Kings Oak

by Anne Rivers Siddons

A woman flees a disastrous marriage to settle in a small, aristocratic town and falls in live with a young teacher determined to protect the surrounding wilderness from a nearby nuclear plant

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Womens Fiction

608 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 1990

About the author

Born Sybil Anne Rivers in Atlanta, Georgia, she was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.

While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.

At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019

Reviews

[LemonLinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have fond memories of reading books from this author years ago. And although I did enjoy this book a lot, I felt it was just too long. It could have been easily condensed and would have been a stronger read, I believe. That being said, I did enjoy the perspective told from a main character remembering these events at a later time even if it did get a bit whacky. I guess the crazy tree hugger image was exaggerated to the extreme for effect. It has a strong underlying message of the need for diligence in protecting our environment and all of our natural resources. Given the recent disregard for much of the protections that had been securely in place, it certainly was a timely read. The beautiful depictions of nature and the stark reality of how it can so easily be contaminated made me want to be more proactive with environmental causes.

[Sophie Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. Haunting, magical, and thought-provoking. Need to re-read this soon.

[Jo Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this story. Ms Siddons created a wonderful set of characters, and Tom Dabney can take me for a walk in the swamp any time!

[Robyn]

The graphic animal abuse which I won't go into here kept me from enjoying this book. I read it once before, in the 90s, and enjoyed it, but the re-read proves that my heart is much more tender than before. I was frustrated by the main character's inability to protect her daughter throughout the novel. Why not just move out of this toxic, awful town she lived in instead of staying and subjecting her daughter to so much horror? I guess re-reads aren't always enjoyable the second time around...

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I fell in love with Tom and his love of nature. His uphill battle against injustice still resounds in my head though its been many years since I read this book.

[Julz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have one word to say to sum up this book: Ew.

What is supposed to be sexy about a man with bad hygeine and a bad habit of covering himself in deer blood?

I don't get it.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Siddons' writing. I hated this book.

[Will White · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book off a shelf of a beach rental, and the first 200 pages were just perfect for a beach book. Then, I got home and it went downhill. The writer was much to descriptive and dispassionate. I think the author is a nice writer, I blame the editor more for this one. It could have been cut from 600 pages to 350 easily, and it would have been a better book in my opinion.

[Mindy Beebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Anne Rivers Siddons book I read, and I loved it! Great read.

[Regina]

It's sad that the cover for the edition I've got hasn't been uploaded, because that's some booty.

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of descriptive writing - about 2-3 hundred too many pages of it. The story feels like it takes forever but is really only a year or so of the characters' lives.

The main character seems to helplessly follow her libido into toxic relationships and for the bulk of the story, with her bewildered daughter in tow. Poor kid, raised with an abusive, probably narcissistic father, mom leaves and divorces him to try and heal her from the mess of their marriage. Mom goes through two romantic entanglements afterward in rapid succession but never actually works on herself because she's too wrapped up in the drama swirling around her paramour.

Dad gets mental help and about a year later dad is remarried to a perfect child psychologist (that was fast and convenient plot armor) now it's all good for the kid to see him. Stir in a whole environmental, save the planet sub-plot and it's a 600+ page bloated read. Also, a lot of gruesome imagery conjured up in the telling of this tale which might be off- putting for some.

I finished the book, but hated the spiral into the dismal ending. Not recommended.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siddons' writing is so infinitely rich and vibrant. It was such a well written novel. I so appreciated the writing as it carried me through the plot. This is the kind of novel that you have to eat portion by portion and each section is just about right. It's a long novel, I'm giving you a heads up on that. However, that being said, I have to say that I did enjoy it.

