Review: Beneath the Apple Leaves

Title: Beneath the Apple Leaves

Author: Harmony Verna

Publisher: 27 June 2017 Kensington Books

Pages: 516 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

From the author of Daughter of Australia comes a sweeping, heartfelt historical novel that follows a family of German immigrants who trade city living for the harsh realities of Pennsylvania farm life.
In 1914, Andrew Houghton s family is one of hundreds eking out an existence in the coal mines of southwestern Pennsylvania. Though he longs to be a veterinarian, he s fated for a life underground, picking rock alongside his father.

That destiny changes when his aunt, Eveline Kiser, arranges for her husband to secure Andrew an apprenticeship on the railroad. Wilhelm Kiser, a German immigrant, has found his American dream in Pittsburgh, with a well-paying job as a brakeman, and a secure pension. But on Andrew s first week, an incident goes tragically wrong, leaving him severely injured, his dreams shattered. Wracked with guilt, Wilhelm finally agrees to his wife s pleas to leave Pittsburgh s smog behind. With Andrew in tow, they swap their three-story row house for a rough-and-tumble farm.

Life in rural Pennsylvania is not as idyllic as Eveline imagined. The soil is slow to yield and their farmhouse is in disrepair. But there is one piece of beauty in this rugged land. Lily Morton is quick-witted and tough on the outside, but bears her own secret scars inside. Andrew s bond with her will help steer them through all the challenges to come, even as anti-German sentiment spreads across America with the outbreak of World War I.

Beneath the Apple Leaves is a vivid, deeply moving portrait of family its hardships, triumphs, and passions and a powerfully authentic evocation of life on the land and the hearts that sustain it.

My Thoughts

Having read and LOVED Harmony’s debut novel, ‘Daughter of Australia’ I did not hesitate to embark on another journey with her. Would it, however, live up to her first inspiring saga? I can say without the shadow of a doubt, it was right up there beside her first amazing novel. As Harmony states in her acknowledgements,

‘The seeds of this book came from my mother ... who shared the stories - the sorrows and the joys - of growing up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania ... I am humbled and proud of the strength and sacrifices of my German ancestors’.

‘Beneath the Apple Leaves’ is another emotional roller coaster ride, that is the epitome of what good historical drama is all about. This will undoubtedly pull at your heartstrings as Harmony takes you on a journey to another place and time. Yet another powerful drama that incorporates not only the plight of German immigrants during World War I, but topics ranging from the hardships of life on the land, family love and loss, terrible tragedies and great moments of hope and joy.

“It’s too much for any of us. We’re all drowning. Like the whole world is drowning!”

This book is indeed most beautifully scripted from the enduring love story to the emotional heartbreak of unbearable losses. There will be times when you feel, surely fate will cut them some slack for these much deserving characters; but as the war ensues and deliberate harassment and persecution is rife, you begin to wonder if you will get a happy ending. If things could go wrong, invariably they seemed to.

“They’re good people. Love this country as much as the Simpsons. Except they don’t have to attack people to prove it.”

Yet despite, or in fact because of this, these characters will pull at your heartstrings. You just have to read through hoping against hope that life will be kinder to these deserving souls. Will love endure ‘beneath the apple leaves’?

‘With ax in hand, Andrew stared at the enormity of the ancient apple tree. The limbs, old, had witnessed too much suffering. And they seemed to ask to be relieved, to say good-bye. A wind blew and rustled the branches, the leaves waving in surrender.’

This is another amazing journey that Harmony takes you on and you will be swept away as becoming emotionally invested in these characters, especially the stoic Andrew. Such a finely crafted story I cannot recommend highly enough - historical drama of immigrants in early 1900s Pennsylvania.

‘For life began anew, grew again, beneath the apple leaves.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release