1838: James og Sadie Goodenough har slått seg ned i sumpene nordvest i Ohio. Foreldrene og de fem barna jobber kontinuerlig for å dyrke jordlappen, og kjøper stiklinger fra den lokale treforhandleren så de kan dyrke de femti epletrærne som kreves for å kunne legge krav på eiendommen. Men frukthagen de planter legger grunnen for en lang kamp. James elsker epler, mens Sadie foretrekker eplespriten, som tilbyr en flukt fra det brutale livet. 1853: Deres yngste barn Robert vandrer gjennom gullrush-California. Rastløs og hjemsøkt av den ødelagte familien, har han lagt ut på reisen alene. Han samler frø fra redwood-trær og kjempegran, som selges videre til gartnere i England. Da Roberts fortid igjen dukker opp, må han bestemme seg for om han vil reise videre - eller skape sitt eget hjem. Omtalen er utarbeidet av BS.
From internationally bestselling author Tracy Chevalier, 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 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 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."
