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The Quantock Quartet #4
Beyond the Orchid House
Four independent-minded sisters come of age in the early 1900s - and four interwoven novels tell their stories, each through a different sister's eyes.
The year is 1910, and the four Purcell sisters have only each other. Their mother has died, leaving them orphans in a rambling country estate. But with the help of the Mackenzies - their guardian and his family, whom the sisters come to love in very different ways - Sarah, Frances, Julia, and Gwen find the courage to follow their own paths in a world that is rapidly changing.
Avid readers and fans of historical-fiction classics will love these spirited heroines - named "the Little Women of our times" by the TIMES of London - and will be thoroughly absorbed by their intertwining tales, full of feistiness, creativity, and young romance.
The year is 1910, and the four Purcell sisters have only each other. Their mother has died, leaving them orphans in a rambling country estate. But with the help of the Mackenzies - their guardian and his family, whom the sisters come to love in very different ways - Sarah, Frances, Julia, and Gwen find the courage to follow their own paths in a world that is rapidly changing.
Avid readers and fans of historical-fiction classics will love these spirited heroines - named "the Little Women of our times" by the TIMES of London - and will be thoroughly absorbed by their intertwining tales, full of feistiness, creativity, and young romance.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1994
About the author
Ruth Elwin Harris
7 books23 followersRuth Elwin Harris says that her historic quartet of novels, THE SISTERS OF THE QUANTOCK HILLS, had its beginnings while she was growing up during World War II. To escape the wartime bombing, she and her brother were sent to live with their grandfather in rural Somerset, England. His house and garden became the model for Hillcrest, the Purcell sisters' family home in the four-part series.
Another influence came later, when Ruth Elwin Harris emigrated to Canada at the age of twenty-one . "There was no such thing as e-mail then," the author says, "and the telephone was rarely used -- it was expensive and calls had to be booked. Letter writing was the way we kept in touch. Friends and family wrote often, and I was amazed at how accounts of the same incidents and people were often so different."
Years later, when Ruth Elwin Harris sat down to tell the story of the orphaned Purcell sisters, she remembered those letters and their different viewpoints and incorporated the idea into her writing. Each book has a different sister as heroine, and the story is told from that sister's point of view. "It was strange how partisan I became," the author says . " When I was writing SARAH'S STORY, the first in the series, I became very indignant about the way Frances was behaving, yet when I came to write about the same incidents in FRANCES'S STORY Frances's behavior seemed to me absolutely logical and right."
Ruth Elwin Harris won writing competitions as a schoolgirl, and also dramatized a children's novel for a school production. Before starting on the Quantocks series she wrote short stories for the British Broadcasting Corporation and for magazines. While researching the background for JULIA'S STORY, she came across a collection of family letters in the Imperial War Museum in London, which resulted in her only nonfiction book, BILLIE: THE NEVILL LETTERS 1914-16.
The author enjoys gardening ("very good for working out writing problems in one's mind"); music, particularly opera; traveling; and, of course, reading. She lives with her husband in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
Another influence came later, when Ruth Elwin Harris emigrated to Canada at the age of twenty-one . "There was no such thing as e-mail then," the author says, "and the telephone was rarely used -- it was expensive and calls had to be booked. Letter writing was the way we kept in touch. Friends and family wrote often, and I was amazed at how accounts of the same incidents and people were often so different."
Years later, when Ruth Elwin Harris sat down to tell the story of the orphaned Purcell sisters, she remembered those letters and their different viewpoints and incorporated the idea into her writing. Each book has a different sister as heroine, and the story is told from that sister's point of view. "It was strange how partisan I became," the author says . " When I was writing SARAH'S STORY, the first in the series, I became very indignant about the way Frances was behaving, yet when I came to write about the same incidents in FRANCES'S STORY Frances's behavior seemed to me absolutely logical and right."
Ruth Elwin Harris won writing competitions as a schoolgirl, and also dramatized a children's novel for a school production. Before starting on the Quantocks series she wrote short stories for the British Broadcasting Corporation and for magazines. While researching the background for JULIA'S STORY, she came across a collection of family letters in the Imperial War Museum in London, which resulted in her only nonfiction book, BILLIE: THE NEVILL LETTERS 1914-16.
The author enjoys gardening ("very good for working out writing problems in one's mind"); music, particularly opera; traveling; and, of course, reading. She lives with her husband in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 8, 2017
I'm kind of sad to have finished this series! I have to say I've read nothing else like it... Each book is about a different sister, and often events that were mentioned in one book are retold in another from a different sister's perspective. While Gwen's Story starts out that way, it then takes us farther into the future than any of the other books have, I believe.
