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The Family Orchard
A magical, multigenerational saga encompassing two hundred years in the life of an unforgettable family--a book of love stories, ill-fated and blessed, sensuous as a dream, unfolding in a time and a place where fable is more potent than fact, where the imagination is more powerful than any truth, where the line between myth and history has all but Jerusalem, from the early years of the nineteenth century to the present.
They left Eastern Europe for Israel and emerged, six generations later, in Esther, the family matriarch, who was lured by the smell of baking bread into the baker's arms; her granddaughter, Avra the thief, who stole a cow's tongue and married a man with strong fists and very fast feet; Miriam, a seamstress who sewed spells into her cloths and whose mesmerizing beauty inadvertently transformed Kovna's House of Study into a container of pure carnal frustration; the twins Zohar and Moshe, who ran across the walls of the Old City as boys, and as men faced a tragedy that would haunt their family for generations to come; Eliezer, Zohar's son, who once tried to conjure a golem in his father's garden; and Eliezer's American-born daughter, who would one day take his stories and cast a spell of her own.
Nomi Eve's debut novel is a rich tapestry of Jewish life and humor and yearning, woven from timeless the evolution of family, the setting down of roots, the sorrow of immigrants and the joy of pioneers, the secrets that bind families together and the legends that sustain them. In language as uniquely vibrant as the characters who inhabit it, The Family Orchard captures the intoxications of love, tradition, and history, and the ineluctable forces that shape them. A deliciously engrossing novel, at once epic and intimate, from a storyteller of beguiling power and wisdom.
They left Eastern Europe for Israel and emerged, six generations later, in Esther, the family matriarch, who was lured by the smell of baking bread into the baker's arms; her granddaughter, Avra the thief, who stole a cow's tongue and married a man with strong fists and very fast feet; Miriam, a seamstress who sewed spells into her cloths and whose mesmerizing beauty inadvertently transformed Kovna's House of Study into a container of pure carnal frustration; the twins Zohar and Moshe, who ran across the walls of the Old City as boys, and as men faced a tragedy that would haunt their family for generations to come; Eliezer, Zohar's son, who once tried to conjure a golem in his father's garden; and Eliezer's American-born daughter, who would one day take his stories and cast a spell of her own.
Nomi Eve's debut novel is a rich tapestry of Jewish life and humor and yearning, woven from timeless the evolution of family, the setting down of roots, the sorrow of immigrants and the joy of pioneers, the secrets that bind families together and the legends that sustain them. In language as uniquely vibrant as the characters who inhabit it, The Family Orchard captures the intoxications of love, tradition, and history, and the ineluctable forces that shape them. A deliciously engrossing novel, at once epic and intimate, from a storyteller of beguiling power and wisdom.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
September 4, 2019
This poetic and poignantly written book is a multigenerational family saga set against the backdrop of Israel's trials and tribulations, mirrored by the trials and tribulations of the family that is being traced, and a focus on the fruitful family orchard in Petach Tikva.
Written in amodern Israeli style, it begins with a Jewish family in Jerusalem in the 1830's and it continues to the present day.
Stark and explicit writing.
It tells of the story of the sorrow of immigrants and the joy of pioneers, and of the many experiences of generations of Jewish children and adults growing up and living in the Land of Israel.
It is the story of Yochanan and his wife Esther, and Esther's affair with a baker, the love of the stepbrother and stepsisister, Eliezer and Golda, the girl thief Avra, the irrepressible twins Zohar and Moshe, Eliezer and his American born children.
It tells of the experiences of these families against the backdrop of the First World War, the Arab pogroms against Jewish communities, the War of Independence and a free Israel.
It illustrates the deep roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, and affirms the extraordinary spirit of the people of Israel,
the most humane, giving, life-affirming people on the planet--
whatever sick propaganda you might have read to the contrary.
Written in amodern Israeli style, it begins with a Jewish family in Jerusalem in the 1830's and it continues to the present day.
Stark and explicit writing.
