Luanne Rice | A Walk Through THE LEMON ORCHARD

Can you tell us about how your home in Malibu inspired the setting for your new novel, THE LEMON ORCHARD?

My house overlooks a canyon and the Pacific Ocean; I stared out from my desk and my fiction absorbed the scenery. There is one lemon tree in my yard, and from it sprang a whole orchard: the scent, the flowers, the glossy leaves, and the fruit inspired me.

As in all of your stories, the characters in THE LEMON ORCHARD are strikingly human and sympathetic. Did you draw on any real-life relationships when crafting these characters?

Roberto is based on Armando, an undocumented Mexican worker. He would come to work on my house each morning, and I found myself watching for his truck, eager to hear more of his stories. The story of Rosa, while fictional, was based on an experience he had in the desert, with a family making the journey. Julia, in many ways, comes from my own experience. Like Julia, I moved—at least temporarily—to Malibu after a lifetime on the east coast.

The main character of THE LEMON ORCHARD, Julia, hopes to find peace and solitude while house-sitting for her aunt and uncle after the death of her daughter. Is there a place you go to find peace in times of trouble?

Anywhere by the sea. If I can walk on a beach and breathe salt air, I feel at peace.

One of the main characters in THE LEMON ORCHARD is a worker from Mexico, and the novel deals with some issues of immigration. Can you tell us about what drew you to crafting that background for his character?

Meeting Armando and his family, hearing their stories, made me want to learn much more. I went to the desert with the non-profit Water Station to volunteer. The desert is so vast, and death happens all the time. I was grateful that my friends survived, and it was humbling to fill water barrels and know we were saving lives. Armando’s family reminds me of my own, and of research I did about our ancestors immigration to the U.S. from Ireland. Like his, my family left a place and people they loved to escape poverty and search for a better life.

Our Fresh Fiction readers want to know: When you are not writing your captivating bestsellers, what do you like to read?

I love the author Joseph Monninger. He and I wrote THE LETTERS together a few years ago. This summer he has a new book out—THE MAJOR'S DAUGHTER, under the pen name J. P. Francis.

Find out more about Luanne and THE LEMON ORCHARD on Luanne's website, and join #TheLemonOrchard Book Club Contest.

THE LEMON ORCHARD

New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice returns this summer with an enchanting new novel, THE LEMON ORCHARD, which tells the unexpected love story of two people from different worlds who share an incredible bond.

It has been five years since Julia visited her aunt and uncle’s lemon orchard in Malibu and in that time Julia’s world has been turned upside down by her daughter’s death. When Julia arrives to housesit, she finds their home and the grove are just as breathtaking as she remembered. A virtual hermit, Julia expects to pass her time in Malibu quietly, with her dog Bonnie as her sole companion, but before long, she finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome man who oversees the lemon orchard.

Roberto appreciates his job at the grove—it is good, steady work that allows him to support his father in California, as well as his extended family back in Mexico. He expertly tends the orchard but his obsession for his daughter who was lost during their crossing from Mexico preys upon his mind. Consumed by the weight of a terrible secret, Roberto finds a confidant in Julia—this small, pale woman with silver hair and arresting blue eyes—haunted by her own heartbreaking past.

Set in the sea-and-citrus-scented air of the breathtaking Santa Monica mountains, THE LEMON ORCHARD is an engrossing story about loss, rupture, and the fragility of our lives, but even more it is a tale about picking up the pieces, and the strength of love when we are most vulnerable.