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Narrated in a bold, fearless, unforgettable voice and set against the lush, panoramic backdrop of Hawaii, The Descendants is a stunning debut novel about an unconventional family forced to come together and re-create its own legacy—and the inspiration for the major motion picture starring George Clooney.

Fortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a feisty ten-year-old, and Alex, a seventeen-year-old recovering drug addict—are out of control, and their charismatic, thrill-seeking mother, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. She will soon be taken off life support. As Matt gathers his wife’s friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation is made worse by the sudden discovery that there’s one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair. Forced to examine what they owe not only to the living but to the dead, Matt, Scottie, and Alex take to the road to find Joanie’s lover, on a memorable journey that leads to unforeseen humor, growth, and profound revelations.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Kaui Hart Hemmings's The Possibilities.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000QCQ91G
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; 1st edition (May 15, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 15, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 589 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 306 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0224081373
Reviewer: CarolMac
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent book!
Review: Well-written, great story. I saw the movie when it first came out and loved it. The book is even better. I lived in Hawaii for 12 years and reading the book felt like coming home. Mahalo!

Reviewer: Nana
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Descendants: A Novel
Review: I debated the Stars rating between 4 & 5. I chose 4 because this writer chose spousal betrayal, which to me is a cop out to the times we live in. Overall this is a contemplative story. The mother lying in a coma, while life events are unfolding, decisions are being made and lives are being changed. The actions of an Irresponsible woman and mother, have come back to haunt the lives of her husband and children. This woman the writer has created, seems very selfish and from the story as it unfolds, shows that she did not really care about anyone except her own entitled wants and desires.

Reviewer: Andy Orrock
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I rushed out to buy and read 'The Descendants' once I saw it was the basis for Alexander Payne's new movie
Review: When I saw that this book was the basis for Alexander Payne's upcoming movie, I rushed out to buy and read it before the film hit the screens here. Payne's films - About Schmidt, Sideways, and my personal favorite, Election - are small masterpieces of storytelling. I can see why Kaui Hart Hemmings' debut novel appealed to Payne: it's just his size. It's a small, very well told story with equal parts of tragedy and comedy. I can't say for certain that Ms. Hart Hemmings had dreams of George Clooney as her Matt King, but she tucked a neat little throwaway into the book indicating she was thinking about it (Matt's daughter Scottie wears a t-shirt that says simply "Mrs. Clooney"). Regardless, you'll read the book with Clooney in your head saying the words. Again, like Payne and the story, Clooney and King seem a perfect match.At its heart, this book relates the unfolding of a tragic event. But there are nuggets of pure, sly comedy on each page. It's nothing over the top. If you're invested in the stories and characters, you stumble over these small lines and simply laugh at how perfectly realized they are. I flagged this one on p. 138 (paperback movie tie-in edition) as what I found to be a great encapsulation of what I mean: "We follow Ralph to the parking lot. I force my shoulders down and take a deep breath. I watch my family walking in front of me. They look normal from the back. They look good."The humor in that, of course, is at that point of the story, you know Matt thinks of his family - threatening to come apart at the seams - as anything but normal. But from behind...who can tell? Little gems like that abound in the book.My judgment is that, movie or not, the book stands on its own merits as an excellent work. It's surely one of the best novels I've read this year, right alongside Ann Patchett's State of Wonder.

Reviewer: Sportochick's Musings
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interaction between Matt and Sid was the most impactful part of the story.
Review: Though traditionally this book would not of caught my eye I was interested in reading it because of my love for Hawaii. From the start the author did an admirable job of creating irritating spoiled children in the characters of Scottie and Alex. The addition of Alex's friend, Sid who has his own set of problems and annoyingness rounded off for me a difficult read. It is not that the book isn't well written but I wanted to take all of them over my knee and spank them or hug them to death.As a mother I was stressed during this whole book and angry with Matt that he had not been more present in his daughter's upbringing and he allowed his wife free rein without question. As the story went on though he started to show superb judgement in how he handled so many of the new situations that showed up. The author did a fine job in the steadiness of Matt still making mistakes and where his aha moments happened, causing a change in his thoughts and actions.Joanie is written in a very believable manner and one wonders if she ever thought of the damage she was doing to her children or if she was that clueless that she thought she was helping them. Her character is not likable for all the thoughtless damage she did to everyone around.For me the interaction between Matt and Sid was the most impactful part of the story. Both of these two saved each other is ways that only they understood. What these two did for each other was amazing and heartfelt making me cry.For this review I listened to it via audible and referenced the ebook version as well. I wonder if I had only read the book if I would have had a different outcome in my review. Though I haven't seen the movie I wonder how this book would come across on the screen so out of curiosity I will see it though.I give this 3-1/2 STARS.

