North Carolina is the 7th largest apple-producing state in the nation, according to the official site of Henderson County Travel and Tourism.
The apple harvest season of North Carolina runs from early September through mid October. You can tour one of many apple orchards in the area, and even pick your own apples – a Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, or a Gala, to name a few.
Or you can take a bite out of The Orchard, one of the juiciest memoirs of the season. Theresa Weir, author of 19 novels, pens her first non-fiction title, a true story that combines all the elements of great fiction.
Experience a well-written, detailed plot; a sensual setting; a romantic theme; fitting imagery, symbolism and structure; and an objective point of view.
What begins as mutual infatuation between Theresa and Adrian, ripens to a potent love as strong as the powerful pesticide used by local apple farmers.
In a stunning memoir, ripe with victory and defeat, Theresa is torn between family tradition and integrity, but stands by the man she loves. The pain of rural life becomes evident as the harsh reality of pesticides takes a toll on her family.
Most memorable is the rugged and rural setting of life on a farm that transports readers to the orchard where Theresa picks apples for the first time:
The apples were so thick they weighed down the branches which cascaded to the ground. I moved the ladder to another spot, climbing higher tro reach a cluster of fruit near the top. From this vantage point, I saw cars driving down the highway, and I could see ribbons of roads winding through green fields.
On Adrian’s prestigious family farm and apple orchard, pesticides are the norm, where apple trees are particularly susceptible to apple maggots, codling moths and weevils, but can also attract more well-known pests such as ants, aphids, beetles, grasshoppers and slugs.
Environmentally conscious, Theresa abandons generations of land destruction, and rejects the idea that it is safe to use pest-killing, chemical compounds.
The Orchard leaves readers with an unforgettable love story, a picturesque canvas of rural farming, a petition for a cleaner environment, and a longing for the taste of a colorful, crisp apple.
The Orchard
by Theresa Weir
Nonfiction
Grand Central Publishing
September 2011
Comments