so far away.

Cathe and Sean live meagerly on her husband’s government pension, supplemented by the sewing she takes in from the wealthier people who own summer cottages. Their difficulties are compounded by Sean’s condition. He wears braces on his withered legs, uses crutches where he can, but spends a good deal of time in his wheelchair. Despite that, he is a lively and loving boy.

Cathe’s older neighbor and best friend, Rosa, is also a widow. Rosa’s thirty-something nephew, Gino, is a ne’er-do-well who drinks heavily and gambles. Whenever he’s short on money, his kindly aunt lends it to him, knowing it will never be returned, or lets him stay with her. Rosa knows Gino is irresponsible and selfish, but she can never refuse him. She and her husband came to Scituate from Boston’s historic North End, the heart of Boston’s Italian Catholic immigrant community, so while Cathe’s and Rosa’s ethnicities are different, they share a common religion and mindset.

One early spring day, a powerful and wintry nor-easter rolls onshore with heavy snow and high winds. The Etrusco, an Italian cargo ship, loses its way, is damaged, and marooned on the rocks at low tide. Its crew is rescued and brought ashore. Rosa, with Cathe’s help, opens her home to provide them with hospitality until they can be transported to Boston. Marco, the ship’s engineer, uses his English skills to communicate on behalf of the crew. The grounding of the ship, and Marco’s impact on Cathe, Sean, and Rosa, will change all their lives, and decisions will have to be carefully considered.

Rebecca Road is a fast-paced novel that focuses on matters of the heart, family relationships, friendship, and individual transformation. Cathe’s loneliness and repressed emotions and desires make her a sensitive and moving central character. Author Mary Ford is careful, however, not to overdo or embellish her descriptions of Cathe’s inner turmoil to the point of sentimentality; she keeps them more subtle. Yet, as readers, we understand exactly who Cathe is, where she comes from, and the choices she makes.

All the principal characters are as vividly rendered as Cathe, as is the local environment. There is a strong visual element to this novel – it is easy to imagine what the settings look like. While we are drawn into the emotional lives of the characters, we also experience their physical ones. As a former journalist working on local newspapers, the author was able to translate the descriptive and dramatic skills that make a good human-interest story into her novel. The author also displays her editorial skills. Rebecca Road is the work of a professional with a high standard for the particulars of grammar and vocabulary, making it pleasurable to read, without distracting errors.

This is an adult book that contains elements of sexuality, an episode of violence, and an examination of faith and personal morality when tested by challenging circumstances. It is a book for thoughtful readers.