The Lobster Kings, Alexi Zentner
The Lobster Kings, Alexi Zentner
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The Lobster Kings
A Novel

Author: Alexi Zentner

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 11 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/27/2014

Synopsis

The Kings family has lived on Loosewood Island for three hundred years, and they've been blessed with the bounty of the sea. But for the Kingses, every blessing comes with a curse. Woody Kings, the leader of the island's lobster fishing community and the family patriarch, teeters on the throne. Cordelia, the oldest of Woody's three daughters, stands to inherit the crown after the death of her brother. To do so, however, she has to fend off meth dealers from the mainland while navigating sibling rivalry and the vulnerable nature of her own heart when she falls in love with her sternman.A love story and a modern epic in the grand Shakespearean vein that introduces a fiery and unforgettable heroine, The Lobster Kings is the story of Cordelia's struggle to maintain her island's way of life in the face of danger from offshore and the rich, looming, mythic legacy of her family's namesake.

About Alexi Zentner

Alexi Zentner is the author of Touch, which was published in a dozen countries. His fiction has been featured in the Atlantic and Tin House, among other publications. He lives in Ithaca, New York, with his family.

About Cassandra Campbell

Original bio sent from Cassandra: Cassandra Campbell began doing voice overs as the voice for Calvin Klein’s Italian commercials. This was followed by commercial and documentary recording in both English and Italian. She has recorded many audiobooks and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as an Audie® Award nomination. As an actress and director, she has worked at the Public, the Mint, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stagewest, Theatreworks, the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Millmountain Theatre, the National Shakespeare Company, and the New York Fringe Festival.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on June 08, 2014

Alexi Zentner's first novel 'Touch' is one that has stuck in my mind, with its evocative setting and wealth of surreal imagery - a deer glittering with gold dust, a building buried for a whole winter under thirty feet of snow, the villain who refused to stay dead - and so his second novel was one of......more

Goodreads review by Tim on April 24, 2014

"And this will also happen." Atmosphere! Hands down, my first and last point, Zentner knows how to write (and show, and tell, and dammit soak you into) the atmosphere in which the novel takes place. Set on an island in the north Atlantic, the book focuses on the live and myths of one family of lob......more

Goodreads review by Guinevere on April 07, 2014

Beautiful - one of those books where the synopsis of the plot really tells you very little about what the book really IS. Just thinking about the book now, I am immediately back in the atmosphere. I loved the interlacing of the artwork and the mysticism it inspired 2 difficult moments near the beginn......more

Goodreads review by Brittany on January 22, 2024

The Lobster Kings is written by Alexi Zentner, is a fictional semi-fantastical story about Loosewood Island, located between Canada and the US. The book revolves around the history of the Kings family. Cordelia Kings is the daughter of Woody Kings and comes from a long line of Kings who can trace the......more

Goodreads review by Sam on August 12, 2016

Alexi Zentner’s “The Lobster Kings,” an intriguing family saga told largely through the eyes of Cordelia Kings and Woody, her aging father, is so wonderfully constructed that readers will find it difficult to choose a stopping point between reading sessions. Members of the King family have run thing......more

Quotes

“Confirms what Touch already prophesied: Alexi Zentner is one of the greatest literary architects and mythmakers working today.” Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author

“The Lobster Kings is a powerhouse of a novel. Alexi Zentner proves himself to be a writer of the first rank with this story of one woman’s determination to carry on her family’s legacy in the face of the encroaching pressures of modernity and the strictures of a patriarchal culture. The bold and endearingly stubborn Cordelia Kings is a protagonist we can root for, flaws and all, as she struggles to reconcile the past with the present.” Ben Fountain, National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author

“Just as compelling as the dragons, mermaids, and selkies that may inhabit the waters of Loosewood Island are its year-round residents, besieged by tourists, art historians, and drug smugglers. With a knowing nod to Lear, The Lobster Kings follows a patriarch’s fading powers and a dynasty’s uncertain future in the face of a changing world. As in his wonderful debut, Touch, Alexi Zentner gives us a family saga that contains the origin story of a magical, once-timeless place where the past and present must inevitably collide.” Stewart O’Nan, New York Times bestselling author

“An overridingly strong novel.” New York Journal of Books

“Award-winning Zentner’s literary tour de force takes hold of the reader’s imagination and doesn’t let go. Extraordinary storytelling not to be missed.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Brutal and beautiful…[The] fusion of myth and mission, fury and beauty, as well as the palpable sense of place in this unique corner of the world add up to a memorable tale.” Publishers Weekly

“With its strong female lead and its evocative setting, this could well be Zentner’s breakout book.” Booklist

“Campbell’s versatility is on display as she deals with the wide range of characters of many ages and personalities. She’s particularly adept at portraying the aging of the father and Cordelia’s corresponding growth as she becomes the leader of the family. Campbell conveys the strong emotions the characters have for each other and for their way of life.” AudioFile

Awards

  • LibraryReads Pick
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