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The adventures of a British girl in China, hunting for the orchid that will save her family. Staid, responsible Elodie Buchanan is the eldest of ten sisters growing up in a small English market town in 1861. The girls barely know their father, a plant hunter usually off adventuring through China, more myth than man. Then disaster strikes: Mr. Buchanan reneges on his contract to collect an extremely rare and valuable orchid. He will be thrown into debtors’ prison while his daughters are sent to the orphanage and the workhouse. Elodie can’t stand by and see her family destroyed, so she persuades her father to return to China once more to try to hunt down the flower—only this time, despite everything she knows about her place in society, Elodie goes with him. She has never before left her village, but what starts as fear turns to wonder as she adapts to seafaring life aboard the tea clipper The Osprey, and later to the new sights, dangers, and romance of China. She comes to find that both the world and her place in it are so much bigger than she’d ever dreamed. But now, even if she can find the orchid, how can she ever go back to being the staid, responsible Elodie that everybody needs?
“A fascinating novel, similar to Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha . . . A revisionist portrait of a beautiful and strong-willed woman” (Houston Chronicle). A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year From Anchee Min, a master of the historical novel, Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China’s last empress. Min introduces the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, and weaves an epic of the country girl who seized power through seduction, murder, and endless intrigue. When China is threatened by enemies, she alone seems capable of holding the country together. In this “absorbing companion piece to her novel Becoming Madame Mao,” readers and reading groups will once again be transported by Min’s lavish evocation of the Forbidden City in its last days of imperial glory and by her brilliant portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman who survived, and ultimately dominated, a male world (The New York Times). “Superb . . . [An] unforgettable heroine.” —People “A sexually charged, eye-opening portrayal of the Chinese empire . . . with heart-wrenching scenes of desperate failure and a sensuality that rises off its heated pages.” —Elle
In 1909 London, as the world of debutante balls and high society obligations closes in around her, seventeen-year-old Victoria must figure out just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.
'Vivid and entertaining ... this is history as it plays upon the emotions. Empires crumble, hearts are broken' THE TIMES From the bestselling author of Red Azalea comes the much-anticipated sequel to Empress Orchid At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman, Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid, who must face the perilous condition of her empire and devastating personal losses. In this sequel to the bestselling Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who sacrifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.
In the Forgotten Empires magic is forbidden, dreams are destiny, and love is the greatest power of all...Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, the lush romantic fantasy world of the Forgotten Empires series will sweep you away. A PRISONER OF FATE As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Lia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own... A PRINCE AMONG MEN Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Lia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls? “A lush... perilous and passionate world.”—New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep
"Absolutely essential, as is the underlying message that girls take care of each other when no one else will." —Booklist, Starred Review A 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection Girls on the Verge is an incredibly timely novel about a woman’s right to choose. Sharon Biggs Waller brings to life a narrative that has to continue to fight for its right to be told, and honored. Camille couldn't be having a better summer—she kills it as Ophelia in her community theater's production of Hamlet, catches the eye of the cutest boy in the play, and nabs a spot in a prestigious theater program. But on the very night she learns she got into the program, she also finds out she’s pregnant. She definitely can’t tell her parents. And her best friend Bea doesn’t agree with the decision Camille has made. Camille is forced to try to solve her problem alone...and the system is very much working against her. At her most vulnerable, Camille reaches out to Annabelle Ponsonby, a girl she only barely knows from the theater. Happily, Annabelle agrees to drive her wherever she needs to go. And in a last minute change of heart, Bea decides to come with. Over the course of more than a thousand miles, friendships will be tested and dreams will be challenged. But ultimately, the girls will realize that friends are the real heroes in every story. "[C]ompelling... This title offers realistic viewpoints on teenage pregnancy, along with what it is like to have the right to choose, wanting that right, and living knowing that you will be judged for having exercised it." —School Library Journal, Starred Review
Note to readers: In the UK, this book is published under the title Hothouse Flower. From beloved New York Times bestselling author Lucinda Riley, a “sweeping, poignant saga that will enthrall fans of The House at Riverton, Rebecca, and Downton Abbey” (Shelf Awareness). Spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from the Wharton Park estate in England to Thailand, this sweeping novel tells the tale of a concert pianist and the aristocratic Crawford family, whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences. As a child, concert pianist Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park, the grand estate reminiscent of Downton Abbey where her grandfather tended exotic orchids. Years later, while struggling with overwhelming grief over the death of her husband and young child, she returns to this tranquil place. There she reunites with Kit Crawford, heir to the estate and her possible salvation. When they discover an old diary, Julia seeks out her grandmother to learn the truth behind a love affair that almost destroyed the estate. Their search takes them back to the 1940s when Harry, a former heir to Wharton Park, married his young society bride, Olivia, on the eve of World War II. When the two lovers are cruelly separated, the impact will be felt for generations to come. This atmospheric story alternates between the magical world of Wharton Park and Thailand during World War II. Filled with twists and turns, passions and lies, and ultimately redemption, The Orchid House is a beautiful, romantic, and poignant novel.
