At the Edge of the Orchard

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What fascinates me most about Tracy Chevalier and her writing is the fact that in every one of her books I've been introduced to a subject, or a place that I knew nothing about before. Whether is is Mary Anning, discovering fossils on the beach in the early 1800s (Remarkable Creatures, 2010), or Griet the young Dutch girl who became the model for the artist Vermeer (Girl With A Pearl Earring, 2001), this author's writing always captivates me. Chevalier has carved out a middle-point between writing literary fiction and its page-turning, commerical counterpart and this book will serve both those audiences. SPOILER ALERT- Tragedy strikes, his son leaves and shifts aimlessly around the west, while the family dies off like untended saplings. Chevalier ( The Last Runaway, 2013) excels at creating a highly accessible read that takes a surprisingly dark look at the brutal conditions of frontier life.

I found myself skimming parts and not really interested in his love affairs or what happens to him after Martha's totally unnecessary and pointless death. This one starts with the twist right at the beginning: we meet one of the most mismatched couples I've ever met in a book (granted I don't look for books about mismatched couples .She has a BA in English from Oberlin College, Ohio and an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. Sadie's first person poison-angst, alongside James's stoic third-person reflections, give way to an epistolary exchange between Robert and Martha that is deeply touching in its crossed-wires and its hunger for connection. I am not going to recount the plot, or dwell on the individual characters other than to say that I found them well drawn and convincing and that after my early misgivings, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. That's not to say I wasn't enjoying the book, as I was happy to follow the two generations of the Goodenough family and the apples they grow which provide the central theme, but I was often wondering where the story was going, who was meant to be the protagonist etc.

Chevalier tells a fierce, beautifully crafted story in At the Edge of the Orchard, her most graceful and richly imagined work yet. 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. I liked the fact "The Last Runaway" was set in the US (where Tracy originates from) but found it very slight, although I enjoyed the details of quilting.

Ohio’s Black Swamp is inhospitable to humans, animals, crops and trees alike, and at the opening of the novel in 1838, the Goodenough family have been battling for nine years to grow the requisite 50 trees that will secure their claim to their land. James and Sadie can't agree on which type of tree to raise, where to grow them, or even if they should continue to grow them. Despite his dysfunctional family, Robert is a likeable character, who draws some larger than life people around him. James's pioneer struggle to tame his hitherto unmanned settlement is the counterpoint to Robert's at-oneness with the land; James's battle is that of the archetypal settler. 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.

Unfortunately the soil is not rich in this part of Ohio and it’s filled with trees and roots and stumps and to make a friable soil to plant these trees and keep them alive and producing, is hard work. In the midst of it all, Robert finds himself settling his past debts and adjusting to his life, striking a claim to a future of his own making and choosing.The Goodenough family have moved to the Black Swamp, with the hope that they can establish an orchard of apples. Apparently the love of trees is in the Goodenough blood, as Robert eagerly apprentices himself, learning about botany along the way.