King Spruce

by Holman Francis Day

King Spruce is a novel written by Day, Holman, published in 1927. The story takes place in the early 1900s in the forests of Maine, where the lumber industry is booming. The protagonist, Joe Easter, is a young man who has grown up in the woods and has a deep love for nature. He becomes an expert in the logging industry and is hired by a wealthy lumber baron to help him cut down the last remaining stands of virgin spruce trees in the region. As Joe works for the lumber company, he becomes increasingly conflicted about the destruction of the forest and the impact it will have on the environment. He meets a group of conservationists who are fighting to preserve the forest and becomes torn between his loyalty to his employer and his love for the natural world. Throughout the novel, the author paints a vivid picture of the beauty and majesty of the Maine forests, while also highlighting the devastating effects of industrialization on the environment. The story is a powerful commentary on the balance between economic growth and environmental preservation, and the difficult choices that must be made to achieve both. King Spruce is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today, as we grapple with the same issues of sustainability and conservation that were at the heart of the novel nearly a century ago.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

252 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2005

About the author

Holman Francis Day (November 6, 1865 – February 19, 1935) was an American author, born at Vassalboro, Maine, and a graduate of Colby College (class of 1887). In 1889-90 he was managing editor of the publications of the Union Publishing Company, Bangor, Me. He was also editor and proprietor of the Dexter, (Me.) Gazette, a special writer for the Lewiston, (Me.) Journal, Maine representative of the Boston Herald, and managing editor of the Lewiston Daily Sun. In 1901-04 he was military secretary to Gov. John F. Hill of Maine.

The Holman Day House, his home Auburn, Maine, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Reviews

[Francesca Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

(duplicates what I posted on LJ)


King Spruce was very entertaining; I enjoyed the story very much, even though all the happenings were loudly telegraphed from well in advance, and even though some aspects (the flawlessness of the hero; the blood-will-tell element to people’s fates; certain convenient changes of heart) needled at me.

It struck me as being a 1908 version of a John Grisham novel (Can I say that without having read a John Grisham novel? –I’ve seen movies made from them; does that count?) By this I mean, it took a contemporary situation (corrupt lumber interests in Maine) and explored it, showed the workings of the industry, the reasons for the corruption, how those in power maintained it—and then toppled the bad guys most satisfyingly if, maybe, somewhat unconvincingly.

So, there’s the drama of the corrupt lumber barons, against whom our stalwart (and annoyingly flawless) hero, Dwight Wade, exerts himself. There’s also a romance: Wade is in love with Elva Barrett, the daughter of John Barrett, one of the lumber barons. Barrett has an illegitimate daughter, known as Kate Arden, whom the hero runs across in the forested mountains. She’s much finer and more intelligent than the good-for-nothings among whom she’s been raised (because blood will tell), but having been raised among them, and being illegitimate, she gets foisted off on a conveniently placed hot-blooded young lumberjack (Colin MacLeod) who at first scorns her but eventually comes round. I kind of hoped the hero would fall for her, but no, he remains devoted to the mainly absent (and pallid) Elva.

About the flawlessness of Wade. It was really quite remarkable. A college-educated schoolteacher, he’s got book learning—but he’s also the picture of physical vitality (he played football in college, you see), such that he’s able to take down Colin MacLeod when the occasion demands. He’s a quick study and, when he leaves schoolteaching for work up in the timberlands, earns the trust and admiration of all around him—except the wicked Pulaski Britt. Britt is Barrett’s right-hand man; he’s the one who gets up to all the true nastiness, which lets the author redeem Barrett: Britt can take the fall.

When Wade finds out the connection between Kate and Barrett, he tries to use moral suasion to get Barrett to do right by her, strenuously avoiding blackmailing him, although everyone and his brother is sure that blackmail is exactly what Wade will get up to. It made an interesting contrast with “The Mayor of Candor Lied,” a ballad by Harry Chapin that my daughter introduced me to recently, in which the song’s narrator tries to blackmail the father of his sweetheart when he learns of the father’s romantic indiscretions. The narrator does this so that he and his sweetheart can be together. It doesn’t work out (though there are added complications in the song that doom the romance, even if the narrator hadn’t tried blackmail). Wade, on the other hand, is above all that, and he ends up getting his girl.

In King Spruce, everyone around Wade behave much more naturally than Wade himself. For instance, Barrett, when Wade first rescues him from burning to death (yes, Wade does this too; I swear, Wade does All The Things), is grateful and sincere, but, once danger is past, begins to have second thoughts about the whole situation and starts retelling the story to himself in a way that will let him renege on his word and not feel like that’s what he’s actually doing. So human! Not honorable, not good, but very real. Wade has no moments like that.

But Wade’s flawlessness didn’t make me hate him. He’s honorable, brave, and kind, so I liked him. It just would have been more interesting if he’d gone astray a little now and then.

I’m very glad I read the book. It was fun to experience pop literature of the first decade of the twentieth century, and I definitely feel the richer for it.

[Ian Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled on this book while searching for something completely unrelated (not even a book) and gobbled it up in three days. If you like the old style of books by the likes of Kenneth Roberts and the like, this fits the bill. And it gives you a real sense of lumbering in Maine at the turn of the 20th century. It helps even more if you know the lay of the land. Certainly some places are fictional, but some of the streams and mountains are real and Day makes them feel that much more real. Fabulous book. So much fun to read. And it seems a tad unusual for in that it featured relatively strong (for the times) women.

[Nell Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 1908.

[Iver Lofving · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. It's like a Maine version of Horatio Alger. Love story about bringing in the log drive and getting the girl! It's a great read!