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The Orchardist

by Amanda Coplin
The Orchardist

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  • Synopses & Reviews
  • Award Excerpt

ISBN13: 9780062188519
ISBN10: 0062188518



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Awards

2014 Oregon Book Award Readers Choice Award

From Powells.com

25 Books to Read Before You Die: Pacific Northwest Edition

A consummate selection of books written by Pacific Northwest authors.


Staff Pick

Amanda Coplin’s debut novel fits squarely into the Really Wonderful Novel category, and deserves a far wider readership. Set among the apple orchards of Washington’s Wenatchee Valley, The Orchardist follows the life of the introspective Talmadge, who, as a child, loses his family in quick succession to accident, illness, and mystery. As an adult, Talmadge’s solitary life is disrupted by the arrival of two pregnant runaway prostitutes, Della and Jane, and the drama that trails behind them. Coplin does a magnificent job of depicting the almost paradisiacal valley landscape, aided and threatened by the arrival of the steam engine, and of the diverse people who call it home: Nez Perce horsemen, frontier criminals and victims, farmers, and tenacious pioneer women. I fell in love with Talmadge’s paternal gentleness and Della’s ferociousness, and with the gorgeous and bygone fruit-laden land where their stories take place. But don’t mistake The Orchardist for a nostalgia piece — Coplin’s storytelling is wise to our tendency to mythologize and soften the West, and resists it with profound characters and a love for the region strong enough to admit its faults and wonders. Recommended By Rhianna W., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

A Best Book of the Year

Washington Post • Seattle Times • The Oregonian National Public Radio • Amazon • Kirkus Reviews Publishers Weekly • The Daily Beast

An Indie Next Pick

A Barnes & Noble Discover Pick

At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he's found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit at the market; they later return to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase.

Feral, scared, and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, and the shattering tragedy that follows will set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect them but also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, Amanda Coplin weaves a tapestry of solitary souls who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune. She writes with breathtaking precision and empathy, and in The Orchardist she crafts an astonishing debut novel about a man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart and lets the world in.

Review

"Many contemporary novelists have revisited the question of what constitutes a family, but few have responded in a voice as resolute and fiercely poetic." New York Times Book Review

Review

"Amanda Coplin's somber, majestic debut arrives like an urgent missive from another century. You can only be thrilled by a 31-year-old writer with this depth of understanding...the final epiphany equals in stark grandeur similar scenes in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Pat Barker's Another World." Washington Post

Review

"A stunning debut...The Orchardist is a poetic book, but its strength doesn't lie solely in its language. Coplin's understanding of abuse and the lasting effects of fear and loss on the individual psyche are deeply resonant. As a debut novel, The Orchardist stands on par with Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain." The Oregonian (Portland)

Review

"The Orchardist is a stunning accomplishment, hypnotic in its storytelling power, by turns lyrical and gritty, and filled with marvels. Coplin displays a dazzling sense of craftsmanship, and a talent for creating characters vivid and true." Jane Ciabattari, NPR

Review

"A breathtaking work from a genuinely accomplished writer...Coplin's lyrical style and forceful storytelling provide many unexpected twists before the poignant conclusion." Library Journal

Review

"Coplin's mesmerizing debut stands out with its depictions of uniquely Western personalities and a stark, gorgeously realized landscape that will settle deeply into readers' bones." Booklist

About the Author

Amanda Coplin was born in Wenatchee, Washington. She received her BA from the University of Oregon and MFA from the University of Minnesota. A recipient of residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Omi International Arts Center at Ledig House in Ghent, New York, she lives in Portland, Oregon.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 5 (3 comments)

`
Diana9009 , April 13, 2013 (view all comments by Diana9009)
This is one of those novels I want to carry around to show everyone, to bring up in every conversation even tangentially related to reading or the Northwest. I cried when I turned its final page. I wept for the characters, for the past, for the gift of reading sentences so beautifully and thoughtfully constructed. I reckon this will be one of my top read. Brava, Amanda. Thank you.

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Silvers Reviews , March 04, 2013 (view all comments by Silvers Reviews)
To lose your mother and then your sister in an already lonely, abandoned land made Talmadge the person he was. He had his orchards and his kindness to keep him going. Talmadge lived alone in his family home that really had no family except Talmadge until one day two girls, Jane and Della, arrived on his land and began stealing his fruit. Talmadge let them steal the fruit, and he also fed them. They stayed away from him for the most part and only made an appearance when he put food out for them. Both girls were pregnant, and Talmadge had the midwife stop by to try to get the girls to warm up to her since they would be needing her. These girls became his family or the best semblance of what a family could be. The book follows Talmadge through the stages of the girls' lives and how their being present in his life helped him be happy as well as allow him to experience the heartache of their growing up and his being a concerned parent. His concern for Della became an obsession. As you continue reading, you will become extremely involved in the plot and the lives of each character. You will become attached to Talmadge, Della, Caroline, and Angelene and hope things turn out for all of them. Talmadge was an odd person and one you would like to tell to wake up even though he was such a good person. Caroline was the character who held everyone together. Della was not a likable character. And wonderful Angelene was adorable, kind, and a character you will fall in love with. The book had marvelous descriptions of feelings, landscapes, and characters. It was beautifully written for a first novel. It was as outstanding in writing style, interest, and development of the story and characters as a seasoned author. I can't give enough praise for this book. It was touching, tender, brilliantly written, mesmerizing, and one you will remember long after you turn the last page. THE ORCHARDIST is not an uplifting book but the prose and the storyline are so exceptional that regardless of the book's mood it instantly grips you. 5/5 This book was given to be free of charge by the publisher without compensation for a blog tour with TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

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JRae , January 30, 2013
Beautifully written, vivid descriptions, intriguing characters...a very good read.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780062188519
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
03/05/2013
Publisher:
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
Series info:
P.S.
Pages:
448
Height:
1.40IN
Width:
5.50IN
Thickness:
1.50
UPC Code:
9780062188519
Author:
Amanda Coplin
Subject:
Literature-A to Z

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