The River King [Paperback]

Alice Hoffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

For more than a century, the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts, has been divided, as if by a line drawn down the centre of Main Street, separating those born and bred in the 'village' from those who attend the prestigious Haddan School. But one October night the two worlds are thrust together by an inexplicable death and the town's divided history is revealed in all its complexity. The lives of everyone involved are unravelled: from Carlin Leander, the fifteen year old girl who is as loyal as she is proud, to Betsy Chase, a woman running from her own destiny; from August Pierce, a boy who unexpectedly finds courage in his darkest hour, to Abel Grey, the police officer who refuses to let unspeakable actions - both past and present - slide by without notice. This is a novel as compelling as it is daring, an exploration of forgiveness and hope, a magical tale of innocence and evil and of the secrets that lurk beneath the most ordinary lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are two things any reader can count on when coming to Alice Hoffman: her prose and a remarkable empathy for those who live on the fringes of society. In her 13th novel, the author turns both to good account. Set in a tony private school located in a small New England town, The River King traces an intricate weave of intersecting lives over the course of a year. The Haddan School, founded in 1858, has long been the scene of tragedy and wonder: during its first year a tremendous storm flooded the grounds, and more than a century later "frogs can be found in the plumbing; linens and clothes stored in closets have a distinctly weedy odor, as if each article had been washed in river water and never thoroughly dried." Then there are the glorious roses planted by Annie Howe, a villager who married the headmaster and later hanged herself; these flowers have an unusual effect on sensitive girls. "When such girls walked past the brittle canes in the gardens behind St. Anne's, they felt something cold at the base of their spines, a bad case of pins and needles, as though someone were issuing a warning: be careful who you choose to love and who loves you in return."

A cogent warning indeed, for as in all of Hoffman's novels, the question of whom one chooses to love and who loves in return is the crux of the matter. The River King revolves around triangles. First there is Betsy Chase, a young photography teacher at the Haddan School who has gotten herself engaged--almost accidentally--to a fellow faculty member, even as she is inexorably drawn to Abel Grey, a town policeman. Then there are Carlin Leander, a scholarship student, and her best friend, Gus Pierce. While Carlin is able to fit in, even attracting the interest of the most popular boy on campus, Gus is a defiant outcast, a tall skinny kid in a long black overcoat "who viewed his own life as a prison sentence and experienced his existence much as a condemned man might." Carlin's romance with the charismatic, cruel Harry McKenna creates a rupture between her and Gus, and fuels a mean-spirited practical joke with horrific consequences. In the aftermath of tragedy, each character's heart, conscience, and courage is tested in unexpected ways.

Hoffman spins her web of love and heartbreak and transcendence with a sure hand, and in the process creates characters so palpably human in all their petty flaws and small instances of heroism that one almost expects them to step out of the book and into the room. Indeed, if there is a flaw in The River King, it is that Alice Hoffman doesn't always trust the magic inherent in her characters, relying a little too heavily at times on somewhat precious invocations of the otherworldly. But this is a minor defect in an otherwise satisfying novel, one that will keep the reader spellbound by its emotional complexity and compelling story. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Set in and around an exclusive private school in fictional Haddan, Mass., bestselling author Hoffman's (Practical Magic; Here on Earth) latest novel flows as swiftly and limpidly as the Haddan River, the town's mystical waterway. As one expects in a Hoffman novel, strange things have always happened in HaddanDa combination of Mother Nature gone awry and human nature following suit. In 1858, the year the school was completed, a devastating flood almost destroyed it and the town. The esteemed headmaster, Dr. Howe, married a pretty local girl who hung herself from the rafters "one mild evening in March." Local superstitions prove true more often than not, and twice in recent history a black, algae-laden rain has covered people and buildings with a dark sludge. An uneasy peace has always existed between the locals and the Haddan School, based on the latter's financial benefit to the community and the local authorities' willingness to look the other way when necessary to maintain the school's reputation. But when student August Pierce is found drowned in the Haddan River, detective Abel Grey is flooded with memories of his own teenage brother's suicide, and refuses to look away. Supporting characters are richly textured: new photography instructor Betsy Chase feels unsafe in Haddan, yet somehow finds herself engaged to a mysterious young history professor Eric Herman; Carlin Leander, a poor, strikingly beautiful young girl, comes to Haddan to recreate herself and escape her neglectful mother, and becomes misfit August's only friend while dating the most popular boy on campus; Helen Davis, chair of the history department, is haunted by a long-ago affair she had with Dr. Howe, which she believes had something to do with his young wife's suicide. As ever, Hoffman mixes myth, magic and reality, addressing issues of town and gown, enchanting her readers with a many-layered morality tale and proving herself once again an inventive author with a distinctive touch. Literary Guild main selection, Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Norway, Denmark; major ad/promo; 14-city author tour.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Vintage/Ebury (a Division of Random (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099286521
• ISBN-13: 978-0099286523
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,150,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston and New York.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She credits her mentor, professor and writer Albert J. Guerard, and his wife, the writer Maclin Bocock Guerard, for helping her to publish her first short story in the magazine Fiction. Editor Ted Solotaroff then contacted her to ask if she had a novel, at which point she quickly began to write what was to become Property Of, a section of which was published in Mr. Solotaroff's magazine, American Review.

Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published a total of eighteen novels, two books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte's masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Her advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman (Women's Cancer) Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Blackbird House is a book of stories centering around an old farm on Cape Cod. Hoffman's recent books include Aquamarine and Indigo, novels for pre-teens, and The New York Times bestsellers The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, and The Ice Queen. Green Angel, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and The Foretelling, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year. In January 2007, Skylight Confessions, a novel about one family's secret history, was released on the 30th anniversary of the publication of Her first novel. Her most recent novel is The Story Sisters (2009), published by Shaye Areheart Books.

Hoffman's work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay "Independence Day" a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, Redbook, Architectural Digest, Gourmet, Self, and other magazines. Her teen novel Aquamarine was recently made into a film starring Emma Roberts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Hoffman, July 13, 2000

By 

R. Witte (Croton-on-Hudson, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The River King (Hardcover)

In all her novels, Alice Hoffman has the ability to make us laugh and cry with her beautifully poetic prose, and her uncanny way of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. THE RIVER KING takes place in the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts, a place divided into two sides...those who were born and raised in the village, and the privileged few who attend the prestigious Haddan School. When a sudden and inexplicable death occurs, the town's history and secerts are revealed and the intertwined lives of Carlin Leander, Gus Pierce, Betsy Chase and Abel Grey are unraveled on that fateful night. While this may not be Ms. Hoffman's strongest work, the story is truly alluring and beautifully written. I can only compare her writing to oil on canvas...so clear and lush, it is almost as if the words form pictures on each page. If you are a fan of Ms. Hoffman, read THE RIVER KING.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible and Moving, August 5, 2000

By 

Haley Parnham (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The River King (Hardcover)

Maybe it's my age and maybe it's Alice Hoffman, but I continue to be deeply moved by her stories as they stay with me long after I've read the last page, closed the book, logged its title into my book list and found a proper place for it on one of my shelves. When I read a book by Alice Hoffman I am transported into the world of which she writes. THE RIVER KING was no exception. I could smell the roses that grew on the grounds of the Haddan School, feel the pain of Gus and Carlin, of Betsy and Abel, of Helen Davis and her false love. When you read an Alice Hoffman novel you are never left behind. Her words invite you into the story and as you settle comfortably into place you are amazed and dismayed when you realize there are only a few pages left to read. THE RIVER KING is magical in a way only Alice Hoffman can create magic. Her ability to spin a tale of love and mystery and sadness and joy is unmatched.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As always, Hoffman delivers magic!, August 27, 2000

By 

Terry Mathews (a small town in east Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The River King (Hardcover)

To truly experience Alice Hoffman's work, you need the ability to suspend all rational thought for a bit. Hoffman's tales are conjured with both a writer's voice and a magician's wand. She is never boring.

In THE RIVER KING, Ms. Hoffman tells the story of a small town in Massachusetts...she divides the town into the haves and the have nots. An elite private school adds to the class distinctions.

When one of Haddan School's students is found drowned in the troubled Haddan River, city and students alike are effected.

Haddan School's own troubled past becomes part of Hoffman's tapestry. The fragrance of roses appears in the middle of winter. Fish appear out of nowhere. The dead boy's image shows up in photographs. Bees swarm in October. Mysterious illness strikes students. No one rests until the mystery is solved.

THE RIVER KING is one of Hoffman's best efforts. It is not light, easy, summertime reading. It is to be savored and will linger with you long after you've finished. Like Hoffman's past work, some mysteries are solved. Some will never be.

That's what it's like to read a good Alice Hoffman story.

Enjoy!