13 h 4 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 4 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In the Maine woods, timber promises wealth—but the forest holds a power no owner can claim.
In King Spruce, A Novel, Holman Day takes you into the north woods of Maine, where winter logging feeds the spring rivers. Crews live in camps, fell and trim trees, and haul logs over snow. Behind every load stands hard, skilled work in a landscape of enormous trees and harsh weather.
The struggle reaches beyond the logging camps. Timber owners compete to hold and profit from great stands of spruce, while the men working for them face the rough demands of the trade. Day, a Maine writer and newspaperman who knows this country, brings ambition and natural majesty together in an adventure where land means wealth.
What you’ll discover
- The forest as king Enter woods that offer fortunes yet remain stronger than the people seeking them.
- Life in winter camps Follow logging crews through the demanding work of felling, trimming, and hauling timber.
- A contest for timberland See how ambition gathers around the question of who controls the great spruce stands.
- From snow to river Trace the seasonal movement of logs from winter woods toward the spring waters.
- Maine through local eyes Discover a lumber country shaped by its workers, its owners, and its immense trees.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy big outdoor adventure, camp songs and woods lore, a young hero tested by hardship, and a love story that runs through fire and flood.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A millionaire laughs at an honest request
- Wade flees north and wins a place in Castonia
- Misery Gore and the girl with the torch
- Ladder Lane faces the man he hates
- A song and a storm in the winter camps
- The fight over river water ends in thunder
- What the story says and how it is told
Who’s who
- Dwight WadeA former college football center and school principal who flees to the Maine woods to escape gossip and fights for fair play and for the woman he loves.
- Elva BarrettJohn Barrett's spirited daughter, who loves Wade and refuses the husband her father has picked out for her.
- John BarrettCalled Stumpage John, a millionaire timber owner and a leader of King Spruce, who wants to be governor and fears scandal.
- Pulaski BrittThe loud, bullying woods boss of the timber association, who runs men and the river with threats and means to keep his water.
- Colin MacLeodThe young boss of Britt's river crew, strong and jealous, who wants Nina Ide and sees Wade as a rival.
- Nina IdeA bright, brave Castonia girl who befriends Wade and takes pity on outcasts, and who wants to help the people she loves.
- Tommy EyeA drunken but gifted teamster who longs for a friend, finds one in Wade, and proves bolder than anyone expects.
- Kate ArdenA fiery girl raised among the squatters of Misery Gore, who feels trapped by the life handed to her and wants to be treated as human.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Re Abete Rosso, un romanzo
by Holman Day · 1908
A schoolteacher flees a millionaire's scorn for the Maine woods, and the forest fights back.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if the richest man in town sneered at your hopes, then set the whole town whispering about you? Dwight Wade, a young high school principal in a Maine mill city, finds out in King Spruce.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A millionaire laughs at an honest request
The story opens in the Stillwater office of John Barrett, called Stumpage John, who speaks for King Spruce. Dwight Wade waits in the outer room among bowed stumpage buyers who whisper about hush money and unfair scaling. One man comes out with his teeth pressed over his lip. Barrett has refused to renew his contract. Outside the window, five mills howl like chained monsters.
Wade asks Barrett to pay a few of his working students to map one square mile of standing forest. Barrett greets him warmly at first, because he saw Wade win the championship game for Burton. When Wade mentions forestry, Barrett mocks it as guesswork; he later refuses to pay the students to study his land. Wade sees that the man who rules this country thinks of trees only as money.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 8 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Day, Holman. King Spruce, A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/king-spruce-a-novel.
Day, H. (2026). King Spruce, a novel. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/king-spruce-a-novel (Original work published 1908)
Day, Holman. King Spruce, A Novel. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/king-spruce-a-novel.
@book{day2026king,
author = {Day, Holman},
title = {King Spruce, A Novel},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/king-spruce-a-novel},
note = {First published 1908}
}
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What is King Spruce about?
It follows Dwight Wade, a young Maine schoolteacher who loses his job after falling in love with a timber baron's daughter. He goes to the logging camps, makes allies and enemies, and fights over fire, water and fair play.
Who is King Spruce in the novel?
King Spruce is the woodsmen's name for the great association of timber owners who control land, rivers and logging tolls. It is a system more than one man, and Barrett and Britt serve as its officers.
Who is Tommy Eye?
Tommy Eye is a drunken but gifted teamster whom Wade saves at a railroad junction. He becomes Wade's loyal friend, whose courage on a runaway load and later actions become some of the book's most memorable moments.
The author
Holman Day
1865–1935 · American writer and editor
Holman Day was an American writer and editor, born in Vassalboro, Maine, in 1865. He worked in journalism and wrote novels and poetry. His novels include King Spruce, published in 1908, and The Landloper, published in 1915. He later lived in California and died in Mill Valley in 1935.
More by Holman Day
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