The third of Mary Ellen Chase's Maine novels (following Mary Peters and Silas Crockett), Windswept is the romantic and tumultuous saga of a Maine family who makes its home Down East. Spanning six decades, starting in the late nineteenth century, the novel depicts their lives as they meet head on the joys and challenges of the changing and encroaching world and eventually, World War II. Through it all, their home provides the family with a safe haven in which to sink their roots as they strive to nurture their humanity and spirituality, all the while surrounded by the natural beauty of the Maine coast. Windswept was a national bestseller and the biggest seller of Chase's career.