What the Orchard Keeps

When Naomi Pike returns to her late mother’s farmhouse, she finds something impossible: ripe red apples hanging from bare trees in the dead of winter. Her younger brother Eli disappeared in that orchard years ago, but now she hears the childhood signal they once shared—and fears that something beneath the roots remembers him.

As a commercial nursery pushes to acquire the trees, Naomi and her cousin Ruth uncover old family bargains, disturbing records, and an orchard that feeds on grief. Saving those caught in its power will demand that Naomi confront the difference between bringing someone home and refusing to let them go.