Book Review
Jun. 28th, 2013 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Orchardist: A Novel
by Amanda Coplin
This debut novel was surprisingly good, and not quite what I was expecting when I received it in a Goodreads giveaway. The story takes place around the turn of the 20th century, in very rural Washington state and centers around William Talmadge, an aging, solitary man who runs a small orchard. When two very young and very pregnant girls, Jane and Della, appear at his orchard, he is moved to give them shelter and aid. In a short time, Talmadge begins to care for the girls and to see them and Jane's baby as a kind of family. The tragedy of their past, however, only leads to further tragedy. Talmadge nonetheless continues to take care of them and even goes to great lenghts to save Della from further misfortune.
The Orchardist was a compelling story, but, even better, it was beautifully written. Coplin gives the whole thing a startling stillness and depth, and the beauty of her prose creates its own small world that draws the reader in. Many aspects of the plot could have come off as quite melodramatic and sensational, but Coplin's writing and choices about where to focus neatly avoid all of that and make the story so much more. Instead of a soap-opera, this novel is a moving study of characters and relationships and where those two things succeed and fail.
by Amanda Coplin
This debut novel was surprisingly good, and not quite what I was expecting when I received it in a Goodreads giveaway. The story takes place around the turn of the 20th century, in very rural Washington state and centers around William Talmadge, an aging, solitary man who runs a small orchard. When two very young and very pregnant girls, Jane and Della, appear at his orchard, he is moved to give them shelter and aid. In a short time, Talmadge begins to care for the girls and to see them and Jane's baby as a kind of family. The tragedy of their past, however, only leads to further tragedy. Talmadge nonetheless continues to take care of them and even goes to great lenghts to save Della from further misfortune.
The Orchardist was a compelling story, but, even better, it was beautifully written. Coplin gives the whole thing a startling stillness and depth, and the beauty of her prose creates its own small world that draws the reader in. Many aspects of the plot could have come off as quite melodramatic and sensational, but Coplin's writing and choices about where to focus neatly avoid all of that and make the story so much more. Instead of a soap-opera, this novel is a moving study of characters and relationships and where those two things succeed and fail.
