Mari McGavin is on the run from a powerful religious cult and her controlling husband, fleeing with her young son back to the tiny island in Maine where she grew up. On Little Great Island, she crosses paths with an old friend from her childhood, Harry Richardson, who is fleeing his own demons, in his case grief and painful memories after his wife’s death. Harry is so bereft he can barely function as he returns to sell the home where his family spent summers when he was kid.

In her novel “Little Great Island,” author Kate Woodworth explores the relationship between the two as they navigate pain and loss, as well as their connections to an island being reshaped by global warming.

Harry reluctantly allows Mari, who lived for years in a religious farming community in South Carolina, to plant a vegetable garden on his family’s property while he clears out its contents and readies it for sale. They grow closer as Harry helps Mari and her 6-year-old son, Levi, with gardening chores and he slowly starts absorbing his loss.

Distinguished retired diplomat Tom Estabrook, who knew Mari and Harry as children, is also a key character in the book released this month by Sybilline Press.

Estabook, who spent many summers on Little Great Island, worries over...