The Night of the Hunter

Description

In Depression-era Cresap’s Landing, West Virginia, nine-year-old John Harper and his four-year-old sister, Pearl, live under the disgrace of their father’s execution. Before dying, he hid stolen money inside Pearl’s doll and made John promise to protect both his sister and the secret. Harry Powell, the itinerant preacher and serial killer who learned of the cash in prison, enters their home by courting and marrying their widowed mother. When his piety gives way to open menace, the children flee in their father’s skiff and drift down the Ohio River, hungry and vulnerable, until Rachel Cooper offers shelter. Their flight drives a dark, fable-like novel about childhood resilience, predatory authority, and the uncertain refuge offered by strangers.

Themes