At the Edge of the Orchard

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 fifty 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 Roberts 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.