The Storm: A Novel - Hardcover

Buechner, Frederick

3.64

436 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060611448 ISBN 13: 9780060611446

Publisher: HarperOne, 1998

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The Boston Globe calls Frederick Buechner "one of our finest writers." USA Today says he's "one of our most original storytellers." Now this acclaimed author gives us his most beguiling novel yet--a magical tale of love, betrayal, and redemption inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.

On wealthy Plantation Island in South Florida, an old man waits, Kenzie Maxwell is a writer, a raconteur, a rascal, an altruist, a mystic--a charismatic figure who enjoys life with his rich third wife but muses daily on the sins of his past. Two decades ago, Kenzie had to leave New York because of a scandal. He'd been a volunteer at a runawat shelter, and he'd fallen in love with a seventeen-year-old girl--a girl who died while giving birth to Kenzie's daughter. His older brother, Dalton, a lawyer and board member at the shelter, decided to quell the rumors by releasing Kenzie's note of apology to the press. Kenzie's reputation--and the girl's--were destroyed. He has never forgiven his brother.

Now it's the eve of Kenzie's seventieth birthday, and a storm is brewing. His beloved daughter, Bree--the child of the scandal--is coming down from New York for his birthday party. But his brother Dalton is coming down, too, to do some legal work for the island's ill-tempered matriarch. Aided and abetted by Dalton's happy-go-lucky stepson, a loutish gardener, a New Age windsurfer, a bumbling bishop, and a bona fide tempest, Kenzie must somehow contrive to reconcile with his brother--and make peace with his past.

Infused with humanity, and informed by faith. The Storm is Frederick Buechner's most captivating novel since Godric--a richly satisfying contemporary story of fragmented families and love's many mysteries that will move you, make you laugh, and fill you with wonder.

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Review:

An island. A storm. A shipwreck. An exiled old man with a beautiful daughter--sound familiar? If The Tempest comes to mind, you're close. Frederick Buechner bases his novel The Storm on Shakespeare's melancholy last play, but adds some distinctly 20th-century twists of his own. The protagonist of this tall tale is Kenzie Maxwell, an elderly writer living off his third wife's money on an island in South Florida. Kenzie's 70th birthday is coming up, and his family starts to gather: his illegitimate daughter, Bree, comes from New York; and so does his estranged brother, Dalton--the man responsible for his leaving New York in disgrace many years before. Also along for the ride is Dalton's appealing young stepson, Nandy; Kenzie's mystical wind-surfer pal, Averill; and Calvert, the boorish gardener. Readers familiar with the play will instantly recognize who's who in this gallery of characters. Though the party gets off to a rocky start and a tempest is brewing just off shore, by the time Buechner finishes working his own rough magic, The Storm becomes a harbinger not of disaster but of reconciliation and love. --Margaret Prior

About the Author:

Frederick Buechner, author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction, is an ordained Presbyterian minister. He has been a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent work is Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith.

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