Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of my favourite historical novels, it’s extremely well researched and although it’s completely fictional, it could very plausibly have happened as told. Remarkable Creatures falls into the same category, I loved it as well, so I was ready to read/listen to another novel by Tracy Chevalier and see what world she would bring to life this time.
In At the Edge of the Orchard, the historical background is the colonization of the American West, the Gold Rush, and tree agents, aka men who collected “new” flora for rich Europeans to plant in their gardens. James and Sadie Goodenough, settlers in the Ohio Black Swamp, are trapped in a toxic marriage that revolves around the apple trees he has planted and loves dearly. Years later, their youngest son, Robert, recounts his travels west in the 1840s and 1850s in letters to his disastrous family. In California, after a few attempts at gold mining, he meets William Lobb, a historical figure, for whom he collects redwoods and giant sequoias. This work finally allows him to face his past and find a way to shape his future.
The book is basically split into two parts, the family in the Black Swamp and Robert’s adventures; I enjoyed the non-linear narrative and the letters, and how the mystery of what happened to James and Sadie was kept alive, but at times it really felt like two separate books. Yes, the hardships of the swamp are tied to the hardships of the miners’ lives during the Gold Rush, and I liked how so much of what had happened to Robert in his youth prepared him for his role for William Lobb, especially his love for the trees, but it felt a bit… not so smoothly cut together. The parts with the family dragged a bit in the beginning, they are also quite cruel, period-appropriate cruel admittedly, but wow does it get dark at some points. On the other hand, some of the resolutions later on are a bit too convenient, and while Robert really deserves some breaks, they don’t quite fit in with the rest, or with Chevalier’s realism.
I still liked the book though, it’s just not as great as the other two. I was vaguely aware of tree agents, but never really questioned how exactly the business worked, so if you’re into horticulture or botany in general, I’d definitely recommend this. It’s also an interesting Wild West story, with saloons and buxom maidens, told from an unusual POV that feels more realistic than many, so if you like that, the book will definitely work. I also want to try a Golden Pippin now, there’s been so much talk about this apple and so much drama around it, give me one!