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The Orchard: A Novel

Jeffrey Stepakoff
Thomas Dunne Books (2011)
ISBN 9780312581596
Reviewed by Melissa Koltes for RebeccasReads (07/11)

Grace Lyndon is a successful young woman well on her way to accomplishing all her dreams and plans.  She travels the world in search of new and exciting scents and flavors to recreate in labs. These are then used in products from designer perfumes to everyday foods.  She is a steadfast workaholic that neither wants nor needs any outside distractions.

However, the taste of an apple her assistant gives her changes her life and introduces her to an apple widowed farmer named Dylan Jackson and his young daughter Carter.  They need her more than they realize and in turn she learns they have much to offer her. 

While " The Orchard: A Novel"  has a lovely plot line and interesting characters, the descriptions can be long and tedious (much like reading Hawthorne).  Paragraphs go on about the apple’s taste, feel, look, etc.  This is much more information than most people not in the apple industry would ever want about apples.  The same descriptions take place, regarding the orchard or the food at the restaurant.  It was too much and at times took the reader so far away from the characters that it takes a moment to regroup when the story is reintroduced. 

Also, a twist on Grace’s past is presented and then dropped without much meat being added.  This felt a bit jarring.  As did the ending which seemed forced rather than elegantly ended. 

I did enjoy the story and it is a very good read provided the reader is prepared for the bumps that are present in the story.

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