Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry - Available

The Orchard

A Novel

by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
Julia Emelin
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Four teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.
“Spectacular . . . intensely evocative and gorgeously written . . . will fill readers’ eyes with tears and wonder.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: New York Post
Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves. They spend their summers at Anya’s dacha just outside of Moscow, lazing in the apple orchard, listening to Queen songs, and fantasizing about trips abroad and the lives of American teenagers. Meanwhile, Anya’s parents talk about World War II, the Blockade, and the hardships they have endured.
By the time Anya and Milka are fifteen, the Soviet Empire is on the verge of collapse. They pair up with classmates Trifonov and Lopatin, and the four friends share secrets and desires, argue about history and politics, and discuss forbidden books. But the world is changing, and the fleeting time they have together is cut short by a sudden tragedy.
Years later, Anya returns to Russia from America, where she has chosen a different kind of life, far from her family and childhood friends. When she meets Lopatin again, he is a smug businessman who wants to buy her parents’ dacha and cut down the apple orchard. Haunted by the ghosts of her youth, Anya comes to the stark realization that memory does not fade or disappear; rather, it moves us across time, connecting our past to our future, joys to sorrows.
Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry’s The Orchard powerfully captures the lives of four Soviet teenagers who are about to lose their country and one another, and who struggle to survive, to save their friendship, to recover all that has been lost.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 15, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593504987
      • File size: 334218 KB
      • Duration: 11:36:17

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 3, 2022
      Gorcheva-Newberry’s stunning debut novel (after the collection What Isn’t Remembered) follows two girls as they navigate the hardships of growing up in communist Russia. Anya Raneva’s and Milka Putova’s childhoods in the early 1980s are deeply impacted by the Cold War. They play war (and sex) games with limbless dolls, belittle their parents’ concerns about the toilet paper shortage and rationing, and dream about running away from Moscow and eloping in Paris. They reference Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard repeatedly, in heated discussions with their other friends about social class, inequality, and change. (The play becomes something of a manifesto for Anya and her peers, even if they don’t relate specifically to its antiquated characters.) As the story progresses, the author builds a complicated and intense friendship between the independently minded Anya and Milka, who question tradition during a time when Russians tended to build close families in order to survive (“Could a woman be happy without a man? Could she be respected if she had no children? Could she ever be as free as a man?”). They spend their early teenage years longing for more freedom, but at 16, when the iron curtain falls, a cascading tragedy involving a pregnancy swiftly follows, and their dreams of seeing the world together and studying at a prestigious university turn bitter. Gorcheva-Newberry pulls off a tragic and nostalgic love letter to a much-tried generation. This is a winner. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Julia Emelin's performance places listeners in the heart of the Soviet Union during the 1980s, a time of tumultuous change. Anya and her teenage friends are approaching the end of school and facing uncertain futures. They spend their days listening to contraband Western music and dreaming of love. Anton Chekhov's famous play THE CHERRY ORCHARD, echoed in the novel's title, is framed here as a family apple orchard that faces possible destruction by a developer. The coming-of-age plot may be familiar, but the inevitable Soviet collapse and its impact on the families' lives are consistently engaging. Emelin captures so much of the environment and the four young characters that listeners will feel the cold Moscow air, taste the borscht, and experience the rising tension. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from September 1, 2022

      Inspired by Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, Gorcheva-Newberry's (What Isn't Remembered) magnificent saga showcases 1980s Russian life, history, and politics from the viewpoints of feisty, smart teenagers Anya and Milka. Their dissimilar homes and parents reflect the differences in Russian life. Anya's parents and grandmother are loving and prosperous, with both a dacha and an apple orchard. Milka's family is much less stable, and thus she spends time with Anya's family instead. The friends' sexual awakening is realistically depicted and often amusing. Anya's boyfriend is an intelligent reformer, while Milka's is a traditional Communist. Conversations and depictions of the city, countryside, and food are captivating. Eventually, Anya studies, marries, and settles in America, returning to the dacha 20 years later to save her family's lands from developers. Narrator Julia Emelin's accent enhances the text while making distinctions between characters, notably Anya's sage grandmother, and delightfully irreverent Milka. Emelin's engaging narration will draw listeners into the action. Read by Gorcheva-Newberry, the author's note reveals that the story is highly autobiographical. VERDICT This riveting saga, full of nostalgia, tumult, and bittersweet coming-of-age, will not disappoint.--Susan G. Baird

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check Out What's Being Checked Out Right Now