Review first posted on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-orchardist.html

The orchardist is William Talmadge, a reclusive man living in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the century. He quietly tends to his fruit orchards and makes a living. He lives alone, having lost his family when he was rather young. One day, two teenage girls steal some fruit from him. Rather than pursuing them, he deals with them with great gentleness. Gradually, he learns that they are young, pregnant, and running from an abusive life. Gradually, they learn to trust him. The girls are pursued by their captors, and what happens when they catch up alters the course of all their lives.

I abandoned this book after about a 120 pages. I just could not finish it. It is bleak and depressing. Each of the characters are rather reclusive and caught in the depths of their own sorrows. A lot of the writing is description - of the beautiful countryside, of William Talmedge's work, thoughts, and point of view. The descriptions got very long and very hard to read after a while.

Also, I felt a divide between me as the reader and the characters. The stories were sad, but the characters seemed so distant that I had a hard time developing a relationship with the characters. Even a hundred pages in.

I very rarely abandon books, but unfortunately, I abandoned this one.

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Didn't like this book. Agree characters are bleak, and just didn't care. Didn't abandon though wanted to, but sped-read through to the end. It didn't get better. She wrote the phrase: "like a dog returning to its own vomit". Vulgar.

So wordy, so dry, so slow, just a bore of a book. Native characters are very poorly drawn, shallow use of them.

Positive aspect was the orchard setting and overall use of the era and area, that was interesting. But overall, skip it, unless you want to be depressed for hundreds of pages. I'm sorry I spent time with this one.

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After reading this book I felt like I'd been on a long, dark, painfully slow and uneventful journey that took me nowhere. I hesitate to give it less than 3 stars simply because at times I did enjoy the book and had the feeling it was going to be a memorable story. As it turns out, by the halfway point I was bored and quickly becoming uninterested. On a positive note, I thought the author had a beautiful style of writing and a lovely way with words. However, I did find it somewhat overly descriptive, and the lack of quotation marks when a character spoke was annoying.
Probably the biggest issue I had with the book was the lack of connection to the characters. There was very little verbal exchange between the characters and not enough character development to feel like I "knew" them. Without these things it's hard for me to care about them or what happens to them.
Other reviewers have mentioned that it is slow paced. It is. I also quickly tired of the detailed, mundane, repetitiveness of the day to day life. That, combined with my frustration with the characters and the absence of any significant happenings had me closing the book several times. I was sadly disappointed in this book and actually had to force myself to finish it.(less

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Set in the area around Wenatchee, WA, this incredible story centers on life in 19th Century orchards of the Wenatchee River Valley. William Talmadge is a soft spoken humble character whose life is followed throughout the book. An orphan whose sister disappears at the age of 17, he finds purpose beyond his grief and beloved orchard by helping two teenage pregnant girls.

Having escaped from a man whose sexual and physical needs they were forced to endure, they are intent on stealing his apples. Fearful of others, particularly men, they stay far enough away so they can run. Gradually, Jane and Della accept his help. As they become comfortable with this gentle man gun toting men arrive to capture them. Talmadge fiercely defends the young women, giving the men money to leave.

An incredible story that slowly draws the reader into the lives of the characters, one gets to know Talmadge first. He, his widowed mother and younger sister settled in the valley and began the orchard. Forty years later his encounter with the girls occurs. Native Americans trade horses and help in the orchard, and one, Clee, a mute Nez Perce, becomes a lifelong friend. Others in his circle are Caroline Middey, a local herbalist; Angelene, the surviving child; and Della, the troubled and fiercely independent surviving mother. Clee and Caroline are confidants and advisers and their friendship helps him as he struggles with all the encounter with the girls brings. Talmadge views the girls as his family. A fatherly love develops for Angeline bringing happiness he had not before known while his concern for Della's life on the road is troubling. He feel so responsible for this young woman.

This well written book emphasizes strength, friendship, love, compassion and determination to live one's own life. The author's style blends individuals whose lives are linked and affected by happenstance or if you would have it, fate. Good, good read that stays with one a long time.

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