At the Edge of the Orchard

by Tracy Chevalier

Buy the book from:

Amazon World of Books

Audio available 4.1

In 1838, James and Sadie Goodenough struggle to keep their family alive on a swampy farm in north-western Ohio. James tries to establish an apple orchard with trees descended from stock supplied by John Chapman, while Sadie despises the mud, isolation and relentless illness of frontier life. Their rivalry over sweet apples, hard cider and the future of their children turns the orchard into the centre of an increasingly destructive marriage.

By 1853, their youngest son Robert has fled west and works among California’s giant sequoias and coastal redwoods, collecting seeds and specimens for the English plant hunter William Lobb. His knowledge of trees gives him purpose, but news from Ohio forces him to confront the family history he has tried to escape. The novel links settlement in the Black Swamp with the California Gold Rush, showing how migration can carry trauma as readily as opportunity.