Description 'An orchard itself is neither a true field, nor a true wood, but a holy conjoining of the two.'Servant girl Morgan Sweet spends her life in and around the sixteenth-century apple orchards of Buckland in Devon. It is an existence inextricably joined to the land, the animals, fruits and flowers signalling the passing of each season, detailed so lovingly by Morgan in her story. Life for Morgan and her friends is sometimes merry, sometimes brutal, but always dependent on the obligations of the peasant folk, the patronage of their Lord and Ladies, and the sureties of the Latin prayer book used in church where they worship each week. But in 1549 ominous change is coming to Buckland, as the familiar rituals of life start to tear apart in the bloodiest fashion. Morgan finds that not even the ancient ways her people have known and cleaved to can safeguard against revolution and the terrible measures the powerful are willing to take to quash it. Andy Brown's debut novel is fiercely imagined, rich and wise, while Morgan is a moving and ultimately heartbreaking narrator who reminds us, above all, that we must treasure what we value most. Praise for Apples and Prayers 'Playful, vicious and loving, reminiscent of John Clare and H. E. Bates.' Rob Magnuson Smith'A richly-imagined novel. Andy Brown evokes a world that is both beguiling and filled with danger.' Susanna Jones
