At the Edge of the Orchard

By: Tracy Chevalier

Narrated by: Hillary Huber, Mark Bramhall, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Morris

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

From internationally best-selling 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 50 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.

©2016 Tracy Chevalier (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

"Well-told and engrossing.... With compelling characters and swift pacing, 'The Last Runaway' adds a worthy new chapter to a story that has consumed generations." (USA Today)

"Irresistible." (O, The Oprah Magazine)

Wonderful story

The characters come alive in this audible book. Enjoyed it from start to finish and learned about various trees in addition! Good research, good story! Highly recommend !!

Deeply Moving Story

Tracy Chevalier is such an evacative and creative writer. Her characters are deep and so real. I felt like I was alongside Robert, silently witnessing his life unfold, without judgement; feeling his gentleness and caring towards others, while hoping he'd find his place and the forgiveness he so needed to allow happiness in.

Good

Chevalier is an excellent writer and storyteller. This tale of mid-1800s America is not as captivating as some of her others (Remarkable creatures, Girl with a Pearl Earring), but her characters are always well drawn, and interesting history informs all of her works.

Life Struggles in the Early West

Starting out planting apple trees in Ohio to collecting seeds from the gigantic redwoods and sequoias in California, a young man tries to find his place in the world as he interacts with various other strugglers in the new west. Tracy Chevalier is a excellent author of historical fiction. I've read all that she has written.

another good read

Every book by Chevallier has been different and entertaining in a new way. This one develops more male characters. I'm impressed with her ability to take the reader to so many different places and periods of history.

If you like trees...

If you like trees you'll like this story. Kind of dark at times but a good tale.

It's Good Enough

My goodness, but don't the Goodenough's put the fun in dysfunctional? The death of the parents (no spoilers, don't worry) was the most horrific/funny scene I've encountered in a good long while. The human characters portray the bleak slog that is life, the hopelessness that life can become, and the redemption that life offers, and they do all this in the most morose, downtrodden circumstances. The other characters are the flora and fauna; the apples, especially the Golden Pippen, the apple trees, the California sequoia, the seeds. This story of struggle and ultimate redemption left me unsettled. Even Robert, who ultimately finds his way out of the dark abyss of life, is a broken soul. There are no sympathetic characters here, no one to root for, except maybe the spindly Golden Pippen trees struggling for survival in the wilderness.

i was engaged right at the start.

great stories with characters you got to know. cheered for some, cried for some, all in all i enjoyed it.

Great Story

While I did enjoy the story, I loved the main narrator even more. He did a great job with the different voices. His voice was very smooth and pleasing to the ear. I also liked the narrator who voiced Sadie. The narrator(s) can make or break an audio book and these two did an excellent job.

Loved it!

I enjoyed this book!! The narration was great. Story left me wanting more. I found myself disliking sadie. and feeling sorry for the husband and Martha. Really great read.