In the bestselling tradition of The Red Tent, The Family Orchard is a spellbinding novel of one unforgettable family, the orchard they've tended for generations, and a love story that transcends the ages. Nomi Eve's lavishly imagined account begins in Palestine in 1837, with the tale of the irrepressible family matriach, Esther, who was lured by the smell of baking bread into an affair with the local baker. Esther passes on her passionate nature to her son, Eliezer, whose love for the forbidden Golda threatened to tear the family apart. And to her granddaughter, Avra the thief, a tiny wisp of a girl who thumbed her nose at her elders by swiping precious stones from the local bazaar-and grew to marry a man she met at the scene of a crime. At once epic and intimate, The Family Orchard is a rich historical tapestry of passion and tradition from a storyteller of beguiling power.
The Fifteens of Stone House have reached Attainment: the day a girlie may Beseech for the privilege of serving as a Perfected womanidol in the Orchid Nursery. When vivacious, irreverent Pearl goes missing, pious Mica hopes fervently that her friend has been chosen for Perfection and has not, as she fears, absconded from the State. Mica feels bound by love and duty to seek Pearl - to save her from punishment if she is caught by the Ecumen or, worse, if she has left Civilisation. Mica's search will take her into a frightening physical and moral terrain where insurgents and outcasts are still fighting a strategic war against the clerical regime. But first Mica must bring herself to violate the secret-sacred space that is the Orchid Nursery. Through its youthful protagonists The Orchid Nursery explores sexual politics and the co-opting of religion to perpetrate extremes of misogyny, violence, control and obliteration of the cultural and historical record. It also sees the possibility of hope emerging from the worst kind of dystopia. "A powerful story, so visual and present it feels like a cross between a painting by Hieronymus Bosch and MCEscher ... Confronting in its truths, The Orchid Nursery's richness of language also layers it in warmth and humour." - Stephanie Smith "A superbly crafted vision of a toxic cultural wasteland. Three women: rebel, zealot, hag. Three journeys through a disintegrated future. Check current news reportage before claiming the horrors of The Orchid Nursery could never come to pass within our lifetime." - Cat Sparks "Terrifying, but so beautifully, dreamily written." - Elizabeth Farrelly " A] febrile world of strong and desperate characters, alien lore and changing loyalties ... that Katz presents with luminous, edgy and at times almost unbearably vivid descriptions. Mysterious and compelling, the narrative is etched with a grim humour in its dark evocation of a world both eerie and strange and yet also disturbingly familiar." - Libby Hathorn"
After its Peruvian discovery in 2002, Phragmipedium kovachii became the rarest and most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market. Then one showed up at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where every year more than 100,000 people visit. They come for the lush landscape on Sarasota Bay and for Selby's vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world. The collision between Selby's scientists and the smugglers of Phrag. Kovachii, a rare ladyslipper orchid hailed as the most significant and beautiful new species discovered in a century, led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and criminal charges. It made headlines around the country, cost the gardens hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and led to tremendous internal turmoil. Investigative journalist Craig Pittman unravels this tangled web to shine a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife--which may protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild. The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed--with beauty, with profit, with fame--that they will ignore everything, even the law.
