The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Published in 1999, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a psychological thriller novel by bestselling author Stephen King. Renowned for his horror writing, King draws on primal human fears as he follows spirited nine-year-old Trisha McFarland on a harrowing battle for survival after getting lost in the woods. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon explores themes of nature, faith, and the dangers of everyday life through the eyes of a plucky young heroine. Plans for a film adaptation of the novel were announced in 2019.

Stephen King (1967) is the author of more than 60 books, including novels and non-fiction. King is the recipient of many literary honors and awards, including Bram Stoker Awards, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and a National Medal of Arts from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts in 2015. Many of his novels and short stories have been adapted for film and television.

Plot Summary

Nine-year-old baseball fanatic Trisha McFarland loves her doll Mona, her best friend Pepsi, and her Red Sox cap autographed by relief pitcher Tom Gordon. Trisha lives with her mother Quilla and brother Pete, who have been on bad terms since Quilla’s divorce from Pete and Trisha’s father, Larry. Quilla and Pete’s constant bickering makes Trisha feel invisible. On a family hike along a section of the Appalachian trail, Trisha cannot stand their arguing anymore. Unnoticed by either, she slips off the trail to relieve herself.

Trisha attempts to take a shortcut back to the trail, but after getting turned around, she quickly realizes that she is lost and in danger. All she has in her hiking pack is her Walkman and a small amount of food and water, and night is rapidly falling. As she navigates the darkening woods, Trisha uses her Walkman to tune into local radio station WCAS and follow the Red Sox’s road trip across the U.S. She is particularly invested in the performance of pitcher Tom Gordon, a favorite player she shares with her father. She and Larry both admire Tom Gordon’s remarkable stillness on the pitch and the “icewater” calm in his veins.

As Trisha navigates her first few days in the woods, she relies on remembered snippets of advice from her loved ones as well as her active imagination. She pretends to talk out loud to Tom Gordon as she tries to find her way back to the path, unaware that she is becoming increasingly lost. Remembering from a Little House on the Prairie book that water leads to civilization, she begins to follow a stream. Along the way she senses that something is watching her.

The river eventually disappears into a marsh that Trisha painstakingly crosses, channeling the bravery of her baseball hero. She unknowingly takes several wrong turns and is severely sickened by drinking stream water after her own supply runs out. Disheartened, Trisha questions whether there is a God looking out for her. After eating the hallucinogenic leaves of a checkerberry plant, she has a vision of three robed figures, each of whom claims to represent a higher power. The third figure represents the God of the Lost, a senselessly evil creature that has been watching and following Trisha through the woods.

Trisha’s struggle for survival grows more dire the longer she spends in the elements. She contracts double pneumonia and begins to hallucinate, becoming certain that the God of the Lost is stalking her and waiting for the right moment to devour her. The Red Sox games on her Walkman are her only comfort, and she hallucinates Tom Gordon by her side as she continues to push her weakened body onward. He teaches her his secret to closing games: never doubt oneself in the face of one’s adversary. As Trisha’s faith falters, Tom Gordon reminds her that he points up to the sky during games because God often comes through in the bottom of the ninth inning. Trisha eventually accepts that the world can be a sad and fearful place but refuses to give up hope. Guided by Tom Gordon, she finds a path which finally leads her in the right direction.

After eight days in the woods, Trisha emerges onto a road frequented by truckers. Before she can celebrate her salvation, a black bear emerges from the woods; Trisha is sure it’s the God of the Lost in disguise. Despite her fear, she channels Tom Gordon’s stillness and remains perfectly motionless. When the God of the Lost charges her, she copies Gordon’s pitcher’s pose and hurls the Walkman at the bear’s face, hitting it between the eyes. A hunter emerges from the woods and shoots at the bear, which retreats into the woods. Trisha collapses, exhausted but proud of her victory.

Trisha wakes up in the hospital with her family gathered all around her. Her Red Sox cap is sitting nearby, Tom Gordon’s signature reduced to a smudge. Her nurse ushers the family out of the room because Trisha’s vital signs are spiking, but Trisha manages to capture her father’s attention and signals for him to place the cap on her head. Trisha taps on the brim and points up, imitating Tom Gordon’s signature victory gesture—she has won her game.