After four decades, John Irving will bring back the character of Wilbur Larch, the orphanage director he introduced in The Cider House Rules.
The character makes his return in Queen Esther, which Simon & Schuster will publish later this year, the press announced in a news release, saying the novel “has an emotional power that speaks to our times and challenges our thinking.”
Irving, known for his novels The World According to Garp and The Hotel New Hampshire, published The Cider House Rules in 1985. The novel told the story of Homer Wells, a young man growing up in a Maine orphanage run by Larch, who is also a doctor that performs abortions. The novel was adapted into a 1999 film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Michael Caine and Tobey Maguire; Irving won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay.
Queen Esther will follow Larch as he tries to find a home for Esther Nacht, a Vienna-born Jewish girl. She is taken in by a philanthropic family horrified by the antisemitism that has affected Esther.
Jonathan Karp, Irving’s editor and the president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, said in a statement, “The fact that John is still breaking new artistic ground in his 80s, and doing so with such audacious and impeccably crafted storytelling, is yet another reason why he is one of the world’s greatest writers.”
Queen Esther is slated for publication on Nov. 4.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
