The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Here's what it felt like to read this novel: It was exactly as if someone had read a book with a very interesting storyline (including a mysterious disappearance, sexual atrocity, suicide, attempted murder, and a jailbreak), then retold the story to me, in detail. I could appreciate the plotting, but I would be removed and not become emotionally or intellectually involved.

Call me old fashioned, but I have always felt that one sign of a good novel is that it draws the reader inside. Amanda Coplin leaves the reader outside. That's where she left me, at least.

William Talmadge is a reclusive orchardist in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century, when he is suddenly confronted with the plight of two pregnant teenagers who have escaped from enforced prostitution. The story continues through the years, following the efforts of the orchardist to protect those who he feels have been left in his care.

It's the choices the author makes in telling her story that puzzle me, especially in that I believe they were conscious choices. A major theme of the novel seems to be the difficulty of communication between people, even between those who love each other. Very little dialogue is included in the novel, one of the characters even being mute. Interior monologues from various characters are included, but even in those the characters are not forthcoming enough to engage the sympathies of the reader. The many dramatic events that occur are only told about, not experienced through the eyes of the characters, so that the whole reading experience becomes passive in the extreme.

In fact, this is perhaps the most emotionally passive novel I have ever read, especially considering its somewhat sensational plot twists. Despite the fact that I am ridiculously susceptible to pathos and melodrama, I never shed a tear throughout, despite all the pathetic and melodramatic events.

OK, not all novels are meant to elicit emotional response; some choose instead to provide intriguing ideas, or are metaphoric in content, or include such perfect and/or poetic expression as to be memorable. The Orchardist did not, for my mind, accomplish any of the above.

This 2012 novel received very good reviews from many sources. I would encourage others to read it, because it does have an interesting story and does provide glimpses into another time and place. Just don't expect too much.