Customer Reviews

Hothouse Flower

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I'm not normally a big fan of "sweeping family saga" type books, but this was given to me by a trusted book-buddy, so I decided to give it a go - and I have to admit I was totally hooked! To use the old cliché, I literally could not put it down. There's actually more to it than meets the eye. First and foremost, it's a gripping, dramatic, multi-layered storyline that whisks you along, complemented by interesting, believable characters that you really care about. I loved the juxtaposition of the blossoming contemporary romance between Julia and Kit and the love stories/family secrets from the past that are tantalisingly pieced together as the novel unfolds. Without wanting to give too much away, expect some surprising twists! It's beautifully written and conveys a wonderful "sense of place", moving effortlessly between contemporary/wartime England through France and Thailand and back again. The different historical and cultural settings for the various parts of the book are seamlessly interwoven, everything has an authentic ring that lets you lose yourself in these seemingly disparate worlds. I also empathised with the moral dilemmas and divided loyalties that various characters face throughout the book - the conflicting demands of family responsibilities versus personal desires, duty versus free will, are timeless themes that strike a chord with every generation, and are explored here as an integral part of the story. This is top-notch contemporary/historical romantic fiction at its best. Enjoy!

I pinched this off my girlfriend on holiday last week, having run out of reading matter, so I should start by confessing that it's not the kind of book that I'd normally choose (more of a Frederick Forsyth kinda guy!) and I'm not about to become an avid fan of traditional romantic fiction overnight... hence only three stars. However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it despite myself. Personally, I found the writing style fluid and easy, the story races along smartly and the historic settings and locations I thought were evoked extremely well and with considerable flair. Let's face it, this book is not designed for those looking for a Nobel-winning masterpiece with a deep meaning in every sentence. There's actually a certain charm in its innocence and straightforwardness - it's not trying to be "clever", there are no gimmicks, no murders, no gratuitous sex and no shopping! It is simply a great old-fashioned story about love, and the sacrifices we make for it. In short an excellent piece of escapism, if you're prepared to lose yourself in the story and not get too hot under the collar that the style isn't on a par with Proust. If you normally like this sort of novel (my girlfriend devours them and really loved this) I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I was given this by a friend and am ashamed to say it was stuffed into my bookcase and forgotten for many months! I found it one Sunday and sat down to read a few pages then couldnt do anything else! I sat up and read this for most of the night and could not stop until I reached the end! It is wonderful, especially for a debut. The story flows through England, France and Thailand, wartime then back and forth to present day. Intermingling storylines, romance, mystery, intrigue and some heart rendering moments, such superb writing and addictive reading. Its been a long time since I was so taken with a debut novel but I would highly recommend this. Fabulous and now a lovely addition to my keepers shelf!

I normally love historical novels and family sagas, but this was quite disappointing. The parts based in the 1940s were enjoyable, but any parts based in the modern times were just boring, predictable and simply bland. The writing was basic and the excessive use of the word "darling" or "cherie" during dialogues just annoyed me. Do couples really talk like that to each other, either in English or French? And do French people living in Norfolk feel the need to finish all their sentence with a French rhetorical question to demonstrate their origins? I doubt it.

I am so disappointed with this novel. I recently discovered the author Lucinda Riley is also the author Lucinda Edmonds who wrote 8 fabulous books that I read & loved back in the 90's. I had high hopes for this book and was eager to read it after seeing many good reviews. The story line sounded intriguing but I have ploughed my way to page 165 and given it up as I did not enjoy. The writing was stilted, the characters were not well-developed & were hard to care about or believe in. Definitely not a book that I would recommend.

This book was wonderful - I so enjoyed it. It was a present, and as I had never heard of this author, I was a little sceptical. However, I couldn't put it down. Loved it.

What a lovely book. I love a family saga that passes through several generations and this book certainly doesn't disappoint! It has all the ingredients needed to keep the reader in suspense and eager to find out what happened. It is well written and has the perfect ending. I took this book on holiday and spent many hours by the pool reading it. I will certainly look for more books by this author.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It starts off in the modern age and travels back to the past to WWII and the previous occupants of Wharton Park (a large manor house owned by the Crawford family). It dips in and out of the two eras but it's still easy to follow and the characters are both believable and have depth. Despite the 'bad' behaviour of some of the characters, you still end up feeling sympathetic towards them due to the circumstances they find themselves in (i.e at war and in battle). I did shed a tear along the way and I found the book beautifully written. I felt compassion for all the characters and the situations they found themselves in. I definitely hope Lucinda Riley will be publishing more books - I for one will be looking out for them.

I picked up this book expecting an epic family saga which, according to the publisher, was designed to "wring emotion from even the toughest reader's heart". Well, it kind of did wring some emotions, but none of them positive.

The plot is so contrived that in order to work it had to be crammed choke-full of improbable coincidences until it was completely unbelievable. The dialogues are stilted, wooden and unnatural, with lines like "Don't tell me that was actually a furtive vocal admission of the fact you might reciprocate my feelings?" turning up every other sentence (that was a contemporary character speaking, BTW, not a person from the 1930s). A lot of scenes that are supposed to be moving come across just as awkward and ridiculous as the dialogues - like a grown man throwing himself to the ground, weeping, beating the ground with his fists and crying his lover's name out loud, because he misses her. No, I'm not making this up.

Most of the characters are flat and unpleasant, while Lydia the sweet demure Thai girl and her family are painted as walking stereotypes, to the point of being offensive. The main male character, Harry Crawford, is a horrid, selfish egoist who treats his wife like so much dirt, and yet we're supposed to sympathise with his plight, because he's unhappy in his marriage. The book has some horribly misogynist undertones. The female characters all walk on eggshells around their partners, always bending over backwards to accommodate them. For instance,

***SPOILERS***
Harry Crawford tends to be ruthless in bed, taking his wife by force and leaving her with bruises, while thinking about another woman all the way (the family gardener confirms that this is, in fact, OK), yet she doesn't dare to speak a word, because she finds his touch comforting, and doesn't want him to stop bedding her altogether. The physical and emotional abuse are all a trifle - it is only when she finds out about his war-time affair that she become all cold and distant towards him (which is not consistent with her characterisation so far, and has "The plot made me do it" written all over). Despite being ostensibly painted as a suffragette and a modern woman, she doesn't even consider either divorcing her husband or patching up things between them, but instead spends all her life living in his estate as a celibate, mean and bitter divorcee-in-all-but-a-name. Julia, Harry Crawford's granddaughter, certainly lives up to the family standard. When her husband, who presumably died in a car accident along with their little son, suddenly turns up a year later, claiming that he'd been in such a shock that he had to hide away for a year, she immediately buys this explanation, no questions asked.
***

I tried to find some positive qualities to this book, but, unfortunately, there were none. For me, it was worth neither the money, nor the time, nor the effort.

I've never written a review before but had to say something about this. I'm really astonished at all the five star reviews this book has had but thankful to see it is not just me in the one star section.

Let me start by saying that my opinion is not based on any sort of snobbish attitude to this sort of fiction. A lengthy romantic yarn spanning different generations and locations - especially with a big old atmospheric country house thrown in - is normally just my cup of tea for holidays and long journeys.

However, I just thought this was a very bad example of the genre. It is extraordinarily clunkily written and badly plotted, with utterly unsympathetic cliched characters.

I ploughed on to the end in the hope that I would finally see why it is so popular but to no avail. Excruciating stuff.

If you like this sort of thing then there are much better options out there. Kate Morton and Rachel Hore, for example, write very similar stories, only much better and in a much more engaging manner.