The Orchid House in Around the World

Dec 30, 2011 Nina rated it it was ok

Shelves: mission101, netgalley, 2012

I ended up liking the characters and plot of this book more than I expected when I started reading. The book jumps back and forth between the present and recollections from two generations back and deftly spins a story that reveals hidden connections, secrets, and parallels between many of the characters. There are repeated themes of dealing with the grief of losing loved ones, the conflict between love and duty, and the strong bond of family. The settings are lovely, featuring an English countr I ended up liking the characters and plot of this book more than I expected when I started reading. The book jumps back and forth between the present and recollections from two generations back and deftly spins a story that reveals hidden connections, secrets, and parallels between many of the characters. There are repeated themes of dealing with the grief of losing loved ones, the conflict between love and duty, and the strong bond of family. The settings are lovely, featuring an English country estate and exotic, lush Thailand. All of the story lines wrap up nicely, maybe a little too nicely, but it left me with a feeling of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the weak writing takes away significantly from this book's potential. The worst part is the dialogue, and the characters talk too much for this to be overlooked. There's a lot of uninspired dialogue. There's an extreme overuse of ellipses. But worst of all is when the author is trying to make the characters sound a certain way, and that character's dialogue alternates between normal English and something unrealistic and exaggerated. For example, the two French-speaking characters demonstrate their French-ness by constantly adding "n'est-ce pas?" to their sentences. And Lidia, a formerly wealthy Thai woman supposedly educated by the British, mostly speaks in the stereotypical Asian way ("I get pay rise too, so my family very happy.") but occasionally lapses into regular English, saying things like "Now I must leave you, as I have new guests arriving very soon." For a character who typically can't remember to put verbs in sentences, a sentence like "I would have to ask Madame" shows pretty good mastery of verb conjugation. It’s also hard to deal with Kit, a contemporary character, saying things like, "Whilst I concoct the pasta sauce, I shall pour our my troubles to you."

As a storyteller, Lucinda Riley has potential. Hopefully with her future books, she can overcome the challenge of writing convincing dialogue. I was ultimately glad I didn’t give up on this book, but there were many points while reading where it was tempting to do so. ...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Suzanne rated it liked it

Shelves: around-my-bookshelf-year-1, historical-fiction, geocaching-challenge-2016

Fun chick-lit fiction along the lines of Kate Morton, The Orchid House is a rich story set in present day England (on a lush estate called Wharton Park) and a past that takes us on mysterious journey to Thailand at the end of World War II.

This was a real page turner - the kind of book you love to cozy up to on a cold winter's day with a cup of something hot beside your favorite reading chair. This book has it all - romance, history, glamour, mystery and heartbreak. I had a tough time deciding it ...more

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May 16, 2014 Barbarac rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: uk, tbr2014

I was debating whether to even spend time writing a review for this book. Which by the way I didn't finish. About 65% percent of the book I debated whether punching my kindle.
I wanted it out of my sight more than I wanted to know what mysteries the journal held. And so i gave up.
And the review is for those out there that find they have similar taste in books as me.
None of the characters are believable and their conversations are...out of this world! Nobody talks like that. In the 1930s or now.
E ...more

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