The Orchid House: A Novel Kindle Edition

I liked how the story weaved in and out of lives generations apart and then how it all came together at the surprising ending. The orchids helped tied it all together. Delightful book that I feel is a great way to start 2023 with. Actually will be hard to find any better.

This review is going to be difficult to write, because explaining how cobbled-together this book seems will only wind up seeming just as disjointed and distracted. There is *so much* I want to say, and I don't know how to go about it. The author had the same problem. I have a sense that the author was planning The Orchid House to be a grand, sweeping saga, a story told across generations and continents. Technically, it is. But it is so crammed with drama that by the last third of the book it became farcical. It has about a half dozen false starts. It's like the author couldn't decide which story she wanted to tell, so she just went with every idea she had.In brief, it is the story of Julia, a recently bereaved world-famous pianist who lost her husband and son in a car accident. She is the granddaughter of the head gardener at Wharton Park, family seat of the English Lords Crawford. The title and the estate have recently passed to the handsome Kit, who is a tad too obliging and free with his love, in my opinion. Julia's pretty inconsistent with hers. Together Kit and Julia begin to explore their foundations while they attempt to rebuild the crumbling Wharton Park, and Julia struggles rebuild her heart.The hallowed halls and storied cloisters of Wharton Park have certainly seen their share of drama and heartbreak. The walls literally do talk at Wharton - they reveal a hidden diary that was kept by a previous Lord Crawford, Harry, while he was a POW in a brutal Japanese prison camp for 3 1/2 years during WW2.The diary is really a Maguffin, though, because it itself is not important. We see barely a glimpse of Harry's POW experience. Harry seems utterly unaffected by it, despite heavy hints to the contrary at the early stages of the book, and, you know, the fact that it was THREE AND A HALF YEARS IN A BRUTAL PRISON CAMP.No, the diary is just the catalyst that inspires Julia's grandmother, Elsie, to tell a story that probably ought to have been told a long time ago. It certainly should've been treated a bit more reverently once it finally WAS told, considering what the VERY long story finally winds up revealing. It is actually two stories, that of Olivia Crawford and that of a young Thai woman, both of whom are unfortunate enough to love Harry. Olivia dominates the first half of the novel, but is unceremoniously dropped into the supporting cast for the second half, when Lidia, the young Thai woman, pops onto the scene.The story moves back and forth from the 1940s to the present. It moves from Norfolk to the South of France to Bangkok and back. But never does one get a good sense of time or place, which conveniently makes the back-and-forth stuff pretty easy. It also changes narrators frequently. It could be confusing, but its not, because the reader just doesn't care. There's very little emotional investment involved. I was too busy rolling my eyes.The plot begins intruiging enough, but soon, when the "action" picks up, events start to pile up on each other so quickly that soon there's simply no room for proper storytelling. Characters are hollow or forced. Events are shoehorned in. Events are made much of and then completely fizzle out. Other events or circumstances are mentioned in passing but actually have no serious effect on anyone's lives. (Not just a stint as a POW.) Numerous times I thought I was finally catching on to the *real* story, and numerous times I was left at yet another dead end.I actually smacked my head at one major plot twist. Another one came right on its heels, and both of them were outrageous and unnecessary. The author needed to narrow it down. She needed to prune back her overgrown story so that some of the budding plots could truly blossom. Instead she left the thing to run wild with itself, resulting in a dozen puny, fleeting, scentless plot lines instead of a few fragrant, hearty ones.This book suffers from too much content and a serious lack of focus. It is not literature. It reads more like a penny dreadful, with stock characters, stock storylines, even stock plot twists, including one of the most dreaded and cliché of all. (MILD SPOILER: A character comes back from the dead! /MILD SPOILER.)And all the time as I was reading, I thought I could at least see the author setting up the Big Ending. It was all there, positioned perfectly - and oops, nope! We get this tidy but tired, trite little ending instead. I confess, I was shocked. I really thought I knew what was coming from a novel titled "The Orchid House." It's the *one* rabbit hole she didn't drag us into, and it's the one I feel could've stabilized this warren of winding plots with a tiny bit of respectable, sound structure.Normally I would say we shouldn't be so aware of the authors scaffolds and maneuvers. We shouldn't "see the strings". But in this case, scaffolding was desperately needed, as were strings, strings to pull this distracted story back to center. I can count at least 6 plot lines that were picked up, briefly examined, then put back on the shelf, without any *impact* on the overall story.In fact, this book played out like a novelization of a tv series. Seemingly significant plot lines were introduced, pursued and promptly, neatly tied up and abandoned as if they were weekly installments. Characters were trotted into the spotlight and then shoved offstage. There was quite a lot of explication and explanation, playing to the lowest common denominator. There was a great deal of "telling" and very little "showing."Speaking of "telling". It seemed to me that the author felt most comfortable telling her story through dialogue. Which, curiously, again suggests "tv series" or "movie" instead of enormous novel. The characters spell out *everything*. Half the book is telegraphed. One character talks herself out of an existential crisis within 3 pages. A crisis, which, by the way, was absolutely out of place and not even secondary or...uh...thirdary...to the main plot.Periodically the book switches from third person to first person *for no good reason*, except I guess the author didn't know how to present certain thoughts or feelings otherwise. Which, come to think of it, I recognize, because at a particularly outrageous part of the story where we'd naturally be *extremely* curious to know what the main character, Julia, is thinking, instead she just shuts down, and we're given the silent treatment. In a different book, that might be intentionally used as a clever device, but it's clearly not done on purpose here."The Orchid House" was an extremely ambitious novel. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. It feels different while you're reading it compared to looking back at it as a whole. Much like a tv series, it took up many different plot lines, and tied off each one, instead of weaving them together to create a tapestry that could be viewed and appreciated whole. Or, instead of mixing metaphors, I could say that "The Orchid House" was a hothouse overcrowded with potted plots, stunting their growth. Instead, I wish Riley had cultivated only a choice few, allowing them the time and space to unfold their delicate petals one by one. It would've been a much more powerful, and more beautiful, story.I'm not exactly thrilled with my review but it'll do until I can come back and tend to it sometime in the future :) the updated Kindle app got me - it automatically asked for a review as soon as I finished reading!

I liked the many twists and turns of this story. It traveled across the world and incorporated history. I enjoyed her style of writing. This was very easy and enjoyable to read.

I admit, her books are now an obsession. This one does not fail. I love her style and way with words, The way she delicately weaves her story together. On to the next one while I wait for Atlas (Pa Salt) to be released.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story is about a wealthy English family with an estate maintained with a staff of over one hundred people. The success of the mansion provides the livelihood for all these people. This story begins in 1939. Harry the son and heir is expected to perform his duties for the good of the estate. It doesn't matter if he desires this life or not, it is his duty.

The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley is the first book I read by this author. But certainly not the last. I found this to be a very pleasant read with a bit of a mystery and an inspiring love story.Julia Forrester, a conert pianist, has suffered a horrific tragedy. Returning to the area where she grew up, Julia hopes to freturn to some semblance of her life before this tragedy. As Julia familiarizes herself with the area, she fondly remembers the stately home, Wharton Park, where her grandfather was the gardener of exotic orchids. But time has changed these stately mansions and it looks as though this estate will be sold shortly.At a house sale at Wharton Park, Julia along with her sister is approached by Kit Crawford who is the present owner of Wharton park. They remember each other from their childhood days and almost immedaitely Kit is attracted to Julia. And shortly afterwards he seeks out Julia to give her a diary found in her grandparents home on the estate.The only person still living who can identify the diary as being Julia's grandfather is her grandmother who begins to recall the story of the secrets of Wharton Park and their inhabitants. Among them, the son of the owner at that time and his wife who he marries on the eve of WWII. They are seperated shortly after their marraige and the stage is set for the secrets from Wharton Park to begin. And it is these secrets which may alter the future lives of those who now live in orf about Wharton Park.The book moves from the countryside of England to Thailand, as the reader is caught up in recollections of years past. And while Julia learns these revelations, she may be able to use this information to come to terms with her grief and her future.

Very disappointed, I thought I'd found another novel by an author that my wife enjoyed reading although this is one of three books I’ve just bought via Amazon only to find out that they are the same as ones we already have but these were published in the USA under alternative titles.

I bought two books by Lucinda Riley - Hothouse flower and The Orchid House. I was very upset and annoyed to find these books are identical apart from the title.How do I return The Orchid House?

I always enjoy Lucinda Riley's books and this was no different.

Great story

I like Lucinda Riley's writing. What I was less keen on was to find that I had already read this novel under a different title - Hothouse Flower.