At the Edge of the Orchard: A Novel
“With impeccable research and flawless prose, Chevalier perfectly conjures the grandeur of the pristine Wild West . . . and the everyday adventurers—male and female—who were bold enough or foolish enough to be drawn to the unknown. She crafts for us an excellent experience.”
—USA Today
From internationally bestselling author Tracy Chevalier, author of A Single Thread, comes a riveting drama of a pioneer family on the American frontier
1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck – in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life.
1853: Their youngest child Robert is wandering through Gold Rush California. Restless and haunted by the broken family he left behind, he has made his way alone across the country. In the redwood and giant sequoia groves he finds some solace, collecting seeds for a naturalist who sells plants from the new world to the gardeners of England. But you can run only so far, even in America, and when Robert’s past makes an unexpected appearance he must decide whether to strike out again or stake his own claim to a home at last.
Chevalier tells a fierce, beautifully crafted story in At the Edge of the Orchard, her most graceful and richly imagined work yet.
—USA Today
From internationally bestselling author Tracy Chevalier, author of A Single Thread, comes a riveting drama of a pioneer family on the American frontier
1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck – in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life.
1853: Their youngest child Robert is wandering through Gold Rush California. Restless and haunted by the broken family he left behind, he has made his way alone across the country. In the redwood and giant sequoia groves he finds some solace, collecting seeds for a naturalist who sells plants from the new world to the gardeners of England. But you can run only so far, even in America, and when Robert’s past makes an unexpected appearance he must decide whether to strike out again or stake his own claim to a home at last.
Chevalier tells a fierce, beautifully crafted story in At the Edge of the Orchard, her most graceful and richly imagined work yet.
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Community Reviews
Pacing: The pacing of the novel is a unique flavor as it bounces back and forth between the two generations: parents and children. Thus, events are offered in a way to pique and satiate interest. In this way, the reader remains invested in the story throughout the book as the generations melt from one to the next rather than abruptly shifting.
World: The world is limited, but understandably so. Given its setting in America during the mid-1800s when much of the land was still being discovered and settled, there is quite a bit the author does not describe. Even then, the details are carefully chosen. Only certain parts of the scenery are highlighted, adding an emphasis on them and ignoring the distracting, irrelevant details of the rest.
Writing: The writing is casual, following the patterns of how people think: one thought to the next. Sometimes seamless. Sometimes abrupt. Sometimes important. Sometimes pointless. Yet, not dry, nor dull, nor boring. It gives appropriate emphasis to things that matter and to the charactersâ personalities, shaping what they care about. The casual manner makes for an easy read.
Non-Spoilered Plot: America in the mid-1800s was a time for venturing west and finding a place and a name and maybe some gold for oneself. Though, life can be tough for an apple farmer in an area not hospitable to apple trees. Yet, parents will do anything they can to provide for their children and offer them the best future they can.
Character: The three main characters given voice and precedence in the book are Sadie Goodenough(mother), James Goodenough(father), and Robert Goodenough(son). Each character may experience the same circumstances, but itâs because of their age and their background that their voices change and morph because of these circumstances. In so doing, their varying voices add an array of detail and understanding of the story, the events, and the other characters. Most importantly, all the characters act, react, and interact in reliable and realistic ways.
Plot: The plot could easily be one of self-discovery for both generations as the elder generation set out from their home, their family, and their comfort to find a life of their own. In so doing, they found what they are made of, what they can handle, and what will drive them to madness. At the same time, the younger generation sees this discovery in their parents and, upon deciding itâs not for them, leaves to find a life better suited for themselves.
The elder generation are used to a life in comfort having grown up on apple farms that were pre-developed by their ancestors. They did not know how much hard work goes into setting up an apple farm. Yet, they did not choose an easy place to do so either: a swamp. As a result, the family suffers. They face many hardships: starvation, disease, mud, and conflict within the family, which leads them to act stir crazy at best and deadly at worst. Itâs only a matter of time before such anger, sadness, and desperation catches up with a person.
It forces Sadie Goodenough to take take extreme measures to ensure her family can leave the godforsaken swamp. She takes an ax to the apple trees. After all, without apple trees, the family has no reason to stay. They are no longer tied to the land and can leave, heading west, or back home. For Sadie, anywhere would be better than the swamp that has taken five of her ten children with its sickness. Yet, in so doing, she murderers her husband because he would do anything to save his beloved apple trees, even step in front of an ax. Though, he would not murder his wife to save the trees, but life never turns out the way people plan and what was meant to be a push, causes Sadie to fall on the spikes around the apple trees. A double accidental murder of parents.
Having witnessed this atrocity at just nine-years-old, young Robert Goodenough leaves. He travels across the country. He goes as far west as the wide country of the United States will allow him, but even there his past catches up to him. His love for trees never leaves: landing him in a business that deals with shipping trees to the English to spruce up and decorate their gardens. Yet, even in this business he loves, Robert is restless. With no family to hear from, no significant other, and no more land to put between him and his past, he finds himself at a loss.
Itâs only when life takes an unexpected turn that he realizes how he wants to live. His younger sister shows up pregnant and dies just after childbirth, leaving him a baby boy to take care of single-handed. Yet, sheâs not the only one pregnant. His past encounters with a young woman named Molly have left her pregnant as well, who delivers a baby girl. With two children to take care of, a woman capable of taking care of herself, and the opportunity to leave the US entirely by way of England, Robert finds what his parents never could: satisfaction. He learns to be happy with what he has and the possibility of what kind of life he could have. And it will be nothing like the one his parents led. With this kind of hope, beautiful imagery, and a story that focuses on only the important details, I leave my rating of âAt The Edge of The Orchardâ at five stars.
World: The world is limited, but understandably so. Given its setting in America during the mid-1800s when much of the land was still being discovered and settled, there is quite a bit the author does not describe. Even then, the details are carefully chosen. Only certain parts of the scenery are highlighted, adding an emphasis on them and ignoring the distracting, irrelevant details of the rest.
Writing: The writing is casual, following the patterns of how people think: one thought to the next. Sometimes seamless. Sometimes abrupt. Sometimes important. Sometimes pointless. Yet, not dry, nor dull, nor boring. It gives appropriate emphasis to things that matter and to the charactersâ personalities, shaping what they care about. The casual manner makes for an easy read.
Non-Spoilered Plot: America in the mid-1800s was a time for venturing west and finding a place and a name and maybe some gold for oneself. Though, life can be tough for an apple farmer in an area not hospitable to apple trees. Yet, parents will do anything they can to provide for their children and offer them the best future they can.
Character: The three main characters given voice and precedence in the book are Sadie Goodenough(mother), James Goodenough(father), and Robert Goodenough(son). Each character may experience the same circumstances, but itâs because of their age and their background that their voices change and morph because of these circumstances. In so doing, their varying voices add an array of detail and understanding of the story, the events, and the other characters. Most importantly, all the characters act, react, and interact in reliable and realistic ways.
Plot: The plot could easily be one of self-discovery for both generations as the elder generation set out from their home, their family, and their comfort to find a life of their own. In so doing, they found what they are made of, what they can handle, and what will drive them to madness. At the same time, the younger generation sees this discovery in their parents and, upon deciding itâs not for them, leaves to find a life better suited for themselves.
The elder generation are used to a life in comfort having grown up on apple farms that were pre-developed by their ancestors. They did not know how much hard work goes into setting up an apple farm. Yet, they did not choose an easy place to do so either: a swamp. As a result, the family suffers. They face many hardships: starvation, disease, mud, and conflict within the family, which leads them to act stir crazy at best and deadly at worst. Itâs only a matter of time before such anger, sadness, and desperation catches up with a person.
It forces Sadie Goodenough to take take extreme measures to ensure her family can leave the godforsaken swamp. She takes an ax to the apple trees. After all, without apple trees, the family has no reason to stay. They are no longer tied to the land and can leave, heading west, or back home. For Sadie, anywhere would be better than the swamp that has taken five of her ten children with its sickness. Yet, in so doing, she murderers her husband because he would do anything to save his beloved apple trees, even step in front of an ax. Though, he would not murder his wife to save the trees, but life never turns out the way people plan and what was meant to be a push, causes Sadie to fall on the spikes around the apple trees. A double accidental murder of parents.
Having witnessed this atrocity at just nine-years-old, young Robert Goodenough leaves. He travels across the country. He goes as far west as the wide country of the United States will allow him, but even there his past catches up to him. His love for trees never leaves: landing him in a business that deals with shipping trees to the English to spruce up and decorate their gardens. Yet, even in this business he loves, Robert is restless. With no family to hear from, no significant other, and no more land to put between him and his past, he finds himself at a loss.
Itâs only when life takes an unexpected turn that he realizes how he wants to live. His younger sister shows up pregnant and dies just after childbirth, leaving him a baby boy to take care of single-handed. Yet, sheâs not the only one pregnant. His past encounters with a young woman named Molly have left her pregnant as well, who delivers a baby girl. With two children to take care of, a woman capable of taking care of herself, and the opportunity to leave the US entirely by way of England, Robert finds what his parents never could: satisfaction. He learns to be happy with what he has and the possibility of what kind of life he could have. And it will be nothing like the one his parents led. With this kind of hope, beautiful imagery, and a story that focuses on only the important details, I leave my rating of âAt The Edge of The Orchardâ at five stars.
Interesting look at Johnny Appleseed and at the export of massive sequoias to England. The human characters were ok, not great. Which is why I won’t be reading much more of her books. I think I had this reaction years ago when I read the girl with the pearl earring
Tracy Chevalier is one of my favorite authors. This book got much better as it went along. I didn't particularly care for the chapters that took place in Ohio, and I don't enjoy when authors change voices. The mother had her own voice, written in first person. I suppose she was supposed to sound ignorant and uneducated, but it was written with no apostrophes in the contractions, so "we'd would look like "wed", and it made it very hard to read. You can write in the voice of someone who is uneducated and still use apostrophes. I love the chapters from Robert's point of view. However, those and the ones from his father's POV were written in third person. Overall, it was a really good book.
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