num_pages: 640
description: “ The Cider House Rules is filled with people to love and to feel for. . . . The characters in John Irving’s novel break all the rules, and yet they remain noble and free-spirited.”— The Houston PostFirst published in 1985, The Cider House Rules is set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch—saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud’s, ether addict and abortionist. This is also the story of Dr. Larch’s favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.Praise for The Cider House Rules“ [Irving] is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irving’s own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer“ Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.” —Joseph Heller“ An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel . . . with its epic yearning caught in the nineteenth century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain.” — Boston Sunday Globe
language: English
title: The Cider House Rules
titlecomplete: The Cider House Rules
characters: Homer Wells, Wally Worthington, Candy Kendall, Rose Rose, Dr. Wilbur Larch
genres: Classics, American, Historical, Adult Fiction, Novels, Historical Fiction, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 181428
places: Maine, St. Cloud's, Maine, Three Mile Falls, Maine
publisher: Ballantine Books