Four teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. “Spectacular . . . intensely evocative and gorgeously written . . . will fill readers’ eyes with tears and wonder.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves. They spend their summers at Anya’s dacha just outside of Moscow, lazing in the apple orchard, listening to Queen songs, and fantasizing about trips abroad and the lives of American teenagers. Meanwhile, Anya’s parents talk about World War II, the Blockade, and the hardships they have endured. By the time Anya and Milka are fifteen, the Soviet Empire is on the verge of collapse. They pair up with classmates Trifonov and Lopatin, and the four friends share secrets and desires, argue about history and politics, and discuss forbidden books. But the world is changing, and the fleeting time they have together is cut short by a sudden tragedy. Years later, Anya returns to Russia from America, where she has chosen a different kind of life, far from her family and childhood friends. When she meets Lopatin again, he is a smug businessman who wants to buy her parents’ dacha and cut down the apple orchard. Haunted by the ghosts of her youth, Anya comes to the stark realization that memory does not fade or disappear; rather, it moves us across time, connecting our past to our future, joys to sorrows. Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry’s The Orchard powerfully captures the lives of four Soviet teenagers who are about to lose their country and one another, and who struggle to survive, to save their friendship, to recover all that has been lost.
New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan brings you Every Sweet Regret, a sexy standalone romance about a single dad and the reformed party girl who’s loved him all her life. For as long as I can remember, Kace Matthews has been my brother’s best friend and my not-so-secret crush. But I knew nothing would ever happen between us. The successful single dad doesn’t fall for the hot mess party girl. Kace + Stella exists in the doodles in my high school notebooks and in my dreams. Never in real life. Until he finds me on a hookup app and starts flirting shamelessly. It turns out high school Stella was not prepared for Kace Matthews. Adult Stella isn’t much better, but I manage to break down the walls to show Kace the real me—not just the life-of-the-party exterior, but the vulnerable pieces I hide from the world. Combine that with the combustible chemistry we have in real life, and I’m a goner. Too bad it takes me so long to realize Kace doesn’t know I’m the girl he’s been falling for online. Telling him the truth now that he knows my secrets could mean losing everything, and that’s one regret that could break me.
Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel Pdf
Longlisted for the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A kaleidoscopic journey into the world of nature’s most tantalizing flower, and the lives it has inspired. The epitome of floral beauty, orchids have long fostered works of art, tales of adventure, and scientific discovery. Tenacious plant hunters have traversed continents to collect rare specimens; naturalists and shoguns have marveled at orchids’ seductive architecture; royalty and the smart set have adorned themselves with their allure. In Orchid Muse, historian and home grower Erica Hannickel gathers these bold tales of the orchid-smitten throughout history, while providing tips on cultivating the extraordinary flowers she features. Consider Empress Eugenie and Queen Victoria, the two most powerful women in nineteenth-century Europe, who shared a passion for Coelogyne cristata, with its cascading, fragrant white blooms. John Roebling, builder of the Brooklyn Bridge, cultivated thousands of orchids and introduced captivating hybrids. Edmond Albius, an enslaved youth on an island off the coast of Madagascar, was the first person to hand-pollinate Vanilla planifolia, leading to vanilla’s global boom. Artist Frida Kahlo was drawn to the lavender petals of Cattleya gigas and immortalized the flower’s wilting form in a harrowing self-portrait, while more recently Margaret Mee painted the orchids she discovered in the Amazon to advocate for their conservation. The story of orchidomania is one that spans the globe, transporting readers from the glories of the palace gardens of Chinese Empress Cixi to a seedy dime museum in Gilded Age New York’s Tenderloin, from hazardous jungles to the greenhouses and bookshelves of Victorian collectors. Lush and inviting, with radiant full-color illustrations throughout, Orchid Muse is the ultimate celebration of our enduring fascination with these beguiling flowers.
