Compass Rose

It’s been more than two decades since Spartina won the National Book Award and was acclaimed by critics as being “possibly the best American novel . . . since The Old Man and the Sea ” ( The New York Times Book Review ), but in this extraordinary follow-up novel barely any time has passed in the magical landscape of salt ponds and marshes in John Casey’s fictional Rhode Island estuary. Elsie Buttrick, prodigal daughter of the smart set who are gradually taking over the coastline of Sawtooth Poin