Idun’s Orchard has been in the Lund family for five generations, and cider-maker Sanna Lund can’t imagine living anywhere else. She’s perfectly content spending her days tending the orchard with her father and experimenting with new blends of cider made from their heirloom apple trees. But Sanna’s cider isn’t selling like they’d hoped and business isn’t exactly booming at the orchard. With only the two of them, and Sanna’s father getting on in years, can they really keep going the way they always have?
Enter Isaac and his son Bass (full name Sebastian, but he answers to any fish). Originally from California but spending their summer driving across the U.S. (and away from heartbreak at home), the pair end up as hired hands at Idun’s. Sanna is less than thrilled at the prospect of having a ten-year-old boy underfoot and tries to ignore how distracted she is by Isaac’s presence. But as her life gets more and more complicated, Sanna relies on the relationships she’s forming with Bass and Isaac, especially when the orchard seems to be slipping further and further out of her control.
The Simplicity of Cider is a heartwarming story of love, family, cider, and a little bit of magic. Set in Door County, Wisconsin, the author perfectly captures the feel of a small Midwestern town, where your neighbors might be nosy but they’ll be there for you at the first sign of trouble. The characters are authentic and real, and so are their struggles. There is an overall theme of healing in this book, from Sanna's father after a fall, to the heirloom trees after an accident, to the relationships both Sanna and Bass have with their parents, particularly their mothers. Recommended for fans of Jenny Colgan and Sarah Addison Allen.