‘By far the best book I have read in 2018!... A gripping, brilliant, have-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat-in-suspense psychological thriller! From the very first page I was enthralled and hooked... Kept me guessing... The ending will knock you square off of your feet!... Amazing 5 star read.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'Now we are bound forever,' she says, her eyes determined. 'I will never tell anyone, I swear. This is between you and me. Now you swear too.' They called them the Orchid Girls. Grace. Molly. Charlotte. One of them is in love. One of them is a liar. One of them is dead. On a jagged Dorset cliff, wind whipping their hair, waves crashing on the rocks below, three friends became two when Charlotte’s body was pulled out of the sea. Fifteen years later Grace and Molly are worlds apart. Grace has a glittering career and a loving husband. Molly is a lonely, unemployed alcoholic. Grace has everything to lose. Molly has nothing. They have moved on from the tragic accident that shadowed their childhood. But somewhere lies a photograph waiting to be unearthed – waiting to reveal a secret that one of the Orchid Girls is desperate to keep hidden... The Orchid Girls is a breathless, gripping and twisty story of love, obsession and dark, shocking secrets. Fans of KL Slater, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train – read this one with the lights on… Readers absolutely love The Orchid Girls: ‘Loved this. A gripping thriller full of secrets and lies.’ Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request ‘I loved this book!! I was hooked from the first page and highly recommend… Absolutely twisted and amazing!!’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘Amazing… A compelling tale of secrets, lies, manipulation, obsession, first love, addiction, denial, friendships and relationships… Had me hooked in and totally enthralled from the very first page… Keeps the reader guessing… Highly recommended.’ Niki’s Life of Crime, 5 stars ‘Wow. I’m speechless… Enthralling story… My, my, my you have to read it… The first one read by Lesley Sanderson and it won’t be the last! Kept me wanting more!!!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘Excellent read! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, bam, a twist!... The characters are complex and richly detailed. This is a book that will keep you guessing till the climatic ending… Well written with a superb storyline... If you like psychological suspense then you will love this book.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘I just finished The Orchid Girls and what a crazy, messed-up ride! I was hooked from first few pages and it only got more intense!... D R A M A and secrets and twisted lies on lies on lies… And the end made me gasp with twisty delight… Delighted because a final twist was delivered with a thunderous boom!!!... This one is gonna be hot!... Five stars!!!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘WOW… WOW. ONE. CRAZY. RIDE!... A thriller that had me wrapped up in everything about this book! The characters were cray cray I literally was screaming at some of them in my head… I can’t wait to read more from Lesley!’ Steph and Chris’s Book Review ‘Wow! This book had me up late, flipping pages and needing to know everything and everyone that was involved…. Thrilling, chilling and absolutely unputdownable! Will be highly recommending!’ Chapter Chatter Pub, 5 stars ‘Managed to finish this book in a couple of sittings!’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘Fabulous… Really difficult to put down!’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘A gripping psychological thriller... but it is also so much more. It's evocative, engaging, and utterly enthralling.’ The Bandwagon, 5 stars ‘Really gripped me and I was nearly late for work as I was desperate to finish it!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars [not enough space on KDP from here on in!] ‘Had me hooked from the start… The author does a very good job at keeping the reader guessing and speculating about the shocking truth.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘I was hooked… It's a great psychological thriller that will have you guessing… I just loved it… Amazing book.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘The story drew me in from the very first page… I loved it.’ Beauty Balm, 5 stars ‘This was so good!... I just flew through it, and ended up finishing the whole book in two sittings. I absolutely love books that keep me thinking about them even after I've finished reading them, and this one has really stayed with me… A fast, nail-biting read.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘First class… A thrilling multi-faceted story.’ Goodreads Reviewer