Synopses & Reviews
With superb craftsmanship, effortlessly suspenseful pacing, and tenderly observed insight, Lily King expertly limns the life of an independent single mother and her fifteen-year-old son, who is on a circuitous path toward a truth she has long concealed from him. Fifteen years ago Vida Avery arrived alone and pregnant at elite Fayer Academy. By living on campus, on an island off the New England coast, Vida has cocooned herself and her son, Peter, from the outside world and from an inside secret. For years she has lived largely through the books she teaches, but when she accepts the impulsive marriage proposal of ardent widower Tom Belou, the prescribed life Vida has constructed is swiftly dismantled. As Vida begins teaching her signature book, Tess of the DUrbervilles, a tale of an ostracized woman and social injustice, its themes begin to echo eerily in her own life and Peter sees that the mother he perceived as indomitable is collapsing and it is up to him to help. The English Teacher is a passionate tale of a mother and sons vital bond and a provocative look at our notions of intimacy, honesty, loyalty, family, and the real meaning of home.
Review
Thomas Hardy's lighthearted romp to the gallows, Tess of the D'Urbervilles,
serves as inspiration for Lily King's debut novel, The English Teacher.
The teacher of the title is Vida, a single mother who is teaching Tess
to her high-school sophomores. Vida has just married Tom, a widower with three
children. Her son, Peter, was delighted at the idea of being part of a normal
family, but soon realizes his mother is careening further from "normal." In
Peter, King has created a wonderfully sympathetic character, and the pleasure
of meeting him is the best thing about the book. But ironically for a book that
draws on Hardy, The English Teacher runs out of words too soon. King
never gives Tom much reason for having married Vida, and it's even less clear
why he would fight for the relationship. Still, you've got to have a soft spot
for someone who can sum up a classic as follows: "'Everyone struggles with Tess
at first,' Vida said. 'When do people start liking it?' 'Around page 416.' Amy
flipped through the fat paperback. 'I knew it. The very last page.' " Grade:
B Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Vida Belou is the best high-school English teacher East Coast Fayer academy has had. She arrived pregnant 15 years ago claiming that her husband was on the way. But he never came and Vida and her son Peter have never left. When she suddenly marries a kindly widower and moves in to stepmother his three children, the prescribed life Vida had constructed for herself and son collapses. As Vida's known world vanishes, Peter takes control and moves them both to a place where they can begin again.
Like other authors who have tapped into the classics as inspiration for contemporary novels (Jane Hamilton in Map of The World, Michael Chabon in The Hours), Lily King adopts Tess of the Durbervilles as her literary touchstone in The English Teacher. This is a stirring, suspenseful, original novel in which she moves us into even deeper, sophisticated, psychological terrain.
Synopsis
By the author of the highly acclaimed, award-winning debut The Pleasing Hour,, The English Teacher is a riveting portrait of a haunted single mother and her teenage son.
Synopsis
When Vida Belou suddenly marries a kindly widower and moves in to stepmother his three children, the prescribed life she had constructed for herself and son collapses. As her known world vanishes, her son takes control and moves them both to a place where they can begin again.