At once intimate and epic, The Orchardist is historical fiction at its best, in the grand literary tradition of William Faulkner, Marilynne Robinson, Michael Ondaatje, Annie Proulx, and Toni Morrison.
In her stunningly original and haunting debut novel, Amanda Coplin evokes a powerful sense of place, mixing tenderness and violence as she spins an engrossing tale of a solitary orchardist who … orchardist who provides shelter to two runaway teenage girls in the untamed American West, and the dramatic consequences of his actions.
more
This book was heartbreaking yet hopeful. The story of two young girls thrown into a cruel, unprotected and abusive world that brought them into the orchard where another type of man offered all things not found in their previous world of horrors. Pregnant & starving, they were forced to leave childhood much too quickly. Happiness is a fruit not …
The writing is good, the characters are true-to-life. Engaging story.
The book was about an unlikely relationship which developed at length between an older man, used to his solitude in a valley of orchards, and two young runaway girls, both victims of sexual abuse. The relationship deepens in time as the man becomes aware of them. They show no signs of trust, but hunger keeps them hanging around as the smells of …
This is a slow and lyrical book beautifully written. If you are looking for fast movement and hevy plotting, let it go. But if you like character studies, this wkll move you.
Interesting plot written in side by side story plots
More turn of the 20th century American historical fiction – fast becoming my favourite genre to read. Reminded me from the start of Annie Proulx in the lyricism of the writing. Beautiful narrative. Stunning world building. Utterly captivating. Still holds the sort of twists and turns that make a really outstanding book. A tale of an orchardist in …
I absolutely loved this book and I couldn’t wait to ask everyone I met if they had read it yet. I’m not very wordy to explain what it was that I enjoyed so much but I felt “changed” when I finished reading it.
It is story with such beauty, quiet love, deep grief and solitary but fufilling life.
I highly recommend this book to everyone and I thank …
To lose your mother and then your sister in an already lonely, abandoned land made Talmadge the person he was. He had his orchards and his kindness to keep him going.
Talmadge lived alone in his family home that really had no family except Talmadge until one day two girls, Jane and Della, arrived on his land and began stealing his fruit. …
This book seems to let us look at American history from a more personal view. The history did not intrude as much as most. I would hope this book could be used for teaching because it is such an inthralling story.
Best book I’ve read in ages. Silence speaks volumes.
This story was a mix but definitely left me looking for more of something. The characters were likeable enough but the story was missing in excitement or action. I stayed with it to the end but was glad when I finally arrived.
Excellent book!
This book caught my eye because of the location. I live in eastern Washington where this story takes place. That was the best part of the book. It is pretty much a chronicle of a “family”. There really wasn’t much of a plot. It was slow moving and at times tedious. Sorry, but I doubt I will be reading anything else by this author.
Beautiful, heart-wrenching, shocking, haunting.
Reminded me of John Steinbeck’s style……lovely descriptions of scenes and characters. Not a book to be rushed thru, but rather one to enjoy and mull over as you go. Not a piece of fluff, but Literature!
This novel follows in the tradition of some of my favorite Pacific-Northwestern writers (Molly Gloss, Karen Fisher). Like those writers, Coplin gives us a pioneer protagonist–though in The Orchardist, Talmadge has already settled into an ordered existence on his homestead– struggling with the hardship and loneliness of the pioneer life, the …
This book is not what I usually read but I loved it.
This book was so touching and real and the characters were real life like. I bought the hard cover book so I could re-read over some of the chapters which is something I never do.
The Orchardist is NOT a light read! It is a compelling narrative of a complex set of lives, and the author does not feel obliged to provide his whole cast of characters with happy endings. Dedication does not necessarily yield success, either. But dedication does receive the author’s respect. Set in an earlier, agrarian United States, it could …
Complex characters that you feel like you want to talk to and try to help. Life is such a struggle for some people.