The River King

Overview

People tend to stay in their place in the town of Haddan. The students at the prestigious prep school don't mix with locals; even within the school, hierarchy rules, as freshman and faculty members find out where they fit in and what is expected of them. But when a body is found in the river behind the school, a local policeman will walk into this enclosed world and upset it entirely. A story of surface appearances and the truths submerged below, The River King confirms Alice Hoffman as "one of our quirkiest and most interesting novelists"

Editorial Reviews

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.

Author Information

Bio of Alice Hoffman

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 was a Mirrellees Fellowship at the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. 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. Ms. Hoffman 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. Hoffman has been represented by Elaine Markson of the Elaine Markson Agency for the past twenty-five years. Hoffman is married, lives outside Boston, and is the mother of two sons. Alice Hoffman has published a total of fifteen novels, two books of short fiction, and six books for children. 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 Warner's film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Ms. Hoffman's novel, AT RISK, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. All of the author's advance from LOCAL GIRLS (G.P. Putnam and Berkley Books), a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, have been donated to help create a breast cancer center outside of Boston. Hoffman's most recent books are GREEN ANGEL (Scholastic) a novel for teens, MOONDOG (Scholastic) a picture book written with her son, Wolfe Martin, The New York Times bestsellers THE RIVER KING, BLUE DIARY, and THE PROBABLE FUTURE and BLACKBIRD HOUSE, published by Ballantine in March 2005. The ICE QUEEN, published by Little, Brown and Company, is a searing first person account of a dark fairy tale world where anything is possible. 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. Ms. Hoffman has also worked as a screenwriter for many years and is the author of the original screenplay INDEPENDENCE DAY, a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Weist. Hoffman's short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, Boulevard, Redbook, Architectural Digest, Gourmet, Premier, Self, Southwestern Review and many other magazines.

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews available at this time. To add your review, Register or Sign In to your account using our free eBook Library Software.

Additional Info

Imprint

Berkley Trade

Filesize

940.61 KB

Number of Pages

352

eBook ISBN

9781440670480

Awards

• Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
• New York Times Notable Books of the Year
• Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award