Review: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

The June selection for book club is The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. Since I haven't read (or even been to) any of the books for book club since JANUARY I figured that I ought to read the book and attend the meeting for June. (I did attend for May, I just didn't finish the book: Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Aspergers). I tried to get a used copy of this book everywhere since summer is coming and anyone who works in public education can tell you that the summer months really can strain you financially. I was unsuccessful with that and when I tried to borrow a copy from the library the waiting list had 55 people before me! So, last Saturday I sucked it up and bought a copy at Barnes and Noble. I got myself a green tea and sat down to see what the book was going to be like. I ended up sitting in the cafe for over an hour, absorbed in the story. I would have had it finished in just a few days, but that pesky thing called "work" got in the way and it was a doozy of a week last week. However I was able to read the majority of it this weekend (over half of the book in two days!) and finished it up this morning, sobbing on my balcony and into my coffee.


Title: The Orchardist
Author: Amanda Coplin
Publication Date: 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 426
Where I Got It: Barnes & Noble (Huntersville, NC)
Dates I Read It: May 4-12, 2013
Number of Stars: 4/5
Read For: Book club






The Orchardist is a man named William Talmadge and later the orchardist is a baby born into the land, Angelene Michaelson/Talmadge. William Talmadge had a rough childhood involving the death of his father in a mining accident and then his mother to sickness and then his sister to a mysterious disappearance. Left with literally nothing but the land he makes his life among the trees which he cultivates into a profitable orchard. By the time Talmadge is already well into middle age two teenage girls, Jane and Della, swipe fruit from him one day then follow him back to the orchard where Talmadge leaves food for them and eventually draws the girls in like stray cats to the comfort of his home. Did I mention that the two girls are pregnant, 'cause they are; very. Since they are teenagers and have been living in the wild, needless to say the pregnancies don't end completely happy, yet a child is born and named Angelene after one of Talmadge's family members. Over the course of the book the daughter grows into a woman all the time living in the orchard and picking up farming techniques rather astutely. If I give away any more of the plot it could be spoilerific, so I'll stop there, but do know that there is so much more to the story than just that.

I really enjoyed the story, despite the fact that it unfolded very slowly and the only real "action" didn't occur until the end of the novel. There were several themes that were explored throughout the book that piqued my interest. The first of those is the theme of family, specifically, what makes a family? It is not necessarily the people that we are born to, but rather, for Talmadge, it is the people you choose to love despite their aversion to affection. The question of what length would someone go to for someone that they love, especially if that person was incapable of giving love back is explored through the various characters in this book and examined closely through the difficult relationships of Talmadge and Della and Angelene (and to a lesser extent, Caroline Middey, the town Midwife and companion of Talmadge and Angelene).

The trauma of childhood comes into play as a central theme of this book as well. All of the characters have experienced some kind of trauma, some more than others, but for each character it is still something that motivates and gnaws at them throughout the entirety of the novel. With this type of theme and high emotion one would expect an extreme amount of character development and certainly Coplin left room for that development, yet it was so lacking in this department.  I needed to know more of the emotions felt by these people who were obviously drowning in emotion. For me, this was well done with Angelene, yet I felt as if I never really understood Della's or Talmadge's reasoning behind the actions that they took and the actions that they take are severe actions of the desperate.

The story blooms very slowly, much like the fruit on Talmadge's trees and it spans over two decades. The manner in which Coplin writes it, however, makes it seem much faster than that as she effortlessly makes the years seamlessly flow together. I was confused at times by the lack of quotation marks and it took me a good 10 pages to realize when people were speaking. I'm not sure why Coplin went with this strategy of forgoing quotation marks. It did add well to the flow of the novel, and that is one thing I can't praise enough about this book is how easily it seemed to flow. It read like an easy day by a slow moving river. Coplin is a master of the "show; don't tell" theory of writing. Each word, then sentence and ultimately each paragraph are chosen carefully and well thought out. Overall this is a very well done and beautifully written first novel! I will seek out more of Coplin's books should she write any more in the future.