It tells of the story of the sorrow of immigrants and the joy of pioneers, and of the many experiences of generations of Jewish children and adults growing up and living in the Land of Israel.
It is the story of Yochanan and his wife Esther, and Esther's affair with a baker, the love of the stepbrother and stepsisister, Eliezer and Golda, the girl thief Avra, the irrepressible twins Zohar and Moshe, Eliezer and his American born children.
It tells of the experiences of these families against the backdrop of the First World War, the Arab pogroms against Jewish communities, the War of Independence and a free Israel.
It illustrates the deep roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, and affirms the extraordinary spirit of the people of Israel,
the most humane, giving, life-affirming people on the planet--
whatever sick propaganda you might have read to the contrary.
July 19, 2013
Made it to page 102. I couldn't take it. I don't like to force myself to read a book. It has to make you want to read it.
Read
March 5, 2013I'm just going to refer you to the brilliant Daniel Mendelsohn's review of this novel: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/a...
August 17, 2009
The book follows a family’s 200 year history as they travelled from eastern Europe to Israel and put down their toots there. The characters are interesting and well–drawn but at times the book goes off on spiritual and artistic tangents that are difficult to follow. I also found that it kind of dwindled off at the end.
June 6, 2013
An unsatisfying read. I enjoyed the first 100 pages or so, in which the characters from history were presented. As she got closer to the modern characters, they got less and less interesting, and more unappealing. In general, it is not a flattering picture of a family. As others have noted, the depiction of this family in isolation from much of the world around them (Palestinians, in particular) was odd.
The idea of the orchard as a theme did not really work. It seemed more like a lot of researched factoids thrown in as an attempt to generate a theme (many of the illustrations were completely disconnected from the prose). The family seemed to regard the orchard only as a fruit factory, whose production should be optimized - there seemed to be little or no connection to the orchard as a living thing. Having recently read The Orchardist, the contrast bugged me.
The idea of the orchard as a theme did not really work. It seemed more like a lot of researched factoids thrown in as an attempt to generate a theme (many of the illustrations were completely disconnected from the prose). The family seemed to regard the orchard only as a fruit factory, whose production should be optimized - there seemed to be little or no connection to the orchard as a living thing. Having recently read The Orchardist, the contrast bugged me.
June 14, 2021
This book felt overly descriptive at times. The language was flourishing, but it felt like it was making up for the lack of connection the story has. It is a collection of stories of a family’s history, but although the family is the author’s family, the stories are piecemealed. The best parts come when Nomi writes about her father and grandfather (especially her father). These moments explode with grief and tumult that pushed this book to a 6.5-7/10
January 21, 2018
This one was slow in many places, I had a hard time getting through it. But it was very interesting to see a writer narrate the story of her own family through the generations. I liked the notes written by her dad in each chapter. Will be passing this one along.
May 29, 2020
Beautifully written history of several generations of a Jewish family, starting from a small town in Ukraine, moving to Israel, and later branching out to Brookline, Mass. The author counterpoints and enriches a factual story as told by her father, by weaving a colorful, poetic, and mysterious things into the real events occurred in every generation. The family citrus orchard, a Pardess, is closely intertwined with every new generation as a branch of the tree with a new family branch, as well as with the growth of the country of Israel.
Great primer on the care and growing of a citrus orchard, the tools and methods used in growing and tending of the trees. For example, grapefruit gets its name because the fruit actually grows in clusters, like grapes!
Overall, a warm and wonderful book. I highly recommend.
Great primer on the care and growing of a citrus orchard, the tools and methods used in growing and tending of the trees. For example, grapefruit gets its name because the fruit actually grows in clusters, like grapes!
Overall, a warm and wonderful book. I highly recommend.
August 17, 2017
Stars:
Stars for the overall concept, for being creative with the structure of narratives, plus illustrations, for trying to go for gusto with language, and for some stellar sentences and stories within this family-tree-comes-alive-in-novel form. Here's an example of those fine sentences:
https://twitter.com/maynardlara/statu...
Cons:
I get what Eve was going for in the writing style, but the metaphors are sometimes stretched too long and there is a fair bit of overwriting in general.
