The Wild Olive: A Novel

"The Wild Olive: A Novel" by Basil King is a fiction story from the early 1900s that starts with Norrie Ford, a young escapee in the Adirondack wilderness. As he moves through the forest, Norrie thinks about what he’s lost and his past. On the run from a sentence by Judge Wayne for a crime he says he didn't do, Norrie seeks a way out while dealing with his new situation. He comes across a secluded house, a symbol of the ordinary life he misses. The story gets complicated as Norrie runs into the judge and his wife; his need to survive mixes with ideas about justice, morality, and who he is. The judge's wife helps him hide, which creates tension, and forces the audience to think about escape, society's rules, and personal ethics, all while Norrie fights against outside forces and his inner demons.