The Cardturner

Best-known for his award-winning book Holes, American author Louis Sachar’s novel The Cardturner (2010) follows a teenager as he learns about the card game bridge from his wealthy uncle and becomes involved a longstanding family drama. The rules and dynamics of the game are explained throughout the book, marked by a drawing of a whale – a reference to the amount of detail about whaling present in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

The protagonist, Alton Richards, is a seventeen-year boy just waiting for adulthood to begin. He has recently lost his girlfriend, Katie, to his best friend, Cliff, and feels anxious about his future. His parents want him to befriend his wealthy and elderly uncle, Lester Trapp, in the hope of getting some of his inheritance money. They believe their main competition comes from the Castenada family, the relatives of Trapp’s old bridge partner.

Trapp has lost his sight to diabetes and requires a cardturner for his games of bridge, someone to read out his cards and play his desired ones. Seeing this as an opportunity, Alton’s parents sign him up for the job without consulting him. He is taking over from Toni Castaneda, a girl said to be crazy who was fired after she questioned Trapp’s card choice during one game.

On his first day, Alton takes Trapp to the bridge club for his daily game. Trapp’s partner is a woman called Gloria. Trapp is angry with Alton for his poor card reading (he does not sort the cards by suit when reading them out), but they win the game anyway.

Alton continues to do this job, slowly becoming more interested in the game and picking up the basics, despite mockery from Cliff. Alton realizes that Trapp is an extremely good player, almost a Grand Life Master. However, he has never won a regional tournament. Gloria tells Alton never to mention this to Trapp, as this is an ongoing frustration in his life. As they continue to spend time together, Alton and Trapp grow closer. Trapp tells him that he used to play with Annabel King, his wife’s sister.

One day, instead of one of his regular partners, Trapp plays with Toni at the club. He treats her as a protégée; Alton does not like her at first. She makes many mistakes, causing them to lose badly. When they play again a few days later, they do even worse than the first time. While Trapp hasn’t picked up on the fact that Alton now understands the game, Toni realizes this and asks to play a game with him.

They play a game with Alton’s younger sister, Leslie, and Cliff. Cliff spends the game trying to talk to Toni and asks to take her to a party. Anton, who is developing a crush on Toni, is suspicious and fears that Cliff is going to steal another girl from him. On the day of the party, Alton takes Trapp to a sectional tournament, which they win.

Toni asks to play with Alton again, this time at the club. They win on their first game but don’t do well on most of the other tables. During one game, Toni redoubles on their last hand, a tricky move that doesn’t always pay off. It does in this case, and they win that hand. Toni explains to Alton that she is schizophrenic and hears her grandmother’s voice in her head, telling her what cards to play. Her grandmother was Annabel King, Trapp’s former bridge partner.

Finally, it’s time for the regional tournament. Alton takes Trapp to the event, and during the trip, Trapp explains what happened to Annabel. She had been married to Henry King, a wealthy and powerful man. They used to play bridge together but her talent made it obvious that he had none, and he grew resentful. He forbade his wife from playing bridge, isolating her, and then physically abusing her. Despite this, Annabel became partners with Trapp and the two played very well together, even though Annabel had a quirk where she never refused to redouble. Trapp and Annabel entered a national tournament, but Henry had her taken away and put in an asylum. While Trapp and his wife – Annabel’s sister – tried to get her released, they failed and she died in the asylum after drinking bleach.

Trapp does well in the first few days of the regional tournament. One day, he arrives late, gets angry at Alton, and makes a noticeable mistake that throws him off. He refuses to continue playing for the day and tells Alton to take his place, having found out that he has been learning the game. Trapp demands to be taken home right away, canceling all his bridge games until the national tournament. He passes away before this, giving most of his money to charity but leaving enough for Alton’s family to pay off debts and fund his college education.

Alton meets Toni at the funeral and they decide to play another game together. This time, they play much better. During the game, Alton hears Trapp’s voice telling him how to play, and Toni later reveals that she only played the cards dictated by her grandmother’s voice. While driving home, Alton hears the voice again, giving him directions to Trapp’s house. The voice guides the pair to the documents for the national tournament, and they realize that Trapp and Annabel want them to play it in their stead.

By this point, Toni has been going out with Cliff, but she begins to return Alton’s affections. They play together using Trapp and Annabel’s instructions and grow closer throughout the tournament. They win, and Toni kisses Alton in the middle of the celebrations. Alton concludes the book, saying he continued playing bridge and hinting that he and Toni remain together.

The Cardturner is a noteworthy book in that it aims to tell a relatable story for teenagers based in the world of bridge, a complicated and rigid card game popular with retired older adults. Reviewers praised Sachar’s ability to make the game feel accessible and exciting, with The Guardian claiming, “The book feels like one long, deadpan dare, as though Sachar has made a bet with himself that he can make the most boring setting thrilling.”