Because the book covers a whole family tree, it tells just telling a bit or a sort of summary story about each generation. In some instances this is a little unsatisfying.
The final parts of the book, where the author writes/tells about her own romantic relationship were the weakest. Having to use her imagination to flesh out her ancestors seems to have nourished stronger writing elsewhere in the book, which happens to tie in with the book's exploration of history, truth, legend and fiction very well, if certainly unintentionally.
I'd read more from Nomi Eve. Her latest novel, Henna House, is on my TBR.
Stars for the overall concept, for being creative with the structure of narratives, plus illustrations, for trying to go for gusto with language, and for some stellar sentences and stories within this family-tree-comes-alive-in-novel form. Here's an example of those fine sentences:
https://twitter.com/maynardlara/statu...
Cons:
I get what Eve was going for in the writing style, but the metaphors are sometimes stretched too long and there is a fair bit of overwriting in general.
Because the book covers a whole family tree, it tells just telling a bit or a sort of summary story about each generation. In some instances this is a little unsatisfying.
The final parts of the book, where the author writes/tells about her own romantic relationship were the weakest. Having to use her imagination to flesh out her ancestors seems to have nourished stronger writing elsewhere in the book, which happens to tie in with the book's exploration of history, truth, legend and fiction very well, if certainly unintentionally.
I'd read more from Nomi Eve. Her latest novel, Henna House, is on my TBR.
January 21, 2023
This was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read. The difficulty resulted from the author’s writing style. Sentences and sections of the book seemed disjointed. The description of the book had me thinking it would be multigenerational and tell the complex family story. The beginning of the book Was quite sensuous which I was not expecting.... I read through it trying to figure out how it was connected to the Family Orchard. The entire book was like that disjointed and difficult to draw connections.
When I read The Red Tent I didn’t have the difficulty drawing everything together. When I really like an author I get very excited to read more of their work which did not happen with The Family Orchard
When I read The Red Tent I didn’t have the difficulty drawing everything together. When I really like an author I get very excited to read more of their work which did not happen with The Family Orchard
October 16, 2013
As of p. 72, this book is pretty much just about sex. Not bad, but thus far it is definitely not a family saga following the history of Israel. It's a sexy romance novel with a slight plot.
I've gotta stop choosing my reading from the discard cabinet.
After about half way through, a story begins to develop with a little history and some stuff about caring for orchards. I liked it better then. Still, it was with a sense of relief and accomplishment (not enjoyment) that I turned the last page.
I've gotta stop choosing my reading from the discard cabinet.
After about half way through, a story begins to develop with a little history and some stuff about caring for orchards. I liked it better then. Still, it was with a sense of relief and accomplishment (not enjoyment) that I turned the last page.
June 25, 2015
I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters felt real and I enjoyed their stories.
October 16, 2020
Could not relate at all. Didn't seem like a jewish family saga at all
May 30, 2023
I enjoyed this book more as a series of vignettes than as an actual novel. I'd describe The Family Orchard as a "reverse Monet" of sorts. When examined up close, most of the chapters were colorful, comprehensible, and romantic. However, when I stepped away and looked at the whole novel from a big-picture perspective, it didn't come together for me.
I thought that this novel was going to fall into the "historical fiction" category, but I was disappointed that actual history really did not enter the story at all. Although the mosaic of narratives in The Family Orchard spans over 150 years of history in Israel, the social and historical context in which the characters live is mostly ignored. The British occupation is brought up a few times; the Holocaust is an after-thought; the presence of Arabs in Palestine is totally neglected. It feels criminal that Eve beats the reader over the head with references to grafting (the art of attaching embryonic plant cells to a root in an orchard), yet the obvious metaphor of European Jewish families being "grafted" onto Israeli soil is not explored in the slightest.
