NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Irving’s classic novel about a troubled doctor, the conflicted young orphan he mentors, and what it means to be of use in the world—the basis for the Academy Award–winning film starring Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine, and Charlize Theron “Witty, tenderhearted, fervent . . . This novel is an example, now rare, of the courage of imaginative ardor.”— The New York Times Book Review “Good night!” he would call. “Good night—you princes of Maine, you kings of New England!” Homer Wells grows up in a rural Maine orphanage under the tutelage of Dr. Wilbur Larch, a physician who both delivers babies and performs illegal abortions. Dr. Larch trains Homer in obstetrics and gynecology, hoping the boy will follow in his footsteps. Yet Homer refuses, unwilling to conduct the procedures. Homer seizes the opportunity to leave the orphanage after meeting Wally and Candy, an attractive couple who come to Dr. Larch seeking an abortion. While working on the apple orchard owned by Wally’s parents, Homer falls in love and soon begins an illicit affair. Fifteen years later, a shocking discovery leads Homer to back to the orphanage—and to a decision that will ultimately alter the course of his life. First published in 1985, The Cider House Rules explores the nature of love, the complexities of found family, and the unpredictable consequences of our moral choices. “Witty, tenderhearted, fervent, and scarifying . . . This novel is an example, now rare, of the courage of imaginative ardor.” — The New York Times Book Review “[Irving] is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irving’s own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer “Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.” —Joseph Heller “An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel . . . with its epic yearning caught in the nineteenth century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain . . . The rich detail makes for vintage Irving.” — Boston Sunday Globe “Entertaining and affecting . . . John Irving is the most relentlessly inventive writer around. . . . A truly astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity.” — The San Diego Union “Clearly Irving’s best-made book and a book of importance. It is a tour de force, a heavyweight among books, as John Irving must be accounted among writers. . . . He accomplishes his feat with both humanity and wisdom. . . . A moving, sometimes hilarious, and unfailingly entertaining story.” — St. Petersburg Times “With each new novel John Irving displays widening of compass. . . . It is the breadth and spread, the depth of characterization that lift this novel beyond anything that Irving has done before. . . . This may be a novel of Maine, but it carries a far wider meaning.” — John Barkham Reviews “Irving is in top form in this capacious novel of personal discovery. . . . Deft realism in both scene and characterization . . . The Cider House Rules is a mature, entertaining novel.” — Library Journal First published in 1985, The Cider House Rules is John Irving's sixth novel. Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud's, ether addict and abortionist. It is also the story of Dr. Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted. First published in 1985, The Cider House Rules is John Irving's sixth novel. Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud's, ether addict and abortionist. It is also the story of Dr. Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted. John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times—winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp . In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules —a film with seven Academy Award nominations. Chapter One The Boy Who Belonged to St. Cloud’s In the hospital of the orphanage-the boys’ division at St. Cloud’s, Maine-two nurses were in charge of naming the new babies and checking that their little penises were healing from the obligatory circumcision. In those days (in 192_), all boys born at St. Cloud’s were circumcised because the orphanage physician had experienced some difficulty in treating uncircumcised soldiers, for this and for that, in World War I. The doctor, who was also the doctor of the boys’ division, was not a religious man; circumcision was not a rite with him-it was a strictly medical act, performed for hygienic reasons. His name was Wilbur Larch, which, except for the scent of ether that always a