Synopsis:

Desire for rare orchids inspires the dangerous obsessions of a young wife and her repressive husband in Victorian Boston.

Book Excerpt:

Early the next afternoon Ada moved down the hall, past the sunroom. She had had no intention of entering it now that it was no longer hers, but she stopped, then turned back, putting her kid leather boot on the threshold of the room, and stayed there, hovering, contemplating whether or not she should enter. Finally, she stepped in, softly, trying to prevent her shoes from making a sound as she walked across the rosewood parquetry. The room that had once lifted her spirits was draped in drab cloth and smelled of bark and loam and the dankness of ill-lit places. The orchids seemed to taunt her. What did they want from her? Suddenly, Ada imagined that, to Edward, these plants served as some sort of replacement for the children that they did not have.

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Topics/Categories:

Boston, Gender, Orchids, Sexuality, tantric sexuality, Victorian Novel, Women's Issues

Type of Work:

Novel

Publishers:

G.P. Putnam's Sons

Purchase From:

Amazon.com
Powell's Books
Barnes & Noble
Borders

Original Publish Date:

June 12, 2008

Formats:

Hardcover Audio CD

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