Synopses & Reviews
Twin brothers Amed and Aziz live in the peaceful shade of their family’s orange grove. But when a bomb kills the boys’ grandparents, the war that plagues their country changes their lives forever. Blood will repay blood, and at the command of a local militant group, either Amed or Aziz must take up a belt of explosives to offer the ultimate sacrifice.
Years later, the surviving twin is a student actor in a wintry Montreal, preparing for an end-of-year performance. When his director gives him a role that forces him to confront the past, Amed — or is it Aziz? — also receives the opportunity to exorcise old ghosts. With sensitivity and grace, Larry Tremblay explores difficult questions: What does it take to heal? How do we forgive? And can art ever adequately address suffering? At once timeless and undeniably relevant, written with the sharp purity of desert poetry, The Orange Grove depicts the haunting inheritance of war and its aftermath.
Review
"Another novel about war...but exceptional because of the purity of the writing...A little jewel, finely chiseled." Elle Québec
Review
"A novel which denounces the absurdity of war. The luminosity of the text, which is extremely poetical, contrasts with the horrors of his subject." La librairie francophone, Radio-Canada
Review
"With a poetic pen, the author presents a fable on identity, filiation and lies. A story at once hard and touching which is devoured in an evening." Coup de pouce
Synopsis
The author of The Bicycle Eater shares "a fluid and troubling fable" of brotherhood, tragedy, and the limits of art, written in "a subtle and fine poetry" (La Presse, CA).
Twin brothers Amed and Aziz live in the peaceful shade of their family's orange grove. But when a bomb kills the boys' grandparents, the war that plagues their country changes their lives forever. Blood must repay blood. And in order to avenge their grandparents' deaths, one brother must offer the ultimate sacrifice.
Years later, the surviving twin--now a student actor in wintry Montreal--is given a role which forces him to confront the past. Author Larry Tremblay, an actor and director himself, poses the difficult question: can art ever adequately address suffering? Both current and timeless, The Orange Grove depicts the haunting inheritance of war and its aftermath.
About the Author
Larry Tremblay is a writer, director, actor, and Kathakali specialist. He is the author of 30 books, including The Orange Grove, and more than 20 plays, which have been translated and produced in more than a dozen languages. He lives in Montreal.
Sheila Fischman has translated more than 150 Quebecois novels from French to English, including Larry Tremblay’s The Orange Grove. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation, the Columbia University Translation Center Award (twice), and, most recently, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize.