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    The Orchard
    The Orchard
    The Orchard
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Orchard

    Written by Peter Heller

    Narrated by Kate Marcin

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Like Mark Twain and Toni Morrison, Peter Heller has a rare talent that hooks both literary and commercial readers.” –Elle magazine

    From the bestselling author of The Dog Stars and The River, The Orchard is an unforgettable coming of age tale reminding us that, even during the hardest of times, love, friendship, and the enduring power of nature will prevail.

    Hayley and her seven-year-old daughter, Frith, live in a rustic cabin with no electricity in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains. One of the world’s most renowned translators of poetry from China’s Tang dynasty, Hayley walked away from her career and her drug-addicted husband to raise Frith alone in a land populated not by ambition-fueled academics but by hawks, beavers, and other wild things—including their exuberant Bernese mountain mutt, Bear. They get by on what little they earn from their overgrown apple orchard and the syrup they make from their maple trees. Frith—precocious, homeschooled, and a voracious reader—considers herself queen of this backwoods paradise. She is too young to understand the pain and regret that have followed her mother here.

    Season after season, it is the three of them—mother, daughter, and dog—until the sunny spring day when Rose Lattimore appears at their door. Rose is an artist and kindred spirit whose unexpected friendship upends Hayley and Frith’s solitary existence. Rosie takes the edge off the worries of day-to-day survival and encourages the playful aspects of living in nature: fishing, picnics, swimming in a quarry. Frith thrives under the loving care of Hayley and Rosie and, with a child’s innocence, assumes their happiness will last forever. Instead, their lives are shattered by unexpected tragedy and Frith must come to terms with heartbreak and fear.

    Peter Heller is unique in his ability to capture the beauty and nuance of the natural world and its pull on women and men. In The Orchard, he pairs evocative storytelling with jewel-like poems—Hayley’s translations of her most beloved Tang poet, Li Xue—that echo Hayley and Frith’s life in the wilderness and tell their own tale of mother and daughter. By turns joyful and searing, The Orchard examines the fragility of childhood, motherhood, romantic love, and friendship, and celebrates the enduring solace of nature. At a time when so many of us are gripped by fear and uncertainty, Heller’s story is like a calming deep breath.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEverand Originals
    Release dateOct 22, 2019
    ISBN9781094400051
    Author

    Peter Heller

    Dr Peter Heller is Head of the Department of Qualification at the Institute of Solar Research, German Aerospace Center, Germany.

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    Reviews for The Orchard

    4/5

    695 ratings39 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      Fabulously written book. This pulls you in and makes you want to keep on with this story line for as long as possible.
    • 3/5
      Heller's writing is gorgeous, but the book seemed to habitually pose questions it wasn't really intending to deeply explore. The entire story foreshadows what happens in the final chapters, but the recounting of the dramatic events it eagerly promises its readers fail to deliver, and are some of the least fleshed out parts of the whole novel. It also seems the author wanted to capture the feeling of living away from society but was afraid to commit. The characters worry about their basic needs, but they can buy staples and groceries. They enjoy solitude, but they often trade it for relationships with strangers. For someone, this book could mean everything. To me it felt inauthentic and pandering.

      The third star is for the poetry. Without it, I would have left maybe two.
    • 5/5
      The poetry and emotions of the writing are absolutely superb
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. A bit unconventional at times but interesting.
    • 5/5
      The vital importance of relationships--to others, ourselves, and the natural world--are expressed eloquently in this truly lovely , poignant tale, and I loved how the weaving back and forth through time was achieved beautifully with great effect.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful story of family, blood and otherwise, his-“stories” that make up who we are, and how those bonds and tales shape our future. Not all lives are “happily ever after”, but we manage to make the best of what we have.
    • 5/5
      Another beautiful Heller. This is uplifting and gentle. Exceptional flexibility from the author of Dog Star.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful story in a beautiful setting. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is that the main character, who is also the storyteller, fails to describe her pregnancy, the birth of her child, or how the baby affects her other relationships. Her other relationships, to her mother especially, carry the storyline. It left me feeling like part of the story line was left untold.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful images painted in my mind, quirky characters, lovely story
    • 4/5
      The beautiful relationship between mother and daughter and the untraditional upbringing.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written. Something different - no murders - a lot about love, not sexual. It's mostly about a mother and daughter and their beautiful relationship. Very well done.
    • 5/5
      Poignant. Heller writes the truth of the academic world, nature, love, and loss.
    • 5/5
      Such a heartfelt book. It helped me to process life and death.
    • 5/5
      The descriptions were fantastic. A true ode to the simple things in life
    • 5/5
      The love between mother and daughter is unbreakable. ❤️.?
    • 5/5
      Interesting, twist and turns keeps you holding to the ending.
    • 1/5
      Couldn’t listen past a few minutes as the voice is like a computer voice reading it. Such a shame!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Absolutely beautiful. Full of tenderness and highly evocative. A story about love and loss and remaining on your own true path.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. There is absolutely no plot or character development
    • 5/5
      Believable plot, captivating characters! Easy listening! Highly recommend this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      loved the first 1/2 - bored by the 2nd half.... couldn't even finish it. it was like 2 different books

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Such a beautifully crafted story, including some truly lovely poetry, and characters that come to life. The narration was equally perfect.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I can't exactly pinpoint how I feel about this book, there were moments of attention, when she talked about Chinese literature.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This story is beautiful. Listening to this was like walking through a museum of words, arranged and displayed with eloquence and artistry. I listened to it all in one sitting and could listen/read this multiple times.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What a beautiful story of art and love. Reading it was like watching an artist paint. I definitely enjoyed it!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Beautiful and poetic! Hard to believe author is a man!
    • 4/5
      well written and very heartfelt. All the relationships were well developed and I could almost feel how various people felt about one another. On the other hand the story was somewhat predictable, well very sad.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I loved how Heller captured nature in The River and he did an excellent job yet again in the Orchard. To have an author not just simply state that she smiled but to describe how the mouth, eyes, wrinkles and body postures changed throughout each conversation brings you in deeper. To almost visually watching this story play out it brings a sense of intimately connecting with the characters. The theme was beautiful capturing the team a mother and daughter have to become to thrive in a world that is passing them by and the introduction of Rosie was such an amazing plot twist to exposure their relationship at a deeper level.

      4 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really sweet book. More Heller and stuff like this for Scribd originals, please!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Beautifully written and read. I wanted it to go on longer

      1 person found this helpful