Orchard Keeper

by Cormac McCarthy

In a small, remote community in rural Tennessee in the years between the two world wars, John Wesley Rattner, a young boy, and Marion Sylder, an outlaw and bootlegger who, unbeknownst to either of them, has killed the boy's father enact a drama that seems born of the land itself.

More by Cormac McCarthy

The RoadCormac McCarthy
Blood MeridianCormac McCarthy
No Country for Old MenCormac McCarthy
All the Pretty HorsesCormac McCarthy
Child of GodCormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the WestCormac McCarthy
Outer darkCormac McCarthy
SuttreeCormac McCarthy
The crossingCormac McCarthy
Cities of the PlainCormac McCarthy
Stella MarisCormac McCarthy
The Sunset LimitedCormac McCarthy

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?