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misshappyapples 's review for:
The Orchid House
by Lucinda Riley
There are few things in this life I feel I have to authority to proclaim more than this: this book was not good. It seems to be a trend lately to write books that have two stories. One that takes place in the present, one that takes place in the past, and haunting secrets that resonate through generations. We can probably call it the Kate Morton Effect, as her historical novels are far more popular than they have any business being (don't get me wrong, I love them). Many of them are good, connect well between storylines, and keep the reader entertained no matter which story is on the page. This was not one of them. Honestly, I've never a read a book that was so full of cliches. There were several moments where I had to pause and wonder if I should just put it down and stop wasting my time, but decided to persevere for the small amount of me that was curious to see if there would be some sort of interesting twist. There wasn't. Every single thing that happened in this book was obviously from the start. It read like the author had glutted herself on Kate Morton, seasons of Downton Abbey, and then threw in some Madame Butterfly for good measure.
After the death of her husband and child, concert pianist Julia Forester fled her home in the south of France to her cottage on the Norfolk coast where she grew up. Christopher "Kit" Crawford has inherited Wharton Hall, his family's manor house, and is getting ready to sell up when he and Julia, who's grandfather was the gardener at Wharton, meet once again and there are immediate sparks. When a found journal from a Japanese prison camp during World War II is unearthed Julia visits her grandmother for answers and hears the tale of Harry Crawford, Kit's second cousin, his quick marriage to debutante Olivia, and a secret love in the far east. As Kit and Julia fall into a relationship it soon seems as if history may be repeating itself. Spanning from England, to Thailand, and the Côte d'Azur 'The Orchid House' is a sweeping tale of familial secrets, betrayal, and starting anew.
The dialogue was, in a word, horrific. When I first started I had to quickly check the back to see if the author was American or some other nationality because her English phrases were so ridiculously cliche. And that's not even taking the stilted conversation into account. This book was dialogue driven, which can work, if the dialogue is written well. This was not. There were so many strange endearances and immediate declarations that it made me roll my eyes far more than was probably healthy. My eyes could have stuck like that.
To be honest, I wondered if Riley had changed the time period from the time surrounding World War I with the time surrounding World War II. Her descriptions of Olivia's season and the role of Elsie all screamed early twentieth century. By the forties I have never heard of a girl wearing a corset, for example. Elaborate hairdos were not everyday And, most importantly, most manor houses were either divided and sold or given to the National Trust. Now, that's not to say there weren't manor houses in operation in the forties, there certainly were, but they were in their last gasp and it seemed like a striking ommision not to mention this, especially when one of the characters must give up his life for his obligation to the place.
The whole story was over-dramatic, cliched, and lacked any sort of motivation. But that's not to say everything was wrong with this book. It wasn't good, to be sure, but I did find myself wondering about characters and what would happen to them. There was one, albeit groan inducing, twist in the third act which it book could have, and should have, done without. I was curious about Lidia and what had become of her, but her fate could have been explained in a paragraph. Overall, I wouldn't recommend. I've read a lot of books like this one and can honestly say that this one is not up to snuff.
After the death of her husband and child, concert pianist Julia Forester fled her home in the south of France to her cottage on the Norfolk coast where she grew up. Christopher "Kit" Crawford has inherited Wharton Hall, his family's manor house, and is getting ready to sell up when he and Julia, who's grandfather was the gardener at Wharton, meet once again and there are immediate sparks. When a found journal from a Japanese prison camp during World War II is unearthed Julia visits her grandmother for answers and hears the tale of Harry Crawford, Kit's second cousin, his quick marriage to debutante Olivia, and a secret love in the far east. As Kit and Julia fall into a relationship it soon seems as if history may be repeating itself. Spanning from England, to Thailand, and the Côte d'Azur 'The Orchid House' is a sweeping tale of familial secrets, betrayal, and starting anew.
The dialogue was, in a word, horrific. When I first started I had to quickly check the back to see if the author was American or some other nationality because her English phrases were so ridiculously cliche. And that's not even taking the stilted conversation into account. This book was dialogue driven, which can work, if the dialogue is written well. This was not. There were so many strange endearances and immediate declarations that it made me roll my eyes far more than was probably healthy. My eyes could have stuck like that.
To be honest, I wondered if Riley had changed the time period from the time surrounding World War I with the time surrounding World War II. Her descriptions of Olivia's season and the role of Elsie all screamed early twentieth century. By the forties I have never heard of a girl wearing a corset, for example. Elaborate hairdos were not everyday And, most importantly, most manor houses were either divided and sold or given to the National Trust. Now, that's not to say there weren't manor houses in operation in the forties, there certainly were, but they were in their last gasp and it seemed like a striking ommision not to mention this, especially when one of the characters must give up his life for his obligation to the place.
The whole story was over-dramatic, cliched, and lacked any sort of motivation. But that's not to say everything was wrong with this book. It wasn't good, to be sure, but I did find myself wondering about characters and what would happen to them. There was one, albeit groan inducing, twist in the third act which it book could have, and should have, done without. I was curious about Lidia and what had become of her, but her fate could have been explained in a paragraph. Overall, I wouldn't recommend. I've read a lot of books like this one and can honestly say that this one is not up to snuff.