At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier was a book I picked up while on vacation last month. I wish, once again, that I had read the author's notes at the end of the book to learn that some of the characters were based on real people. If I had known that I would have enjoyed the book a little more. The novel is divided into several sections, going back and forth in time.
The novel began telling the story of James and Sadie Goodenough who settled in Ohio in 1838. James was determined to grow fifty apple trees so that the family could stake a claim on the property. He was also determined to attempt to grow hybrid apples. Sadie loved the applejack (alcohol) which brought out a mean side of her. James and Sadie had ten children so along with the struggles of trying to grow apples in the black swamp land, they had a large family to provide for. James and Sadie ended up not caring for each other much.
By 1840, the youngest son, Robert, was traveling from Ohio to Canada, then to Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas, until he finally settled in California in 1850. He spent a few years gold mining there, then worked dozens of other jobs until one day he heard of the big trees in Calaveras County. When he got there, he happened to meet William Lobb who made his living selling seeds and saplings to people in England. He and Robert became friends, and William recognized that Robert knew about working with trees and hired him.
I don't want to give anything away, but there is a lot that happens in this novel. It's a good read. I recommend it!
The Hush by John Hart was a book that I was very anxious to read because I usually like his books very much. I had a harder time liking this book because it has some mysticism in it (which is an element I usually enjoy in a book) and it just didn't seem true to his novels. However, I still am finding myself thinking about parts of the book, so I think that I liked it better than I first thought. The novel is based on two characters that Hart has written about before: Johnny Merrimon and Jack Cross, ten years later.
Johnny and Jack had always been best friends, although their lives went in different directions. Johnny lived on six thousand sacred acres, in a cabin, but sometimes up in the trees. He was removed from other people and some were afraid of him. Jack had gone to college and then law school and was a brand new lawyer starting a new job in a law firm. Johnny showed up at Jack's office asking for help. He had inherited his land when he turned eighteen, but it was sacred land and now the Indians who had come from the land wanted it back. Johnny wanted Jack to act as his attorney.
This sacred land had many secrets, some considered it magical. It was certainly mysterious. And dangerous. Unexplainable things happened in the Hush.
It's a good mystery. Another book I would recommend.
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