At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

 

 At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier. Viking, 2016. Adult historical fiction. 

The Goodenough family has settled in Ohio in 1838. They have several children and work hard to farm the soil. James plants apple trees lovingly and tenderly. It takes fifty apple trees to stake a claim to the land. Sadie unfortunately sees the trees and competition for James' time and love. She drinks too much of the applejack and becomes a harsh and bitter woman.. Their relationship is difficult and makes up the first part of this tale. 

The youngest son, Robert, can be found in California in 1856 and his story makes up the latter part of the book. Readers find out what happened to the Goodenough family. Robert works with William Lobb who is cataloging and sending seeds and seedlings of redwood and giant sequoia trees back to England. His insights on the Gold Rush, people he meets, and the country itself are intriguing.

While hard work and trials take up a lot of the pages, there is hope and heart, too. John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) is a character. And, the book itself is so well put together with even the end pages showing cross cut apples. Readers will be longing to taste a Golden Pippin apple!