The Orchard: A Memoir

The Orchard: A Memoir by Theresa Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was such a refreshing read. By refreshing I mean that the people in this book were imperfection, they weren't those lucky perky people that didn't have a bad childhood, parents that wrapped them in hugs and kisses and tucked them into bed every night, their in-laws welcomed them into the family with open arms, with every Sunday dinner, big elaborate Christmas's. No, This book is about people that father's took off and abandon their families, a mother who cared more about finding the next man to take care of her and didn't have time for her children, people who marry and not accepted into the family.

The author tells her story about her rotten childhood, her dysfunctional mother,
marrying her husband after only knowing him for a couple of months. When Theresa marries Adrian Curtis, a local apple farmer, she is thrown into a world she doesn't understand and tries to find her place living on the farm.

Adrian's mother doesn't make it easy for the young couple. His family tries talking him out of marrying her right up to the start of the ceremony and even after the ceremony when Adrian should be spending his wedding night with his new wife, instead he's up at the family house, listening to his mother tell him that he can get the marriage annulled.

Of course no new marriage is picture perfect, but with Theresa and Adrian, they've also got the problems of the day to day life of sun up to sun down work on the farm. They face the challenge of keeping the worms from invading and destroying the crop, the use of pesticides, and trying to maintain their marriage and family.

This story isn't a depressing one, it's believable story that everyone can relate to, and you find yourself drawn into the lives of this couple.

I rate this book at 5 stars, because I felt it was an amazing story that had to be told.

View all my reviews