Synopses & Reviews
The lives of two women -- the sole survivor of an airplane crash and the troubled park ranger leading the rescue mission — collide in this "gripping," (Vogue) "heart-pounding," (NPR) and "highly original" (LA Times) novel of tough-minded resilience.
The sole survivor of a plane crash, seventy-two-year-old Cloris Waldrip is lost and alone in the unforgiving wilderness of Montana's rugged Bitterroot Range, exposed to the elements with no tools beyond her wits and ingenuity. Intertwined with her story is Debra Lewis, a park ranger struggling with addiction and a recent divorce who is galvanized by her new mission to find and rescue Cloris.
As Cloris wanders mountain forests and valleys, subsisting on whatever she can scavenge, her hold on life ever more precarious, Ranger Lewis and her motley group of oddball rescuers follow the trail of clues she's left behind. Days stretch into weeks, and hope begins to fade. But with nearly everyone else giving up, Ranger Lewis stays true until the end.
Dramatic and morally complex, Kingdomtide is a story of the decency and surprising resilience of ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances. In powerful, exquisite prose, debut novelist Rye Curtis delivers an inspiring account of two unforgettable characters whose heroism reminds us that survival is only the beginning.
Review
"Kingdomtide is a truly spectacular first novel: weird, tender, funny, grotesque — above all, deeply, achingly human. It tugged at my thoughts during the days I spent reading it, and has made for itself a permanent place in my memory." Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Manhattan Beach and A Visit from the Goon Squad
Review
"Rye Curtis's debut novel is an astonishing work. His powerful and convincing characters are at risk in a harsh and beautiful landscape in which the best and worst are revealed, and nothing is as it initially seems. Kingdomtide is at once a page-turner and a meditation on the complexity of the human experience and spirit." Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter's Bone and The Maid's Version
Review
"I read a lot of very good fiction, but this novel — so startling and thrilling, so packed with such wonderful characters — is the best novel I've read in a long time." Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and A Star Called Henry
Review
"First novels are often praised for an author's potential, but Kingdomtide displays a talent fully realized. Cloris Waldrip's trek through wilderness after a plane crash is suspenseful from start to finish, but as the lives of her potential rescuers are revealed, the novel also moves through the even deeper wilderness of the human heart. Rye Curtis is a writer of exceptional talent." Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
Review
"An intense debut... Seventy-two-year-old Cloris Waldrip's grueling attempt to survive and escape is depicted with vivid urgency... Her gritty, nightmarish story, as well as her strong voice and personality, will make her a reader favorite." Publisher's Weekly
About the Author
Rye Curtis is originally from Amarillo, Texas. He is a graduate of Columbia University and now lives in Queens. Kingdomtide is his first novel.