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A review by korrik
The Family Orchard by Nomi Eve
This novel is an interesting exercise in weaving history, legend, fact and memory as Nomi Eve composes her own midrash from her father's family history research. He records births, marriages, and migrations; she constructs secret desires and personality quirks. Each chapter gives a fleeting glimpse of a couple or an individual in the family from 1837 to the author herself.
I'm afraid the premise is at times more interesting than the execution. Sometimes Eve's flourishes and embroideries are a bit too much. Miriam's ability to sew stories and emotions into clothing is meant to be an earthy, vivacious example of magical realism but it falls flat and feels like an inexplicably major shift in tone. And the author's musings about the stories we tell each other --to amuse, to make sense of our lives, to keep sadness at bay, to rationalize, to forget, to save, to prove our existence, to create-- can feel heavy-handed. These musings are most eloquent when used within the stories themselves (Avra's thievery, the golem, the mosaic tile).
I'm afraid the premise is at times more interesting than the execution. Sometimes Eve's flourishes and embroideries are a bit too much. Miriam's ability to sew stories and emotions into clothing is meant to be an earthy, vivacious example of magical realism but it falls flat and feels like an inexplicably major shift in tone. And the author's musings about the stories we tell each other --to amuse, to make sense of our lives, to keep sadness at bay, to rationalize, to forget, to save, to prove our existence, to create-- can feel heavy-handed. These musings are most eloquent when used within the stories themselves (Avra's thievery, the golem, the mosaic tile).