Book Description Review “Gritty and intense.”―O, The Oprah Magazine“A heart-pounding tale… Riveting and surprising… Kindness helps steer this heartbreaking tale in a heartwarming direction… Rye Curtis keeps us turning pages as Cloris confronts bobcats, hypothermia, starvation, icy inundation, and a strange mountain lion who walks backwards… Predicated on a cataclysmic, life-changing accident, Kingdomtide offers a transportive read… A stirring debut.”―Heller McAlpin, NPR“A startling reversal to the typical survival story… Abounds in homespun sensory detail… Rye Curtis complicates the expected adventure-novel payoff… Cloris’s narration grows increasingly vulnerable, surprising, and profound. The wonder of her ordeal has detached her from ordinary cares yet made her ravenously curious about the big, unanswerable questions.”―Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal“Rye Curtis’s debut novel, Kingdomtide, is that rare genre-fluid story that is lovable both because of and despite its surfeit of eccentric, over-the-top characters and moments. Some are gritty and dark, others light and wise; together they create an impressive first book and a highly original tale of adventure and perseverance… Cloris Waldrip is immediately irresistible. Her first-person voice bubbles with a sage vibrancy as well as sometimes laugh-out-loud wit… It’s Waldrip who suggests that life stories are shaped by those who live to retell them—something she has done in this narrative with formidable grace… Kingdomtide is a distinctive and inventive story about nonconformity, resilience, and the ways we draw strength from unlikely places.”―Janet Kinosian, Los Angeles Times“Vivid… an enthralling debut.”―The Guardian“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“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“An entertaining debut…The characters are appealing (you’ll love Cloris) and the story is suspenseful, with a nice touch of humor.”―Christina Ianzito, AARP“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“Holy smokes! I was sucked into this novel by the end of the first paragraph. If Flannery O’Connor wrote a procedural, she couldn’t invent a stranger, more luminous world. This is a place where the grotesque and the sublime coexist in harmony, where misfits and outcasts band together to survive, and where the tale belongs to whoever tells it best–in this case, the immensely talented Rye Curtis.”―Christina Bake Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World Read more 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. Read more Customers Review: This book started slowly but grabbed my heart as I read on with the tender message quietly seeping through the quirky characters and strange terrain. Stick with it and experience an authorial voice to watch for unique narrative and compassionate human insight!
What a wild ride this book will give you! Narrator Cloris Waldrip is one tough old bird and really knows how to tell a story. Ranger Debra Lewis & her cast of way-out-there characters is disturbing and yet strangely sympathetic as she tries to find her way in a setting where nothing is as it seems. Note to Lewis: being constantly drunk out of your head on cheap Merlot can’t help with self-discovery.One reviewer said this book was David Lynch-like. I was reminded of John Irving and his brilliant way of telling a story and inventing characters unlike any a suburban-dweller such as myself is likely to meet.I can’t say I loved this book but it was the most exciting and unsettling and entertaining book I’ve read in a long time. I’m more of an Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler fan but I found I couldn’t put this book aside, even as the end approached & I knew it would be over.I bought it based on the review by Jennifer Eagen who wrote one of my all-time favorite genre-busting books A Visit From the Goon Squad. I’ve always liked the books that move away from straight forward narrative – like Faulkner’s The Sound & The Fury. I remember reading it in college & coming to class very excited to discuss it with my fellow English majors. They were all sitting there, going “what is that? I didn’t understand any of it.” So disappointed.Anyway, back to Kingdomtide – read it if you like to be shocked and entertained in equal measure.
By the time I finished this book, I wondered if the author had self-published it without editorial assistance. The word “merlot” must have been in it 500 times. Cloris was somewhat likeable and plucky most of the time, but Rye belabored her character so much that I just got tired of her. Lewis was never likable to begin with and went downhill from there. The concept of this book was good; the delivery, not so much.
I don’t understand how a young man is able to see through her eyes as well as he does. What a struggle. I’d have died the first day. She is my new hero. I really enjoyed the read. Could have done without some of the Lewis parts with Brool. Must be the David Lynch references I read about. I’m not a blue velvet kind of gal.
My sister, who is a pro at picking out books, recommended this book. Thanks, sis! One of the best ever!
I did not want to be the first person to give this book one star. I know there are people out there who thought it was amazing. It will probably end up being nominated for awards, and could even win something. However, after days of thinking it over, my truth remains: I simply did not like it. Had Rye Curtis decided to write a novella consisting solely of Cloris’s sections, I probably would have liked it. Instead, he had to add in the Lewis sections. These are compared to the movie Fargo in the official book blurb. This is incorrect. Think David Lynch levels of gross/weird instead, most of which I found to be completely unnecessary. Again, according to the official book blurb, you are apparently supposed to find humor and insight in these sections. And, I would guess, they are supposed to be avant-garde. Now, while I am a proud card-carrying curmudgeon, I do not consider myself to be a fogey. Maybe I am, and maybe my dislike of this book proves it. I don’t know. I do wish Rye Curtis the best in his future endeavors; I see a lot of potential. Maybe, I will even find his next work amazing. I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is an advance reading copy.
I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this novel, and I just loved it. Cloris Waldrip is an older woman who finds herself alone in the mountains of Montana after a plane crash. Her narration is addictive from page 1. I kept picturing Meryl Streep playing her in a movie version. Here’s hoping. But until then, I highly recommend this novel!!
*Thanks to Little Brown for the free book!A sparing, motley story of an elderly woman’s struggle to survive after a plane crash strands her in the Montana wilderness, the park ranger who leads her rescue efforts, and the intimate struggles facing each of them.This is an utterly unique novel, for which one (any, perhaps?) genre is not a fit; it was worlds away from what I thought it would be. Complex, quiet, laborious, wild, intimate – these words are the best I can do to describe such a perplexing novel. Cloris is an amazing protagonist – a resilient elderly woman in the wilderness with no training or know-how, just an unwavering will to live. Her counterpart, Ranger Lewis, however, is dull, and has no spark for life. The chapters from her point of view were the most arduous for me, but each perspective brings with it intense depth and new struggles to grapple with. Curtis’s writing is dry and sparing, which makes for a unique reading experience that you may love or hate. If you’re down to try something new or enjoy a challenge, give it a go! If, on the other hand, you prefer to stick to what you know – contemporary, general, women’s fiction, for example – I may not recommend this one. |
13 reviews