It is about a woman who goes through a disastrous emotional and physical relationship and leaves to be enveloped into the wealthy and privileged community of Pemberton. There ensconced with her best friend and a welcoming community, she begins to heal as she connects with Carter, a safe and loving man. Then she meets Tom, a strange wildman whose only religion, it seems, would be the woods surrounding Pemberton. Can you love a man whose passion is something that can not be competed against? How can you vie with a wilderness? And does Andy have what it takes to go into another complicated relationship after just surviving her last one? Question Questions Questions. If you're a fan of Siddons, definitely a good read.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

With her daughter Hilary, Andy Calhoun moves to the small - and rich - town of Pemberton, Georgia, to escape a bad marriage. Beguiled by a member of one of the town's socially prominent families, she forms a tempestuous relationship with Tom Dabney. Under the guise of helping Hilary "heal" from the broken marriage, mother and daughter visit Tom at his remote homestead on Goat Creek where he teaches them the rituals of living wild in his beloved woods. Andy and Tom have little in common except bodice-ripper sex, although they do share a propensity for alienating the denizens of this stodgy, patrician town. Like jumping each other's bones in a locked bathroom at a society party, and then Andy is surprised that she's insulted people who have tried to ease her into this horsey and hunting set where she is so clearly does not fit.

Though this book contains some of Siddon's nice descriptions of the South's natural world, there are too many of them, as there are too many boring parties. Siddons portrays a mother's protective instincts for her daughter well, but even that gets tedious. The book is too repetitive and often bogs down.

[Danice Sockler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Anne Rivers Siddons. I thought I’d read all of her books, but discovered King’s Oak at the library. It took FOREVER to get through it, and not because it was 600+ pages. It went on and on and on- I mean, Get.To.The.Point!
The main character frustrated me so - round and round and round- GET OVER YOURSELF, get some help for you and your daughter’s PTSD, and be a mom! The mystical aspect of the woods was interesting, but the small town was RIDICULOUSLY elitist. Definitely not my favorite ARS, but I was determined to finish it. Exhausting.

[Laura Hogensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anne Rivers Siddons will always be my favorite chick lit author and this is another one that does not disappoint. My interest never flagged while reading this. She manages to tell a love story, weave southern gothic elements, society drama, and family issues, and mental health issues together into one novel. If you like her, you'll like this one too. Regardless, it's a great beach read. All of her books are.

[Mary Zarrilli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too, too much!

This novel took me on way too many difficult journeys. Too many of the same issues over and over again. So glad I finally finished it. Would not recommend it to anyone.

[Sandra Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in many years but remember how the story stayed with me a long time. Worth a second read, perhaps!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The further along I read, the less I liked Andy. Promiscuity and cheating does not equal love.

[Lettie Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't recommend it even though I really enjoyed it because it's just too damn long. By page 450 I was ready for it to end.

[BlueWaterMama · Rating 1 out of 5]

No way to suspend my disbelief in the characters or plot. Overly long, redundant. Plus...sexist!😡

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I waited quite awhile to get this from the library and it has been years since I read any of Siddons work. I had mixed emotions on this one. I was reminded that Siddons is really good at helping her readers to relax into the slow pace of her stories and the thought processes of her characters. She also doesn't hold back on the sensual side of her characters, which I enjoy. Who doesn't? Although it has been some time since I have read her work, I don't remember her getting this "wild" with a character like Tom Dabney. She develops him with a real concern for the environment and takes it to extremes, in my opinion. I would hate to think that the scenario she paints could be real but I think the extremity is needed to make her point that industry is damaging our environment and some of it is likely going on without our knowledge. Thank goodness for the watch dogs in our country! I read this one to the end despite the long passages on the lovely environment she portrays in the book. She really shows her love for nature in this book. I suspect she has brought all her nature experiences, including the native rituals, into this book.

[Nabilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in my teens. I borrowed it from a local library—there weren't many options back then, and the Young Adult genre wasn't really a thing yet. A couple of scenes really stood out to me: the first time the heroine met the hero in the woods, where he was covered in deer's blood, and the moment I encountered the word "genital" for the first time—I actually looked it up in the dictionary! I was way too young to be reading this type of book, but my parents never filtered what I read. As long as I was reading, they left me alone—little did they know! I remember the book being very long and incredibly descriptive. I'm not sure how it holds up now, and I have no intention of re-reading it. My backlist is super long, and e-books are so much more accessible nowadays, so I'm spoilt for choice. I just thought to add this book to my Goodreads shelf.

