The Orchard on Fire
By Shena Mackay
Blurb
When Percy and Betty Harlency abandon their seedy Streatham pub, for the Copper Kettle Tearoom in Kent, life for their daughter April changes dramatically. She is befriended by the wonderfully dangerous Ruby, whose red hair and brutal home life emphasise her love of fire, and by the immaculately dressed Mr Greenridge who likes to follow her around the village. Mingling the innocent with the sinister and laced with the tragic and the bizarre, this is a rare evocation of a 1950s childhood.
Our Review
Beautifully written with plenty of detailed and imaginative descriptions. Initially this actually made it difficult for me to read because I kept getting lost in the description. However, after a break of a few days I started reading it again and became captivated.
It was funny, sad and difficult to read at times but it was definitely worth reading. I disliked April, Mr and Mrs Greenbidge and some of the minor characters but characters like Ruby and Mrs Fay made up for this.
I can't say much more than the blurb about the plot without giving the key details away but I found the story very interesting but felt it ended very abruptly.
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 275 Times.
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