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Orchard on Fire by Shena MacKay: Used
US $12.54
ApproximatelyS$ 16.32
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Located in: Sparks, Nevada, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Fri, 14 Nov and Thu, 20 Nov to 94104
Returns:
30 days return. Buyer pays for return shipping. If you use an eBay shipping label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.
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(Not eligible for eBay purchase protection programmes)
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eBay item number:285014720332
Item specifics
- Condition
- Publication Date
- 1997-11-15
- Pages
- 224
- ISBN
- 9780156005326
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10
0156005328
ISBN-13
9780156005326
eBay Product ID (ePID)
350556
Product Key Features
Book Title
Orchard on Fire : a Novel
Number of Pages
224 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
1997
Topic
General, Coming of Age, Ancient & Classical
Genre
Drama, Fiction
Format
Trade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height
0.6 in
Item Weight
7.4 Oz
Item Length
8 in
Item Width
5.3 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
97-018478
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
"Enthralling from the first page to the last...celebrates love and friendship and the resilinece of children."-The Boston Globe "A wonderous novel that will birth emotions anew, age them with experience and tinge them with an aching melancholy." -The Washington Post --, This intimate, intensely seen novel was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize. Shena Mackay's six previous novels have won her critical admiration and a popular audience in England, but her work has not received due recognition in the United States yet. The Orchard on Fire is a concise, domestic novel set in the village of Stonebridge, where the parents of April Harlency have come in 1953 to run the local tea shop. April's private reveries and her entanglement with the grim family life of her best friend, Ruby Richards, fill up a vivid and dramatic year in the wonderfully distinctive life of Stonebridge., "Enthralling from the first page to the last...celebrates love and friendship and the resilinece of children."-The Boston Globe "A wonderous novel that will birth emotions anew, age them with experience and tinge them with an aching melancholy." -The Washington Post, It's always a puzzle when a writer as talented as Londoner Shena Mackay remains virtually unknown on these shores, but her comparative obscurity here, despite rave reviews for A Bowl of Cherries and her short-story collection, Dreams of Dead Women's Handbags, may be dispelled with the publication of this finely wrought and touching novel. Narrator April Harlency looks back at the year 1953, when she was eight years old and had just moved to Stonebridge, in Kent, where her parents became proprietors of The Copper Kettle tearoom. April speedily becomes best friends with flame-haired Ruby Richards, daughter of the publicans who run the local saloon. The girls share a passion for reading, and for their secret sanctuary, an abandoned railway car hidden in an orchard. Despite their closeness, however, April can't bring herself to talk about the sexual molestation she endures from elderly Mr. Greenridge, who seems so kind and generous that April's oblivious parents chide her when she tries to stay out of his way. Nor does Ruby talk about her own father's physical abuse. Mackay brilliantly captures a child's voice and view of the world, the unspoken misapprehensions, fears and terrors'some imaginary, some well founded'that haunt April's dreams. Her prose a marvel of precise, evocative detail and almost sensual intensity, she shadows her gently humorous depiction of the ordinary daily life of a child'school, a Christmas pageant, the birth of April's brother'with the undertow of anxiety in April's mind. Ironically, while April seems the most seriously threatened by creepy Mr. Greenridge's increasingly bold advances, it is Ruby whose life undergoes a wrenching change. The ending, which involves a tombstone inscription that jolts both April and the reader, would be trite in other hands, but Mackay reworks a familiar fictional device into something poignant and true. The throb of real life among blue-collar families animates this subtle and compassionate story, as does Mackay's insight into a child's view of the world.
Dewey Decimal
823.9/14
Synopsis
Set in the small English village of Stonebridge, the Orchard on Fire tells the story of eight-year-old April Harlency's coming-of-age in a place where the charm of the local landscape contrasts sharply with the predjuices and vagaries of the adult world. When April encounters the red-haired, energetic Ruby Richards, the two girls become fast friends. Together, they abandon the physical and mental abuse forced on them by adults in their lives and transform an abandoned railway car in an orchard into their secret hideaway, an idyllic camp of shared dreams.
LC Classification Number
PR6063.A2425O73 1997
Item description from the seller
Seller feedback (546,870)
- e***u (283)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThe listing was for a hardcover version of this book; however, I received a paperback. The Seller replied quickly to my question about this issue and issued a full refund - and let me keep the book. So, a diligent Seller for sure - and well packaged and reasonable timing on shipping. Thank you for the refund, and as you suggested, I'll likely donate this volume and seek the hardcover.
- e***n (392)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseGreat transaction, exactly as described, packed well, and promptly shipped on August 6th. Unfortunately the U.S. Postal Service took 23 calendar days to deliver the book. It was shipped from Pennsylvania, to Atlanta, past Alabama to Texas, enjoyed several days in Texas, then to Minneapolis, Jacksonville, Florida, back to Atlanta, finally to Birmingham, and Huntsville. The seller was very responsive and I decided it was interesting to see if/how the book would arrive. Thanks, JoeDrumsville!: The Evolution of the New Orleans Beat by Robert Cataliotti: Used (#405155037686)
- a***a (419)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThis 2DVD set is in perfect condition. Cover art and case like new. Both DVDs played with no flaws. Description was listed as “Good”; I would describe it as “Very Good”, basically Like New. Delivery was super fast and packaging was excellent. The DVD case was wrapped well, then put in a cardboard envelope that was sturdy and hard to open (this is NOT a negative!). I have purchased from this company a few times and have always been very satisfied. Prices are great.
Seller feedback (546,870)
- e***u (283)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThe listing was for a hardcover version of this book; however, I received a paperback. The Seller replied quickly to my question about this issue and issued a full refund - and let me keep the book. So, a diligent Seller for sure - and well packaged and reasonable timing on shipping. Thank you for the refund, and as you suggested, I'll likely donate this volume and seek the hardcover.
- e***n (392)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseGreat transaction, exactly as described, packed well, and promptly shipped on August 6th. Unfortunately the U.S. Postal Service took 23 calendar days to deliver the book. It was shipped from Pennsylvania, to Atlanta, past Alabama to Texas, enjoyed several days in Texas, then to Minneapolis, Jacksonville, Florida, back to Atlanta, finally to Birmingham, and Huntsville. The seller was very responsive and I decided it was interesting to see if/how the book would arrive. Thanks, JoeDrumsville!: The Evolution of the New Orleans Beat by Robert Cataliotti: Used (#405155037686)
- a***a (419)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThis 2DVD set is in perfect condition. Cover art and case like new. Both DVDs played with no flaws. Description was listed as “Good”; I would describe it as “Very Good”, basically Like New. Delivery was super fast and packaging was excellent. The DVD case was wrapped well, then put in a cardboard envelope that was sturdy and hard to open (this is NOT a negative!). I have purchased from this company a few times and have always been very satisfied. Prices are great.