A beautifully lyrical snapshot of motherhood, this book is more impressionist than narrative or even characters driven. It’s Craft, and even a bit of an exercise, but a found it to be rewarding work

Subjectively, this was a bit of a miss for me. The writing is gorgeous--clearly the author has a very lyrical hand--and while I think Maisie is easily relatable (in terms of money anxiety, a mother's fierce love for her kids, a girl's body changing into a woman's and that fraught journey, etc), her tangents make the story line meander a bit too much without any clear plot to really make this book engaging.

Thanks very much to Knopf for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book through NetGalley.

Beautiful prose, but so slow moving and meandering. I think this will be a very polarizing book, but those who like it will love it will all their hearts.

This book is a pointless, mindless waste of paper.

BUT - I feel like some people might really enjoy it. It's a story of motherhood and the every day happenings in one person's day to day. This is LITERALLY one day....and just drags.

And maybe that's the point? Either way, I did NOT enjoy this in the LEAST.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I loved the cover of this book and immediately wanted to know more about what was going on. I just could not get past the way the book was structured though. It fell flat for me. I do like the maternal theme that was throughout. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Three stars.

I have to admit the beautiful cover of this book is what captured my attention. Unfortunately, I found this book boring. I read to get away from all the day-to-day issues. This book was not for me. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

2.5 ⭐️ There are true moments of beauty and passages that sing in this novel, but not enough to keep me engaged. I stopped and started this book several times. I might not even have finished if I weren’t committed to writing a review for Net Galley, who provided me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for my review.

The story starts off with Maisie Moore who has a dream about money and seeing her mother die. Her husband Neil, and three children Romeo, 3yrs, Harriet 6yrs, and Xavier 8 yrs and new baby Essie 2 weeks old define her life. There is no action in this story. There are scores of described possibilities in life with everything ending in a theory or contradiction a known life statement.

For example, people who work hard and practice compared to those who are just gifted and don’t use it. Or take a crowded city subway. Are you patient with self control or become overwhelmed, uncomfortable and hot. Life’s a balance thru out the story. Is it grief or gratitude, pain or love. Resentment is envy.
Family has a lot of keys to life. There is discussion how kids are different. Mothers grow with kids. Every criticisms of babies or words of wisdom are provided.
There is quite the description of birthing and breast feeding. There are dreams and memories and observations. The book takes place in a day when they take the kids to an apple orchard a yearly visit.
Admittedly I struggled to get thru this book. I felt it was too much wording to get the point across, but it was heartfelt writing with no action.

Mom of 4 (newborn from Emergency C Section) goes off on a tangent (about 1 day) at an apple orchard.
Trying to get over having no debt with being financially stable and carrying on raising a family.
Keep dreamin' girlfriend because there's never a break. Never a time when you're fully debt free as the bills come monthly regardless of wealth.
Now, let me tell you I should and could write plenty about emergency c-sections and in fact reading other reviews I wonder myself how you're able to move following one. I was shored up on my back stuck at the Ronald McDonald House after having one & needed assistance merely walking.
My issue is there's no direction with this ergo the reason for the 'tangent' description as we meander throughout the story lost.
I was hoping for more concrete storyline that followed a general sense of direction. In fact, considering Netgalley app showed this having only 161 pages I figured I'd zip through but it was a bit fluffy in many spots.
Hoping to connect on many levels as a single mom x 3 (2 in college with one in high school) never happened. Having 3 high risk kids from birth with one med disabled for life and one emergency c-section from a placental abruption didn't have me connecting here.
I never breastfed nor had assistance in raising my kids (married but spouse resided 5 states away w only weekend visits) left me seeking more.
As someone whose son spent 2 months in NICU and battled for life going code blue multiple times and with babies dying nearby I simply can't get over that I couldn't connect. Sadly, this was not as in depth or as full as I'd hoped it might become and the ending simply fell flat.
Thank you to Eliza Minot, Knopf, Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

An intense dive into the relentless role of mothers by spending a day in the mind of Masie, mother of four wonderful children the fourth only two weeks old..Minot captures the reality of life when the mortgage is paid but the credit cards are maxed and forward dating cheques is the basis for survival but that takes its rightful place behind the activities and conversations that make up our lives. She masterfully places love at the centre of everything and faces why going on is the only way forward.. This was a slow read for me as the context was interesting but it lacked a unifying story. The apple orchard worked as a setting for so many encounters to make sense of our lives at this time..Thanks to @netgalley for a copy to review in exchange for my review. The opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House. In the Orchard by Eliza Minot. What a wonderful invite into the brain of a mother. A mother who is totally in love with being a mother. A mother trying not to let their economic situation overtake the wonder of family life. A mother dealing with post baby blues jumping from euphoria to reality. There's no real story here but the authors words are so captivating that I couldn't stop reading. It made me relive family life when our children were in their formative years and for awhile I was back there.The literary descriptions are so magical I had to reread them often and closed my eyes to imagin them. It was a very special read and highly recommended to both old and new mothers/parents.

