'In The Orchard [Modjeska] further develops her distinctive style, weaving fact with fiction, the essay with a flowing fictional narrative, and stories within stories... Modjeska is accessible and entertaining, a good story-teller... Love, adultery, marriage, and domination; sight, the fear of blindness, solitude and self-knowledge; childhood, education and the plight of the intellectual woman; all come under Modjeska's intelligent scrutiny. Her dexterity at interlacing these assorted skeins without unravelling or entanglement is to be marvelled at'-CANBERRA TIMES
'. . . a beautifully written narrative, turning on the stories of four women at different ages, and through their self-analysis, the story of many more... The Orchard is written with style and complexity'-MELBOURNE TIMES
'a book brimful with ideas, informed by a wide-ranging imagination, and certain to inspire those who read it to act upon their dreams... As enriching a book as you're likely to read this year'-HERALD SUN