[Kelli Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have not read any books by this author before so maybe I just got the wrong book, but I did not enjoy this book. Right at the beginning the author used words I actually had to look up...but then as the book progressed it went into "funky redneck" territory.

I could not relate to the characters at all. Andy was someone I just didn't like. She had been through an abusive relationship and her daughter was emotionally abused....but she never got counseling until so far down the road after so many things had happened that it made no sense to me whatsoever!

I got very bored with all the talk about the woods! It went on and on and on. The book was way too long and I just started skimming through the pages hoping something would finally happen. But when I got to the end, I still didn't understand.

I would not recommend this one!

[Rebecca Secrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about intense, all-consuming love.

Andy (Diana) loves her daughter, Hillary, and Tom, although she is afraid of loving Tom. But, in the end, he makes her and Hillary happy and whole. Tom loves Andy and Hillary and Scratch and most importantly the woods, the wildness of the woods, the Earth. Carter loves Andy and Hillary, but he can't have them. So Carter settles for Pat, who nobody loves. Pat loves nobody; she just wants to possess them, especially Tom. It's a good book. You should read it.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled with this story- it dragged for most of it but the last quarter was stronger and gripping. It is the story of “damaged” people trying to over come their flaws in the midst of a heroic struggle to save “ the wild” the forest and swamplands surrounding an idilic southern town. Andy moves there with her young daughter both of whom are scarred by a former husband’s physical and emotional abuse. Eventually, Andy meets and falls in love with Tom who is dealing with his own battles, fighting the mystery of why his beloved wild woods and animals are getting sick and dying.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge ARS fan.. Peachtree Road and Colony are two books I recommend all the time. But reading this book became a chore after around 300 pages. Repetitious, tedious, and long winded. I finally started skipping all the animal tracking, weather descriptions, and sex and was able to finish the last half of the book without losing any of the plot. So disappointing. Even good writers deliver a clunker sometimes I guess. BTW if you didn't grow up around hunting culture you may find some of this book disturbing.

[Carissa Lusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually love the books by Anne Rivers Siddons. But this one was excessively wordy with too much description. Halfway through I started skimming more than reading in some places.

Aside from that, the storyline isn't bad. Reminds me a bit of the Erin Brockovich story mixed with old myths and legends. I did guess the source of the problem long before the reveal.

Not sure I'll attempt to ever re-read this one though. I have more of her books to read and plenty already that I've read so she hasn't lost me as a fan!

[Bailey Osenga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kings oak was an interesting read for me. A friend borrowed this book to me, knowing I grew up with horses and we had a herd of goats on our farm. I thought the characters were all very well represented and easy to imagine. I found nothing to be predictable in this book. Some parts in the book were a little much for me but for the most part it gave me feelings like I received reading where the crawdads sing. It doesn't feel as if the book is some big plot that ends, which I like, it doesn't keep you asking what happened to them but doesn't make you wish for every detail after either.

[Rie Anders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Rivers Siddons is a master at southern story telling. Emotionally gripping and otherworldly, I was transported to a magical world of myths and wood spirits. Woven with human frailty and sexuality, the characters are at once, broken and relatable. The smells, and sounds, of the south, are so beautifully described, I couldn't bring myself to lift my head from the pages. This is a story you will never forget. I am in literary rapture.

[Mandi Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different book, and so captivating and well written! A few times passages were excessively wordy so I skimmed but then worried I might miss something important!
I loved the parts with man becoming one with nature, the beautiful descriptions of time and place. The characters were well drawn though I did feel at times that Tom Dabney was a bit excessive. Sure did not keep me from thoroughly enjoying this book!
Really o enjoy this author and will read even more of her. Wow