Review: Follow the River by James A. Thom

Image from National Parks Service

Follow the River is the fictionalized story of the true tale of Pioneer woman Mary Draper Ingles who survived a raid on her village one sunny summer day by Shawnee Indians only to be kidnapped by the warriors, along with her sister in law, neighbor and two sons and one unborn daughter (she was 9 months pregnant). The Shawnee warriors take the captives all the way to Ohio where they continue to inflict torture on the captives. On the way there Mary gives birth on the forest floor, hops back on horseback, and keeps on trucking through the backwoods. Finally, right before winter Mary decides enough is enough and starts walking back to Virginia via the New River with a blanket, a dress and an old Dutch woman she thinks might be named Ghetel. Smart plan. Very well thought out. So, with almost 1,000 miles to go and the weather plummeting into the teens at night Mary begins the long walk back home by following the river.

Title: Follow the River
Author: James Alexander Thom
Publication Date: 1986
Pages: 406
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Where I got it: Used from Amazon
Dates I Read It: January 18 - January 21, 2013
Read it For: Book Club
Number of Stars: 3.5/5


I enjoyed this book. I hate to say it, but it really was a page turner. I had to know what was going to happen to ole' Mary. Even though I knew that she made it back home I had to know HOW she was going to do it because, honestly, I would never have thought she'd be able to. The story, though it is a fictionalized account of a true event, was very unbelievable and I think that Thom may have taken several liberties with his telling. The story seems almost fantastical and just when the worst is about to happen some kind of primitive trail magic appears for the two women and they are given a little boost to keep them going for the next hundred miles or so. Since there are no official records of what actually took place on the journey back, Thom had to use his imagination to fill in the gaps and the dialogue that happened on the trip. Many times in sleet and snow the women would cross the river up to their waists deep and how did they NOT get pneumonia or hypothermia and die? Towards the end of the novel Mary is literally naked having lost her shoes and dress to the elements and climbs a mountain in a snow storm. Though this is a true story, you do need to suspend your disbelief quite a bit and just go with the flow (pun intended). I read this book so quickly because I just honestly did not believe that they could survive a winter in the mountains with a blanket and each other only for warmth. The trials and tribulations that these two women experience is nothing short of remarkable, both the actual event and the story itself. The hardships and dangers and fears that they had to endure just to make it to freedom. Several times the women are driven mad with starvation and turn on each other. Mary had a husband to return home to, but what was Ghetel aiming for? The book is worth a read if for nothing else, just to gain an appreciation for modern advancements and for a warm home and clothes!

The characters were the most frustrating part of the book. I was so angry at Mary. Why in Hell would you choose right before Winter to try to escape and walk 1,000 miles in the mountains?! I know that it was a dangerous situation being a captive, but my God, woman, wait a few months and save yourself from almost freezing to death MANY times! Ghetel was a stubborn woman who only thought of how hungry she was and was a miserable traveling companion for both myself and Mary. Talk about gripping and moaning the WHOLE trip. Had I been Mary, I sure would have turned right around and left her with the Indians! Mary's husband was no better, he only half-assedly tried to ransom her back and failed miserably at that (Mary was able to ransom family members back after she had hauled her ass through the woods and almost died). She should have dumped him flat. She was the stronger of the two and he was driftwood. Upon being reunitd with her, he found himself disgusted at how emaciated she had become and was hung up on the fact that she had probably been "ruined" by the Indian men. This is after he watched her being kidnapped and ran for the hills basically saying "save yourself, woman!" She's sure got herself a real winner there. As I was reading, Mary continually reminded herself that she was making this awful journey to be reunited with him. She would have been better off becoming a Squaw. The only character I could tolerate was Mary's young son Tommy who braved the kidnapping, braved the captivity, showed some spunk, and eventually became a Shawnee Warrior high up on the totem pole.

The story is not the best writing one can hope for, but I didn't expect it to be. Whenever a character speaks dialogue, Thom writes it in what he believes would have been their "accent" (Mary is from Ireland and Ghetel is from Germany) sparing no typical lingo that would be expected. It can be difficult to decipher some of the phrases. The grammar is poor and Thom would have benefited greatly from an editor or two. However, with my many gripes about the book, I did enjoy it enough to give it 3.5 stars and I have told all of my friends and co-workers about the outrageous story of Mary Ingles and encouraged them all to read the book as well. The book is not for everyone, but if you're in the mood for a survivor story to top all survivor stories with a little bit of capricious storytelling mixed in, then this is the book for you!