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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Hemmings's bittersweet debut novel, an expansion of her first published short story ("The Minor Wars," from House of Thieves and originally published in StoryQuarterly), stars besieged and wryly introspective attorney Matt King, the land-rich descendant of Hawaiian royalty and American missionaries and entrepreneurs. He wrestles with the decision of whether to keep his swath of valuable inherited land or sell it to a real estate developer. But even more critical, Matt also has to decide whether to pull the plug on his wife, Joanie, who has been in an irreversible coma for 23 days following a boat-racing accident. Then Matt finds out that Joanie was having an affair with real estate broker Brian Speer, impelling him to travel with his two daughters—precocious 10-year-old Scottie and fresh from rehab 17-year-old Alex—from Oahu to Kauai to confront Brian. Matt finds out the truth about Joanie and Brian, which influences his decision about what to do with his family's on-the-block land and complicates his plans for Joanie. Matt's journey with his girls forms the emotional core of this sharply observed, frequently hilarious and intermittently heartbreaking look at a well-meaning but confused father trying to hold together his unconventional family. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
As smart, perceptive, and evocative as Hemmings' premiere literary offering was, (the superlative short story collection House of Thieves, 2005), her irresistible debut novel is light years beyond. Expanding on a tale in that collection, Hemmings follows Matt King and his daughters, precocious 10-year-old Scottie and temperamental 17-year-old Alex, in the aftermath of his wife's involvement in a boating accident that leaves her in a coma. While Joanie tenaciously hangs on, Matt and his daughters tentatively navigate the uncharted waters of life-without-Mom. Reeling from the discovery that Joanie had been having an affair, Matt considers his two out-of-control daughters and realizes that he's failed as both a husband and father. Determined to track down and confront his wife's lover, Matt and the girls embark on a journey of atonement and discovery that will set the course for the rest of their lives. Evincing a sublimely mature style and beguiling command of theme and setting, Hemmings' virtuoso performance offers a piquantly tender and winsomely comic portrait of a singular family's revealing response to tragedy. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (94 customer reviews)
92 of 98 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"My wife's not coming back, my wife did not love me, and I am in charge now.", Aug 20 2007
By Mary Whipple - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Descendants: A Novel (Hardcover)
Matt King, who is descended from a Hawaiian princess and the haole who married her and inherited her land, is the primary beneficiary of the family land trust, and he is now trying to decide what to do with the land on behalf of his cousins and family. The trust is in debt and the demand for prime land in Hawaii is enormous. Matt, however, will be making no decisions in the immediate future, however. His thrill-seeking wife Joanie now lies comatose after a boating accident, and her lack of progress alarms the doctors in Honolulu, who have her on life support.When doctors are forced to honor her living will, Matt wants their daughters to be with him, and in the hospital visiting Joanie while they await her death. Alexandra, a seventeen-year-old model, returns home from boarding school on the Big Island and, accompanied by Sid, a friend from a previous school, determines she will live her own life, even under the eyes of her father at home. Scottie, the ten-year-old, an attention seeker at school and at home, continues to act out.
When Matt discovers that Joanie has been having an affair, to which he had been oblivious, he is at a loss, and his internal dialogue and self-examination begin in earnest. He wonders about her lover and whether he should encourage this "love of her life" to share Joanie's last days in the hospital. His search for Joanie's lover and the resulting discoveries lead to important lessons and new awareness of his own responsibilities.
The clear presentation of events, exceptionally realistic dialogue, and unique imagery give life to this strong debut novel, and the narrative speeds along. The author's insights into Matt's conflicts and his self-examination during his long vigil, along with his daughters' understandable tumult, provide some emotional moments, while dark humor provides some respite from the tension. The subplots, involving the sale of the land, the individual problems of the daughters, the background of Alexandra's friend Sid, and the life of Joanie's lover, are well integrated, and the conclusion is satisfying.
Though the character of Matt is not based on any particular person, Hawaiian readers cannot help but make associations between his background and that of the Big Island's Parker family, giving an aura of "realism" to Matt's exotic background as the heir of a princess. His generosity in wanting to have Joanie's lover share her last moments strains credulity, however, and the peripheral characters often exhibit extreme behavior. A number of unusually dramatic and cinematic moments late in the novel make this a good story, though not necessarily a realistic one. Entertaining, and filled with tugs at the heartstrings, The Descendants captures the life of a family at a crossroads, and does so with panache. n Mary Whipple
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the very wonderful movie..., Dec 4 2011
By Ulysses - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Seeing the film "The Descendants" made me realize it must have come from a book; and so I found it and downloaded it onto my kindle. Not only should Clooney get an Oscar for his performance in the film, but whoever adapted this gentle, soulful, and ultimately transcendant little novel into the screenplay should get one too.Kaui Hemmings' novel is low-key, unornamented, but richly textured with the complicated social and physical realities of Hawaii - a part of the United States that is by turns very familiar and as exotic as farthest Asia. Matt King and his two troubled daughters, Scottie and Alexandra, are trapped in a tragedy not entirely of their own making, and yet manage to hold onto each other to find their way together into something like happiness. The double gift of this elegantly spare book is that it tells us about an America few of us know, even if we've visited Hawaii as tourists; and it also lays out a searing historic moment in the life of this unique American family that is painful in its realism. I have never read a book that focuses on a great unhappiness, but also manages to capture both joy and humor while doing so. It is one of the few books made into films that made my appreciation of the movie greater in the reading of the book.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't Put It Down, Oct 8 2011
By Snoopyfan_17 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Descendants: A Novel (Paperback)
I picked The Descendants up in my school library on Thursday afternoon. I wanted to read it before the movie came out next month and just hoped I could finish it in between all of my schoolwork. After I read the first few pages, I was hooked. I debated skipping classes just so I could keep reading, but I went to class counting down the time until I could revisit the characters- especially Scottie. As a reader, I can't help but feel bad for the father, Matt King. He's never been hands-on regarding his daughters often leaving it that for his now comatose wife, Joanie, and the nanny. He is forced to step up with his wife in a coma and actually be the hands-on parent, which isn't made easy by his two daughters: Alexandra (who resents her mother) and Scottie (who is acting out). While dealing with his troubled family, Matt (a descendant of a Hawaiian princess) must make the decision of who to sell his family's land to in order to eliminate debts that they have incurred. This novel is both funny and heartfelt; most books start out strongly only to drag in later chapters, but this novel is the opposite. I was hooked from the first page until the last page; I was actually upset that I had finished reading it so quickly. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and funny read.
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