First published 2016
James Goodenough tends his sweet apple trees in Ohio's treacherous Black Swamp while his wife Sadie numbs herself with applejack. The year is 1838, and fever stalks their family as relentlessly as poverty. Their bitter arguments poison the household, leaving deep wounds in their children. Robert, the youngest son, watches his parents destroy each other and themselves. Years pass before he escapes, fleeing west to California where he finds work with a plant collector among the towering trees. The physical distance offers some peace, but Robert carries his family's damage with him. When his past finally tracks him down, he faces a reckoning with the childhood trauma that shaped him. The boy who once watched his mother drink herself senseless and his father rage in helpless fury must now decide whether those old wounds will define his future.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, second-chance
Setting: California, Ohio
Period: 19th century
360 pages · WF Howes Ltd
Content warnings: abuse, alcohol-abuse