Knopf describes this book as "a deliciously engrossing novel, at once epic and intimate, from a storyteller of beguiling power and wisdom." Some parts of the story were engrossing to be sure; I especially loved reading about Avra's escapades pickpocketing everyone in Jerusalem, and the imagery of Moshe and Zohar running along the walls with their grandfather was delightful. I wouldn't in good faith describe this family history as "epic." In my opinion, that word should be reserved for family sagas that actually do tie together coherently at the end: The House of the Spirits would be a good example of a family epic, but not this book. Intimate? There were some beautiful scenes of intimacy, such as Shimon and Avra's imaginative musings about the mosaic stones. Was the storytelling beguilingly powerful and wise? Not for me--the prose was too schmaltzy for my taste, and more pretentious than wise. Ponderousness does not equal lyricism!
Overall, this rates between 2.5 and 3 out of 5 stars for me. I would lean towards 3/5 because of the pictures. Even though the pictures usually had very little relevance to the narrative, they made the book more enjoyable for me.
I thought that this novel was going to fall into the "historical fiction" category, but I was disappointed that actual history really did not enter the story at all. Although the mosaic of narratives in The Family Orchard spans over 150 years of history in Israel, the social and historical context in which the characters live is mostly ignored. The British occupation is brought up a few times; the Holocaust is an after-thought; the presence of Arabs in Palestine is totally neglected. It feels criminal that Eve beats the reader over the head with references to grafting (the art of attaching embryonic plant cells to a root in an orchard), yet the obvious metaphor of European Jewish families being "grafted" onto Israeli soil is not explored in the slightest.
Knopf describes this book as "a deliciously engrossing novel, at once epic and intimate, from a storyteller of beguiling power and wisdom." Some parts of the story were engrossing to be sure; I especially loved reading about Avra's escapades pickpocketing everyone in Jerusalem, and the imagery of Moshe and Zohar running along the walls with their grandfather was delightful. I wouldn't in good faith describe this family history as "epic." In my opinion, that word should be reserved for family sagas that actually do tie together coherently at the end: The House of the Spirits would be a good example of a family epic, but not this book. Intimate? There were some beautiful scenes of intimacy, such as Shimon and Avra's imaginative musings about the mosaic stones. Was the storytelling beguilingly powerful and wise? Not for me--the prose was too schmaltzy for my taste, and more pretentious than wise. Ponderousness does not equal lyricism!
Overall, this rates between 2.5 and 3 out of 5 stars for me. I would lean towards 3/5 because of the pictures. Even though the pictures usually had very little relevance to the narrative, they made the book more enjoyable for me.
August 14, 2024
This is a fictionalized family history of six generations of Jews living in Palestine/Israel. For the most part, it is beautifully written and engaging. Nomi Eve creates flesh and blood characters in contrast with the overly pious saints found in other novels about Jerusalem in the 19th Century. Yet I could have done without the section where Eliezer Sepher is trying to create a golem in his family’s orchard.
The author has inserted herself at the end of the family tree, and she acknowledges consulting her father on her family history. She has a good command of Hebrew and is familiar with the geography of Israel. So one has to wonder how much of this novel is based upon fiction and how much on reality.
I question the historical accuracy as portrayed in the first part of the book. Jews living in the Old City of Jerusalem in the 19th Century dwelled in cramped quarters, experienced grinding poverty and disease, and were under the thumb of the corrupt Ottoman government. Yet Yochanan and Esther Schine lived in a large house that could accommodate an extended family. To escape the overcrowding and disease, Jews were encouraged to move outside the Old City walls despite the fear of roving bandits. Yochanan purchased a relatively large house outside the Old City walls as an investment that could accommodate a tenant and a room for himself. As can be seen from Moses Montefiore’s Yemin Moshe neighborhood and other first developments, these houses are tiny by today’s standards.
With regard to Petach Tikva, home to future generations of this family, no mention is made of the malaria infested swampland that was originally abandoned in 1880 by its first settlers and could only be farmed once the swamps were drained.
The author has inserted herself at the end of the family tree, and she acknowledges consulting her father on her family history. She has a good command of Hebrew and is familiar with the geography of Israel. So one has to wonder how much of this novel is based upon fiction and how much on reality.
