Sea Level

By: Nancy Hayes Kilgore

Published by Quinnebec Press, 2011-04

Sea Level, set in a remote seacoast town in 1980, tells the story of Brigid Peterson, the first woman minister in the town of Sand Hill. At a time when women's roles are shifting and they are beginning to enter the clergy, Brigid's idealism and emerging feminism begin to disrupt the church's beliefs. She befriends Mary Bradley, an artist who falls hopelessly in love with an elusive man. Mary's belief in the goddess impacts Brigid, and when she speaks about the female aspect of God, the church is plunged into turmoil and divides into bitter factions over her. Sea Level is a story about ordinary small town life, the mystical landscape of the Delmarva Peninsula, and the passions that erupt over conflicts of belief.