Dr. Wilbur Leach becomes a physician in the early 20th century. He sees two women die from illegal, botched abortions and decides to provide medical abortions for the women who seek them. He also sets out to inform women of the dangers of having an abortion from an untrained person.

When he becomes associated with St. Cloud's Orphanage in Maine, his reputation spreads and women wanting abortions or just to give birth and leave their children to be adopted, come to St. Cloud's.

Homer Wells is born at that facility. He's loved by the entire staff for his sweet disposition and helpfulness.
He is placed into a number of adoptions but none of them take. Each time, he returns to St. Cloud's, the place where he really considers that he belongs. He remains there as he grows up and becomes Dr. Leach's assistant.

This detailed story, tells of life in Maine in the early 20th century. It tells of the life of the people after the mills closed, the water pollution, and the sad way of life of so many of the poor people dwelling there.

One of the author's themes is for the protagonist to give back to society and they seem to be congradulated for it. However, this novel also describes the painful moments such as, the adoptions that are done for the wrong reasons. We also see the continuous stream of women taking the train to the orphanage to seek an abortion. There is never counseling for these women or an attempt to give them an alternative to taking the life of the child within them.

Where Dr. Leach is viewed as a kindly, angelic man, he really is taking lives of the children in their mother's wombs and nothing is said of that or that he is an ether addict. He became addicted to ether as a result of the gonorrhea he contracted after his father took him to a prostitute as a right of passage into adulthood.

The story is a classic. Homer Wells is one of the most empathatic character is literature and will be remembered rondly, long after the book is finished. ( )

I am really enjoying this one so far! I find the author using alot of humor, which I love in a book! Makes me want to keep reading! I can't wait to see the DVD after this! ( )

I really enjoyed this chunky saga of Dr Wilbur Larch, orphanage founder and abortionist, and his favourite orphan, Homer Wells. It's a long book and sometimes a bit meandering, but manages to cover many issues in some depth, in particular abortion. But as well as that it is a good old read with memorable characters and interesting situations which I felt very involved with by the end of the book. ( )

One of my favorite's by Irving. And actually, the movie wasn't too bad! ( )

Irving is a storyteller of the first order. He has intriguing characters, interesting plots, and what I think is a unique way of looking at the world. There is a lot of depth to his stories, and I wonder whether all his books can possibly be as good as this one, or the few others that I have read. He's such a prolific writer, I'm almost afraid to read all of them I don't want to ruin my own image of him! ( )