TBR

I loved this book. Eight year old April Harlancy looks back on a year 1953/54 when she and her family settled in Stonebridge, Kent at a tea room called The Copper Kettle. She makes friends with a girl called Ruby whose abusive parents run the local pub The Rising Sun. April is also befriended by a creepy old man who becomes besotted with her. It's a lovely book and sometimes quite humorous but also has a hint of a darkness to come.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending because I wanted it to end differently but I still hugely enjoyed it. My favourite read for 2004!

This book was also shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize.

I am going to start an international bookring for this:

1. Goatgrrl - British Columbia, Canada - Read
2. Aceofhearts - Ontario, Canada - Read
3. Fionnaighal - London, UK - <---stuck!!!
4. Squirk - London, UK
5. Nyassa - Winchester, UK
6. Winterson - Brighton, UK
7. Sueb4 - Nottingham, UK
8. ReetPetite - Nottingham, UK then return to
7. MoJeDenUK - Melton Mowbray, UK

Thanks very much, Maureen -- The Orchard on Fire has arrived! I'm really looking forward to reading this book, and promise to have it on its way to the next reader within a couple weeks. (Left: a misty sunrise over the Fraser River last week, 2 blocks from my home in New Westminster.)

Just like MoJeDenUK, I loved this book! Set in the fictional village of Stonebridge, Kent, The Orchard on Fire tells the story of nine year old April Harlency and her best friend, Ruby Richards, as they navigate the surprisingly treacherous ins-and-outs of 1950s English village life.

While this novel has a strong plotline, its major strength lies in its successful evocation of childhood -- in this case, in 1950s England, but more universally as well. Author Mackay has a beautiful grasp on the sweet, silly side of childhood -- like April's confusion on hearing about Mrs. Greenidge's "dicky ticker", and her confusion as to how babies are born once she's ready to discard the "stork" hypothesis. At the same time, she doesn't shy away from childhood's shadow side, and I was several times moved to recall (since this book was constantly bringing to mind incidents and feelings from my own childhood) how much of the dark side of the world children come to know -- if only vaguely, or intuitively -- from a surprisingly early age. For example, at nine, poor April must not only fend off the inappropriate advances of Mr. Greenidge, but she has somehow already absorbed the flawed message that she is responsible for his loneliness, hurt feelings and desperation.

The Orchard on Fire brings to mind Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye and Ann-Marie MacDonald's As the Crow Flies in its breathtakingly accurate and pull-no-punches depiction of the social -- and interior -- lives of little girls. Additional colour is provided by a memorable cast of "extras", from the ruddy-cheeked working people of Stonebridge (e.g. Mr. Boddy the butcher), to the local Communists (Joe and Molly Silver), to the outlandish Bobs and Dittany, the bohemian (and presumably lesbian) artists who befriend April. Even "Liesel Otter", Mr. Greenidge's dachsund, who through no fault of her own gets entangled in a kind of love/hate relationship with April, is drawn in a way I won't soon forget.

You can Salon magazine's review of The Orchard on Fire here, and the Richmond Review's here. (Photo: BBC TV's "Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men", a classic of 1950s childrens' television)

I finished The Orchard on Fire this evening, and just finished revising my last journal entry to add a short review. I've PM'd Aceofhearts to request her mailing address, and will pop this book in the mail to her in the few days. Thanks so much, MoJeDenUK, for introducing me to an author I'd never heard of, and a book I absolutely loved!

I've heard from AceofHearts, and will pop this book in the mail to her tomorrow. Thanks again!

rec'd today. Will get to it ASAP

I loved this book. I took me back on a memory trip to my childhood in the 50's. April is a child that has on the outside quite a lot of trama in her life but she handles it with aplomp and goes on living her life. The author describes life in Kent so one can envision being there. I also think the author caught the emotions of leaving a childhood friend 'behind'. I will mail as soon as I get Fionnaighal's address

mailed today

looks good but havent read it yet,does it really take 2 months to come from canada???