The Cider House Rules, Part I: Here in St. Cloud’s

Set in a bustling orphanage in rural St. Cloud, Maine in the early 1900s, The Cider House Rules centers on Homer Wells, an orphan raised and mentored by Dr. Wilbur Larch. As the precocious and perceptive Homer becomes a skilled yet unlicensed physician under Dr. Larch’s tutelage, the pair quickly develop a father-son kinship. But their relationship comes to a head when Dr. Larch insists on teaching Homer how to perform the medically safe (albeit illegal and secretive) abortions for which the orphanage has become known. Soon Homer is forced to grow up all-too-quickly, and by making decisions that will change the course of his future he realizes that he can’t escape his past.