Reviewer: beckyfaye
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Better than the Movie (Of Course)
Review: This is the story of a man (Matt) and his two young daughters (Alex and Scottie) coming to terms with taking their wife and mother (Joanie) off life support after a boating accident leaves her in an irreversible coma. The story takes place in Hawaii. No spoilers, but Matt finds out that Joanie had been having an affair. Intertwined is the story of Matt's dilemma concerning whether to sell Hawaiian property inherited from his ancestors.This book was adapted into a movie in 2011. I love the movie. I usually watch it about once a year.The book adds so much to this beautiful story. I understand more fully Matt's decision about selling the land. There is much more about the character Sid. I feel like I know who Joanie (Elizabeth in the movie) is. The humor is the laugh-out-loud kind. It is definitely worth your time to read the book, whether or not you have seen the movie.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I'm just starting to read this novel in order to compare it with the movie so don't have a review to submit yet.

Reviewer: killerpanda
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ik heb dit besteld maar niet ontvangen

Reviewer: HaSo
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Auf das Buch bin ich erst durch die Verfilmung mit George Clooney aufmerksam geworden. Nachdem ich also den Film gesehen hatte, der mir ziemlich gut gefiel, wollte ich das Buch ebenfalls lesen.Kaui Hart Hemmings (übrigens eine AutorIN) beschreibt die Geschichte von Matt King, dessen Ehefrau nach einem Bootsunfall im Koma liegt und kurz vor dem Tod steht. Matt muss nun erfahren, dass seine Frau ihn kurz vorher betrogen hat. Gleichzeitig muss er sich um seine Töchter kümmern, obwohl er keine Ahnung von Kindererziehung hat und muss allen Freunden und Verwandten Bescheid sagen, dass seine Frau im Sterben liegt.Die Geschichte wird in keiner Art und Weise als besonders dramatisch oder traurig dargestellt, sondern sogar mit ein bisschen Humor und einfach purem Realismus. Ich konnte mir während des Lesens sehr gut vorstellen, dass so eine Situation wirklich in dieser Art und Weise passieren könnte.Erzählt wird ebenfalls aus Matt Kings Perspektive. Das gefiel mir wirklich sehr gut, denn in der Geschichte geht es schließlich darum, wie er mit der ganzen Sache zurecht kommt. Der Autorin ist es wunderbar gelungen, dass ich mich in ihn hineinversetzen konnte.Weitere wichtige Charakter innerhalb des Romans sind Matts Töchter Alex und Scottie. Beide müssen auf ihre eigene Art und Weise einen Weg finden Abschied zu nehmen und mit der Situation klar zu kommen. Auch wenn die King-Familie leicht psychotisch veranlagt ist, hat es doch Spaß gemacht ihr Schicksal und ihre Veränderungen mitzuerleben.Besonders gerne mochte ich Sid, den dauerbekifften Freund von Alex, dem man eine kleinere Rolle zutraute, als er gegen Ende dann letzendlich hatte.Die Story an sich hat mich durch die interessanten Charaktere wirklich überzeugt. Eine Geschichte, die sich mit dem Tod beschäftigt, aber auf eine ganze besondere Art. Wer würde in so einem Roman Humor erwarten?Fazit: Ein sehr unbekannter Roman, der mich aber aufgrund des Schreibstils und der Charaktere überzeugen konnte![...]

Reviewer: Papamad
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: La película me encantó, y cuando vi el ebook no lo dudé. En un suspiro estaba en mi Ipad. Como siempre el libro es más completo que la pelicula. Me encantó leerlo y como te va casualmente detallando el entorno social del protagonista, las realidades mal entendidas de los matrimonios y como inciden en los hijos adolescentes. Hijos que ven las cosas desde un prisma distinto al nuestro.Y no cuento más.Simplemente lo recomiendo.

Reviewer: D. Norman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: THE DESCENDANTS by Kaui Hart Hemmings.I found it a page turning read. I thought it one of the most involvingbooks of any genre, I have read for some time.The story is told from the perspective, of the Father, Matt King. Not onlydo we know his actions, hear his conversation, but all the time how he isthinking. How he is coming to terms with the fact that his wife is lyingin a coma in hospital . That she soon may die. How he reacts and thinksabout being the only parent now in charge of his 10 year old Daughter,Scottie, and his 18 year old daughter, Alex. Both girls have behaviourproblems, Scottie at her school, while Alex was starting on drugs, and wassent away by the wife, Joanie, to a boarding school.So Matt has to guide his daughters through the trauma of going to seetheir mother, lying in a coma. At the same time he has to come to termswith his own feelings of grief. There are some numerous bits ofhumour,while, despite the seriousness of the situation, I did catch myselfhaving a smile. Especially at Scottie.As if the problmes that Matt faces are not enough, he also discovers areally shattering truth about his wife. He has to contend with this. Heis also the sole trustee of a parcel of land in Hawai, where the story isset, which he is being urged to sell by his numerous family members andcousins.The one thing that really stuck with me the most, and there were many fromthis riveting story, was the fact that Matt always had concern for otherpeople. Even though it seemed that many of his friends and family, werenot really supportive of him.A truly remarkable reading experience. One I shall savour for a long time.Thank you, Kaui Hart Hemmings.