I question the historical accuracy as portrayed in the first part of the book. Jews living in the Old City of Jerusalem in the 19th Century dwelled in cramped quarters, experienced grinding poverty and disease, and were under the thumb of the corrupt Ottoman government. Yet Yochanan and Esther Schine lived in a large house that could accommodate an extended family. To escape the overcrowding and disease, Jews were encouraged to move outside the Old City walls despite the fear of roving bandits. Yochanan purchased a relatively large house outside the Old City walls as an investment that could accommodate a tenant and a room for himself. As can be seen from Moses Montefiore’s Yemin Moshe neighborhood and other first developments, these houses are tiny by today’s standards.
With regard to Petach Tikva, home to future generations of this family, no mention is made of the malaria infested swampland that was originally abandoned in 1880 by its first settlers and could only be farmed once the swamps were drained.
September 7, 2020
An enjoyable and fascinating story of a family that begins in Jerusalem (in 1837) and finishes in New York (in 1995). The story of the various generations covers the intricate history of Israel and Jerusalem but does not let the history intrude on the narrative of the various people.
Sometimes hilarious and then poignant, this is an engaging tale of people falling in love, marrying, having children, passing on their stories and coping with the times they are living through. As each section goes forward there is a family tree which is just as well as I had to frequently refer to it. There are also old lithographs of the places in the text and a lot of information about grafting fruit trees. So I learnt a lot while reading the story.
This book is written in an engaging style and effectively has two authors. The first is Nomi Eve teling the story of her family snd the second is her 'father' who adds background detail at the beginning of each chapter. The frontispiece says this is entirely a work of fiction but I do wonder just how much of the story is 'reality disguised'.
There is a real feel for the landscape, the people and the story of an emerging nation. An enjoyable read.
Sometimes hilarious and then poignant, this is an engaging tale of people falling in love, marrying, having children, passing on their stories and coping with the times they are living through. As each section goes forward there is a family tree which is just as well as I had to frequently refer to it. There are also old lithographs of the places in the text and a lot of information about grafting fruit trees. So I learnt a lot while reading the story.
This book is written in an engaging style and effectively has two authors. The first is Nomi Eve teling the story of her family snd the second is her 'father' who adds background detail at the beginning of each chapter. The frontispiece says this is entirely a work of fiction but I do wonder just how much of the story is 'reality disguised'.
There is a real feel for the landscape, the people and the story of an emerging nation. An enjoyable read.
October 16, 2018
This book is beautifully written. I was surprised at all the poor reviews posted.
It is a multi-generational family saga and that perhaps gets a bit long. However, each segment is a beautiful vignette, part reality and part imagination (maybe) . Nomi Eve almost writes midrash on her family history, and the language is beautiful, both lyrical and the story line at times mystical.
The orchard provides the background and the particulars for this family history. It is artfully woven into the stories that Nomi Eve tells. And after all, how much of family history is ...history, and how much is the way it's told through the generations.
Overall, there is an overwhelming sense of love and pride, even when members don't always behave as we wish.
It is a multi-generational family saga and that perhaps gets a bit long. However, each segment is a beautiful vignette, part reality and part imagination (maybe) . Nomi Eve almost writes midrash on her family history, and the language is beautiful, both lyrical and the story line at times mystical.
The orchard provides the background and the particulars for this family history. It is artfully woven into the stories that Nomi Eve tells. And after all, how much of family history is ...history, and how much is the way it's told through the generations.
Overall, there is an overwhelming sense of love and pride, even when members don't always behave as we wish.
January 4, 2023
I really wanted to like this book, but it was just too disjointed. Despite the family trees in each of the chapters (heaven help you if you listed to this on audiobooks), I would wonder who was telling the story. And just when I got interested in a set of characters, she would just leave them and move to another story/character set and just leave the last story with no conclusion. I would put the book down and have to go back a number of pages to remember where I was or what the plot of the story was. And I know she was trying to connect everything to the orchard, but it fell flat. Diagrams of grafting root stock and at the end comparing people to grafting onto rootstock was just strange. I would give this a pass.
