R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 10/12/2018 + 1453 more book reviews

This is an interesting story about a couple who settles in a swamp and establishes an apple orchard. Of their ten children, only five survive due to disease spread by mosquitoes. The marriage becomes polarized as the wife becomes addicted to apple jack made from a sour apple variety. The husband loves the sweetness of another type that his family brought from England. They must have a grove of 50 trees established to keep their land. However, the makeup of that grove becomes a battleground as the two insist that their favorite apples be planted.

The tale is about their life and the trials thereof until in a rage the wife takes after the husband's trees with an ax. He steps between her and the tree and encountering the ax in his side. With his last efforts he gives her a kick and she lands on a sharpened stake that was part of the fence protecting the tree. Both die and the story shifts to that of their son, Robert, who runs away from the farm roaming throughout the country but usually writing a letter to his brothers and sisters once a year. Only one sister tries to find him but her letters never catch up to him until close to the end of the tale. At that point Robert's life changes dramatically as his sister joins him in California. The ending is surprising and a bit sad but I liked it enough to give the book 4 stars.

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