Description

‘A wonderful book; rich, evocative, original. I loved it’ Joanne Harris

“One in ten trees comes up sweet…”

In the inhospitable Black Swamp of Ohio, the Goodenough family are barely scratching out a living. Life there is harsh, tempered only by the apples they grow for eating and for the cider that dulls their pain. Hot-headed Sadie and buttoned-up James are a poor match, and Robert and his sister Martha can only watch helplessly as their parents tear each other apart. One particularly vicious fight sends Robert out alone across America, far from his sister, to seek his fortune among the mighty redwoods and sequoias of Gold Rush California. But even across a continent, he can feel the pull of family loyalties…

Publisher Review

Praise for At the Edge of the Orchard: 'Chevalier's prose is by turns muscular, raw and sumptuous... a delight' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Chevalier has carved out a middle-point between writing literary fiction and its page-turning, commercial counterpart and this book will serve both those audiences' INDEPENDENT 'A rollicking yarn of 19-century America' THE TIMES 'A densely packed tale of fruit, roots, family and hardship' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A wonderful book; rich, evocative, original. I loved it' Joanne Harris 'A stunning read' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'A kind of arboreal love song ... an absorbing depiction of the harshness of pioneer life and the impossibility of escaping familial ties' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Dark, brutal, moving, powerful' Jane Harris 'Powerfully realised ... [A] fine novel' DAILY MAIL 'It's her best since Girl with a Pearl Earring, telling the story both of America and a pioneer family with acuity, freshness and zest. I was captivated by it' Amanda Craig 'Tracy Chevalier serves up a rollicking yarn of 19th-century America. What Deborah Moggach did for tulips, Chevalier may well do for apples' THE TIMES 'This novel of raw beauty touches themes Chevalier explored in her novel, The Last Runaway. It's a richly rewarding read' EXPRESS 'With Chevalier's excellent storytelling ability and gift for creating memorable characters, this novel paints a vivid picture of the hard and rough-hewn life of American pioneers on their Westward journey' STARRED LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW 'Wonderful descriptions of apple grafting and plant-hunting in a 19th century New World America. Chevalier weaves an enthralling, feverish narrative through a backdrop of exploratory horticulture' TOAST