May 24, 2019
I liked the concept better than the execution for the most part. The exploration of the author’s family stories going back many generations was fascinating to me, and I really enjoyed the idea of the family orchard’s citrus trees as a metaphor for the actual family tree. But I found it over written in some places, and like others have mentioned in their reviews, the ending is particularly weak and just a bit “much.” Perhaps because I’m not really a spiritual person and there’s a lot of mysticism throughout, I found myself not being able to really get into the story as much as I would have liked. But this was the author’s first novel, and I think she has a lot of potential as a writer, so I’ve added another book of hers to my “Want to Read” list.
June 19, 2017
This is a book that will stay on the shelves of my library for others to read in the future. There is something about how this book skips and jumps through time to reach today that was utterly enticing to me. I wanted to have a fresh mango while reading this book. I could feel the sandy heat pressing on my neck and make me long for a fresh glass of water. I wanted and needed and desired like the people did in this book. The atmosphere of this novel is astounding, and while I wished for more, I know it was ended perfectly.
October 26, 2020
An interesting story about a Jewish family over many generations. Interwoven with the family stories are stories of the family's orchard, with special detail to grafting of the fruit trees - and the grafting of new families into the existing family. It is also interwoven with the history of Israel.
I was never clear about how much of this story was fact from the author's actual family and how much was fiction.
I was never clear about how much of this story was fact from the author's actual family and how much was fiction.
June 28, 2017
I usually love multi-generational family sagas. I did love how this one related the interweaving of people to grafting trees in a orchard - how each person carries pieces of their ancestors forward. An interesting analogy. Sadly, the story just fell flat. When we get to the present, the story finishes with no wow-factor. Set in Palestine, the historical account is compelling.
June 10, 2019
This was an intriguing book from start to finish. I loved the unconventional format, and I (still) wonder how reminiscent the characters in the book are of the author's own family.
Complex and captivating, this book is told through true lies and literal metaphors. Highly recommend.
(I started it almost three years ago, and re-started it recently to finish it for real this time.)
Complex and captivating, this book is told through true lies and literal metaphors. Highly recommend.
(I started it almost three years ago, and re-started it recently to finish it for real this time.)
April 2, 2020
I re-read this book after about 10 years because I thought it had a quote that's been floating around in my brain. It didn't.
The early parts of this book were good. Quick. Focused. Compelling. The closer the author got to the present day, the more meandering and less interesting the characters became. Meh.
The early parts of this book were good. Quick. Focused. Compelling. The closer the author got to the present day, the more meandering and less interesting the characters became. Meh.
June 7, 2020
Family history of family who settled in Israel
Although I love multi generational novels and in fact do family genealogy myself, I had a very difficult time reading this book. When I would stop reading I was not motivated to pick the book up again. Perhaps it was just me, but the style did not appeal to me even though some of the characters were interesting.
Although I love multi generational novels and in fact do family genealogy myself, I had a very difficult time reading this book. When I would stop reading I was not motivated to pick the book up again. Perhaps it was just me, but the style did not appeal to me even though some of the characters were interesting.
February 28, 2021
Have to be honest...I quit on page 28. There are too many good books out there. I’m not wasting my time slogging through this one. Was already less than impressed by two of the characters. Engaging in a sexual affair only four months after getting married? Or sleeping with your step sister in your parents house as teens? Yuck
April 3, 2018
Some of the stories were better than others, but overall were just okay. There were a few discrepancies between what was written in the stories versus the information presented in the family trees, so the editing could have been better done.
February 10, 2023
This book was well written, but, it just isn’t something I’d usually read so it was hard for me to get into. I only made it through half of the book. I’m sure if this was something I read normally, I’d love it. Don’t take my review and thoughts as your own. You may really like this one.
June 27, 2017
Got halfway thru, gave up. I actually liked the writing, but couldn't get into the story. Too many characters and too much jumping around.
September 21, 2017
This was a very Jewish book, but it read to me like a story-teller's tale of long ago. I enjoyed it. You will like this book if you like books that tell the story of interconnected generations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews