Orchid House

ORCHID HOUSE is not on my 100 list but is a book I just finished for my book club. It is written by Lucinda Riley. If you like Downtown Abbey sort of stories then you will love this book. It starts with the Legend of the Black Orchid and then gets into the main story. The place that most of the story takes place is around a manor house in Norfolk, England called Wharton Park. The story is set in both the present and the past in the 1940's. Other places involved in the story are Thailand and Paris. Little twists and turns occur throughout the story. You will learn to hate and then possibly love Harry Crawford. Or you may waffle back and forth on this character, I am still not sure I like him, but I do pity him. I definitely feel sorry for Olivia, Harry's wife. But WWII caused all sorts of trouble for all sorts of people, even the upper class had to make sure that their estates would survive, even if it meant an arranged marriage, of sorts. Again lots of twists and turns. The other wronged person is Julia, who is a great pianist who lost her husband and child in a tragic accident, or did she? Anyway, her sister, Alicia, brings her back from France and Julia then finds solitude in a little cottage. Of course, everyone worries about her until love runs into her and she gradually stops beating herself up. Her relatives are a little convoluted so this is where we weave the stories together. I will not go into anymore detail, so that you can read the book. I like historical fiction and I like flowers, so the characters of the gardener, Bill, and his wife, Elsie, are my favorites. They are the grandparents of Julia, so she spent time going to the greenhouse at Wharton Park and falling in love with the estate. It is where she first meets Kit, when she was a child. Kit is the current owner of Wharton Park, which he is trying to sell due to heavy repairs that need to be done. If I were to use my 5 star system I would give this 4. This is a debut novel of Lucinda Riley, who was born in Ireland and lives with her husband and 4 children in rural England. The book was published by Atria Paperback a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc. Copyright 2011, published by Atria in February 2012.