Synopses & Reviews
Adam Gopnik is one of America's most celebrated writers. His memoir,
Paris to the Moon, was a
New York Times Notable Book and sold nearly a half-million copies. His
New Yorker articles reach an audience in the millions. Now he turns his talents to a fantasy novel for children and grownups that is part
Madeline, part
Matrix an intelligent and charming adventure story set in the city Gopnik writes about so magnificently.
Oliver Parker is a ten-year-old American boy miserably stuck in Paris. Intimidated by his French school, Oliver longs to return home. Until one January night, wearing a paper crown and looking out the window, he sees an amazing vision the reflection of a boy in an ancient French doublet gazing back at him. Oliver's pursuit of the boy leads him to a terrifying secret. He learns he has kingly powers and with no weapons other than his mind, must take on an extraordinary mission...
With wonderful characters, high comedy, and a thrilling narrative, The King in the Window is an intelligent fantasy adventure embodying the battle between good and evil.
Synopsis
Oliver Parker is a ten-year-old American boy miserably trapped in Paris, where his father is stationed as a journalist. Intimidated by his French school and its prickly teachers, oppressed by gray and wintry Paris, and feeling curiously remote from his father who spends more and more time staring dully into his computer screen Oliver longs to return to America. But if he has to stay in Paris, Oliver sure wouldn't mind if the elegant and very French little girl down the street, Neige, deigned to notice him.
During dinner with his parents one cold January evening, Oliver feels silly wearing the paper crown of an Epiphany-festival French king. That night, looking in the mirror, he sees a boy in an ancient French doublet gazing back at him. The boy, Francois, tells Oliver that he himself is kingly, and that he has a special mission rescuing souls.
Only days later, on a trip to Versailles, Oliver is transported to the French spirit kingdom, ruled over by the fatuous King Louis the Nth. There, the famous playwright Moliere tells Oliver he must deliver France from the forces of the great Egg, who sucks up the spirits of men, women, and children when they look into a mirror of glass or of water.
Oliver reluctantly rises to the challenge. Fortunately, he has help from the can-do American Charlie, who arrives for a visit; from Neige, a Parisian diva in training; and from Mrs. Pearson, a British author and personage who leads a foray straight through Lewis Carroll's looking-glass.
Ultimately, Oliver pursues Egg into the underworld located directly underneath Paris and realizes he must save not just the world, but all of its souls as well. In a marvelous denouement in which Oliver must transform the Eiffel Tower itself to fight the soulless wraiths, the boy proves himself a true king.
The King in the Window is a beautifully written, suspenseful adventure tale in the tradition of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien an instant classic.
Synopsis
Oliver Parker is a ten-year-old American boy miserably trapped in Paris, where his father is stationed as a journalist. Intimidated by his French school and its prickly teachers, oppressed by gray and wintry Paris, and feeling curiously remote from his father--who spends more and more time staring dully into his computer screen--Oliver longs to return to America.
About the Author
Adam Gopnik has written for The New Yorker since 1986. His previous books include Paris to the Moon, a New York Times best seller, and Americans in Paris, a literary anthology. He lives in New York with his wife and their two children.