In keeping with Irving's decision to write an historical novel, The Cider House Rules is filled with subplots that intersect the principal story line. The most important subplot concerns Melony, a St. Cloud's orphan who grows into a tough, swaggering woman whose unrequited love for Homer Wells is submerged in a lesbian relationship. The focus of the novel shifts from Wilbur Larch in the first half to Homer Wells in the second, which is appropriate in light of the fact that Homer eventually takes Wilbur's place at St. Cloud's. Here, as in Irving's other novels, there are refrains and resonances; in addition to "to be of use" is Wilbur Larch's nightly benediction to the Boys Division at St. Cloud's: "Good night — you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England!" And the violence — here muted, consisting primarily of explicit descriptions of surgical procedures — is once...