The English Teacher
By Lily King
Grove
New in paperback is this wise and moving novel, set in the rocky landscape of family life. It begins as the title character, Vida Avery, and her 15-year-old son, Peter, move into the house of her new husband, widower Tom Belou, and his three children in a coastal New England town. Through Peter's point of view we see the tentative hopefulness of an only child who is about to get the siblings he has always wanted. Through Vida, we see that all is not well: She has married the sweet-tempered Tom but does not know how to love him. Vida has a secret that will lead to a rift in the blended family, but love and compassion prevail. When the novel was released last September, New and Notable praised King's “lovely depiction of wounded people struggling to find solace and stability in each other.” Other critics found pleasure in her “restrained and powerful” writing, her “psychological acuity and intelligence,” and her novel's portrayal of “the dizzying complexities of melding stepfamilies.” King's first novel was The Pleasing Hour, published in 1999.
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