This book, this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me to read the ARC. The premise was great. I did have a hard time keeping at it because it seemed to get stuck in spots. And I kept thinking "Woman are you crazy taking a 2 week old to an orchard when you had a C section?" That refrain kept on and on. Perhaps it resonated more to others who are closer in age and experiences than I. My babies are in their 50's and I know childbirth is different now but no way would I have been able or interested is such a trip that soon..

This book was hard to get through. The main issue is that it had no sequence of events. Everything had a tangent which was annoying cause I couldn't get a grip on the pacing of the story being told. I'll admit what attracted me was the cover of the book. The most annoying part is that this whole book is about one single day. I repeat a SINGLE DAY IN WHICH NOTHING HAPPENS.

Yes, there was some substance to it, like the fact that it focused on motherhood heavily but it felt so utterly lacking because it was either the main character's memories, speculations or thoughts. That was it for the majority of this book with only the ending having a little sub-par epiphany moment.

Sorry, but in my opinion, this book was just tasteless and pointless.

Note: Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Knopf.

Maisie is a mom of four young children and she dreams of a life where things are easier and she is debt free. The writing is lyrical. At times, I wasn't sure exactly where the story was going, but I think that relates a lot to being a parent. It takes place on a single day in the orchard. I read some reviews that say it lacks a plot and a point, but I can tell you as a parent a young child, I feel like my days can feel without a point or a plot. Eliza. Minot is quite talented!

Yikes! The cover of the book lured me in and the summary sounded tempting. I was excited to be given an ARC. Thank you Net Galley! But I kept wondering page after page, "what is this book about? What is the story here?"
Not for me.

This book was not for me as I do not like literary fiction and pages and pages of description of menstruation. That being said, someone who likes literary fiction may really like this book as the story is good and the characters are compelling.

Nighttime feedings, morning breakfast, and a journey to the local orchard make up just another day in Maisie’s life. But with those come anxiety about money problems, successful parenting, and her relationship with her husband. Between the postpartum challenges of a weeks old baby and raising her older children, Maisie wonders if this is all there is to life.

In The Orchard by Eliza Minot is a striking look at the internal monologue and thoughts of a young mother and wife. While the story is set in the timeline of one specific day for the family, Minot intertwines excerpts from other events in Maisie’s motherhood story to build the reader’s comprehension of what life has been like raising her family while giving up her career. The conversations between moms in her friend group and the details of life with a newborn are authentic and draw the reader into the world of the Miller family.

I give In The Orchard a 4 out of 5 stars. I found it difficult to keep up with the position of events in the novel on Maisie’s timeline of life. The narrative becomes muddled in some areas as Minot slides from present day to past without warning. This is further compounded when the story transitions between one past event to another quickly. However, Maisie’s internal struggles are relatable and a realistic representation of motherhood.

I suggest this novel as a great book club read for a wide variety of audiences. It would lend itself naturally to discussions and camaraderie among the readers. I enjoyed seeing my own struggles as a spouse and mother play out through Maisie and found myself wishing to discuss the story and compare struggles with my friends the way Maisie does with hers.

First, I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this Kindle ARC in exchange for my honest review :)

This book is a day in the life of Maisie Moore, a mother of four children, who is concerned about finances and getting to know the world around her. There were many things about the writing which I enjoyed, in particular the author’s ability to paint a vivid picture for the reader. There is one scene that comes to mind where Minot’s descriptions are so clear that I actually felt like I was Maisie as a little girl, sitting on her mother’s sick bed. It was touching images like this that captured my attention.

Overall, I was not completely enthralled with this book. I felt like there needed to be more of a plot. Maisie’s thoughts are interesting and completely on point in a mother’s mind. However, sometimes following Maisie’s stream of consciousness was a little overwhelming and that is basically all the book is about.

I do believe specific readers would find this book engaging. As I said, the imagery that is captured throughout Maisie’s experiences is quite beautiful, and I found the book more interesting when Maisie was remembering her childhood.

Maisie is a married mother with four children, ages two weeks to eight years. She and her husband Neil are overcome with credit card and house debt and Maisie dreams of the day when she is debt free. The novel offers streams of comments by other parents and well-intended strangers at preschool pick-up, soccer practice, gymnastics, and Catholic church services who offer Maisie advice on being a mother and a woman.

The book reads like a daily devotional with so much advice and commentary on human nature. Readers will be underlining and taking notes, but the novel is also overwhelmed with exclamation points. So many sentences end with exclamation points.

Note: One word of caution: Maisie breastfeeds her two-week old daughter, Esme, in bed and nods off to sleep. Back to Bed is a national infant sleep campaign that encourages parents never to bring their babies into an adult bed to avoid the chances of the baby suffocating. https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov/safesleepbasics/risk/reduce

The summary of this book sounded amazing but honestly, I didn't get half way before I gave up. The idea of the story is good, as a mother especially, I was intrigued by the main characters take on motherhood and marriage but I could not get passed the metaphors and writing style of the book. It was hard to distinguish her thoughts vs reality and it was a bit too slow for me to actually grab my attention and keep me interested. While I don't want to give the book too low of a rating because I didn't actually make it all the way through, the system will not allow me to submit my review without adding a rating so I'm going with 2.5 rounded up.