Oprah Fall Book Pick:
“…This poignant memoir of love, labor, and dangerous pesticides reveals the terrible true price.”
Featured Review in Entertainment Weekly:
“…equal parts moving love story and environmental warning.”
Number 2 on the October Indie Next List:
BJ’s Book Club Spotlight:
“Don’t miss this haunting, true saga of an American farm family.”
The Next Chapter Fall 2011 Top 20 Best Books List
“…moving and surprising…”
Librarians’ Best Books of 2011
“While reading this extraordinarily moving memoir, I kept remembering the last two lines of Muriel Rukeyser’s poem “Kathe Kollwitz” (“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?/ The world would split open”), for Weir proffers a worldview that is at once eloquent, sincere, and searing.”
Library Journal Reviews
“Eerie and atmospheric, this is an indie movie in print. You’ll read and read to see where it is going, although it’s clear early on that the future is not going to be kind to anyone involved. Weir’s story is more proof that only love can break your heart.”
Boston Globe Pick of the Week:
“…searing…the past is artfully juxtaposed with the present in this finely wrought work. Its haunting passages will linger long after the last page is turned.”
TreeHugger’s : 5 Memoir Books We Want to Read Now
San Diego Union Tribune – Recommended Reads:
“…If a writing instructor wanted an excellent example of voice in a piece of writing, this would be a five-star choice!”
Columbus Dispatch – Vendors Picks:
City Book Review
“Mesmeric.”
Zomppa’s Review: Hungry For More:
“…Her subtle exposure of our antiquated notions of ‘family farming’ in America will leave you disquieted…”
Lesa’s Book Critiques:
“…The Orchard is a tragedy, followed by a glimpse of hope and the future. But, it’s the memory of the pain, the loss, and the curse of pesticide that lingered with me…”
Winnipeg Free Press Review:
“…Unique characters seem like old friends.”
This Dish is Vegetarian Review:
“…Weir is an artist. She blends form and composition with language and vivid, visceral imagery.”
Wake Book-A-Day Staff Pick:
“… a book with many scenes with vivid images that linger in your memory.”
Book End Babes Review:
“In her dark and deeply feeling memoir, Weir shares her story with candid, unflinching prose, leaving the reader grieving for the Theresa that once was and craving a sweet, clean after-the-last-page for us all. I can honestly say that The Orchard is one of the most pivotal books I’ve ever read, irrevocably changing my view of the world.”
Book Club Classics October Indie Pick:
Wisconsin State Journal:
“Few books have made the case for shopping organic as eloquently…Her story is a thought-provoking argument against the pesticides used to grow food, but more than that, it’s the story of the growth of an unlikely union. ‘Love doesn’t happen overnight,’ Weir writes, and when she concludes the story of her marriage, she leaves readers marveling at the complexities of love.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer:
“Weir knows how to move a story along, and her memoir is a page turner…”
BookPage:
“finely wrought story…[Weir’s] journey, at times lonely and sad, is ultimately triumphant. Readers will be glad Weir found a home for this brave book…”
Macleans.ca:
“…a gripping account of divided loyalties, the real cost of farming and the shattered people on the front lines. Not since Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres has there been so enrapturing a family drama percolating out from the back forty.”
Cleveland.com:
“…Weir has created a compelling portrait of large-scale, inorganic, chemical-based agriculture and the people caught in its maw.”
Dear Author:
“…There is a great deal of sadness here, but it’s rendered with such care and such sensitivity that it becomes beautiful in its own way, sublime in the reader’s experience of every mundane and profound tragedy. And, for me, a perfect A read.”
The Globe and Mail:
“…It’s a small, unquiet book that reverberates queerly, like a slow-release bomb..”
Examiner.com:
“…a stunning memoir, ripe with victory and defeat.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“…Weir’s memoir is both riveting and disturbing…”
St. Paul Pioneer Press:
“…One of the joys of Weir’s memoir is her lovely evocation of the land, from the songs of redwing blackbirds to the flowers growing in ditches. Yet, poisons were everywhere.”
Marion Roach Smith Pick for September:
“…breathtaking in its observation of life and change, marriage, family and, well, what more is there? Throw in an apple orchard that has been owned by a family for generations, the threat of pesticides, and one fine writer and you have yourself a book that everyone should be reading.”
Conversation with Theresa Weir:
“… riveting, brutally honest, and mesmerizing memoir. The Orchard contains the elements of life that so many of us deal with—desperation, dark secrets, the cruelty not only of strangers but of family, forces of nature, the destruction of the environment, and finally love, death, life, and hope.”
Veggie Grettie Book Review:
“Please read this book. The Orchard was so intoxicating that I could not put it down…I read this book so quickly that it was as if I drank it.”
BookPage’s “What We’re Reading”:
“…a sad and remarkable journey that’s also a page-turner.”
Story Circle Book Reviews
The Orchard illustrates the inherent importance of women directing their own lives, not only for themselves, but for the sake of their loved ones.
Ms. Weir reveals some deeply painful moments in her life as she moves back and forth between her peripatetic childhood and her married life, but she doesn’t dwell in them. Yes there is pain but there is also self-discovery and growth and underlying it all is the love she comes to feel for Adrian. And the truths she lays bare about the life of a farm and the farmers who work it are both simple and, dare I say it, profound.
This is an unforgettable story beautifully told.
A brilliant memoir.
This story of hardship and suffering, and love and hope pretty much stole my heart. An unforgettable story.
Book Fortune, Recommended Memoirs of “Not-Famous People”.
The Book Case, the BookPage Blog
“Beautiful prose…” A Book Train Staff PIck
Kent District Library Book of the Day
“The Orchard is a perfect read, a life story so well written and told that you will succumb to its brilliance and beauty.”
“I highly recommend The Orchard to anyone who loves beautiful writing and especially to those who love memoirs.”
Must-read books
One Book One Community—2012
“Readers of memoirs would do well to search out this amazing story of resilience, inner strength and emotional fortitude. A very worthy read and highly recommended.”
“This is one of the loveliest books I have ever read, it reaches into the very heart of the word love and exemplifies its meaning with an unbelievable depth of understanding.”
“Definitely pick this one up. Worth every penny.”
“This book produced a string of emotions that had my hand flying up to my mouth time and again, and not only made me realize, “This woman can write!” but also made me appreciate the importance of this book, and how it reaches far beyond Weir’s own story.” — Linda Grana
“The Orchard is an unforgettable story that will possible change your perceptions about farming. I am adding The Orchard to my list of the best books I have read in 2012. It is thought-provoking, timely and necessary for all to read if you care about the food you eat and the world we live in.”
“This book will change the way you look at farming and the food you eat. Not in a shocking “Supersize Me” kind of way, but in a real, eye opening, kind of light.”