The Orchard
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
The Orchard is the story of a street-smart city girl who must adapt to a new life on an apple farm after she falls in love with Adrian Curtis, the golden boy of a prominent local family whose lives and orchards seem to be cursed. Married after only three months, young Theresa finds life with Adrian on the farm far more difficult and dangerous than she expected. Rejected by her husband's family as an outsider, she slowly learns for herself about the isolated world of farming, pesticides, environmental destruction, and death, even as she falls more deeply in love with her husband, a man she at first hardly knew and the land that has been in his family for generations. She becomes a reluctant player in their attempt to keep the codling moth from destroying the orchard, but she and Adrian eventually come to know that their efforts will not only fail but will ultimately take an irreparable toll.
Reviews with the most likes.
I read this in one sitting, without quite meaning to. At first, I wanted it to be a stronger indictment against farming with chemicals. But I came to appreciate the quiet subtlety of her protest and how she shows restraint and compassion toward even the most unsympathetic people in her life. I also appreciated the moment when she realizes how good people go so wrong–it humanized the issue for me. I like to think of organic vs. chemicals as a completely black and white issue, and sometimes forget the real people struggling with the weight of these decisions, on top of tradition and family legacies.