I am quite delighted that this book was about a woman and her artistic and botanical interests, with nary an unwanted love interest to be seen! Just her memories of Antony. RIP. (Not a spoiler, really, since it's mentioned in the three books before this one.) The world needs more books about orchid-raising spinsters! (Actually, just one is good enough. But I'm glad it exists.)
I am quite delighted that this book was about a woman and her artistic and botanical interests, with nary an unwanted love interest to be seen! Just her memories of Antony. RIP. (Not a spoiler, really, since it's mentioned in the three books before this one.) The world needs more books about orchid-raising spinsters! (Actually, just one is good enough. But I'm glad it exists.)
May 25, 2011
cette série de 4 romans est un vrai coup de coeur, une vraie petite merveille que cette histoires de 4 soeurs que l'on suit de 1910 à 1936 en angleterre; les 4 soeurs, ont toutes un personnalité différentes, elles sont toutes attachantes à leur manières; j'ai tout aimé, les personnages, l'atmosphère, les descriptions, les évolutions des différents personnages; dommage que ces romans ne soient pas plus connus, ils pourraient en intéressés plus d'un!
January 24, 2019
I’ve really enjoyed rereading this series again. Approaching them as an adult this time and not as a young teenager I was surprised that Gwen’s story which I had always found a bit dull was one of my favourites this time. Sad to have reached the end of the books, there isn’t really another series quite like them.
February 17, 2010
I really enjoyed the entire series. Sometimes I love to finish up a series and feel a great satisfaction and other times I'm sorry that it's over. This one I'm sorry it's over. I so enjoyed reading about their lives. I hope the author will write more about them.
January 10, 2022
Delicate, understated... so meaningful. This book is more than what it first appears to be. It's about opening the eyes to reality. Who knew flowers could carry one out of themselves let alone save lives?
March 3, 2012
Began with a bit of promise and then became rather boring.
May 18, 2021
Four sister with distinct personalities = something for everyone. Feeling wild, proud & ambitious? You're a Frances! Family & domestic bliss is your kind of thing? You're a Julia! Unrestrained passion and intellect? We have...a Sarah! What about a Gwen. What makes someone a Gwen. You're a Gwen if you're a...spinster who likes gardening?! I know I sound almost disdainful but the truth is I adore the Quantock sisters and their story arcs. Gwen's is no different. The truth is, I sympathised with Gwen. It might have taken longer for her to break out of her shell. And she did need some (mildly aggressive) push throughout. But she did it at her own pace according to her own timing. I also admired the quiet ways she stood up for herself and how she acted as a buffer between her more vociferous sisters and in-laws. It is often unnoticed and precisely the kind of work that gets relegated to a secondary character. All the more reason to show appreciation for Ruth Elwin Harris's Quantock quartet. It is Little Women's spiritual successor like none other.
March 27, 2024
I read this book like 1.5/2 years ago, I found this book in the school library. I didn't think I'd enjoy it.. but it got me hooked. It was an emotional roller coaster and I cried alot. And now its my favourite book and I've not found any book like it. As I've said I haven't read the others in the series but around the same time I finished the book I got the rest of the series.. but back then I was still hooked on to the ending of beyond the orchid house that I didn't have motivation to read them butnow I'm getting around to it!! Also wishing this series was more popular as it deserves it and there's not quite like it.
February 7, 2018
This was the first time I had reread this series in many, many years, and for the most part I still enjoyed it. I did, however, find these books rather more slowly going than I remember them being. The writing is very descriptive - beautiful! Yet descriptive. And yet there were scenes I remember being powerful and heartbreaking that on this reread felt emotionally lacking. An interesting reread of a series I remember fondly, but not sure I would recommend to many younger readers today (even if it wasn't out of print!).
January 13, 2025
A gentle book, that makes me long for a garden, but not without darker undertones. As another reviewer has said, I think this is likely to be most appreciated by an adult reader who can pick up on some of the subtleties, and appreciate the pace.
May 1, 2020
I've loved all four in this series. Reading the different perspectives. Of course following reading this book now I want to know more, to read more of Hillcrest and what happens in next few years.
March 19, 2023
In a change from the other books in this series, very little page time is spent on the Purcell's early years and WWI. We do get to go along on the walk over the Quantocks and get to know Gwen and her fears and her relationship with Antony.
The majority of this book follows Gwen at age 38 as the world prepares for another war. Gwen as homebody is the perfect anchor for this series to end on. She and Hillcrest are closely tied to one another and are the touchstone her sisters return to throughout their lives. That being said, there is more to her character than the homebody gardener she is seen as in the other books. By taking on an orchid collection (and care of her nephew, Antony's namesake) she grows into a fuller and stronger version of herself who is no longer hampered by the past. This book ends on a positive, hopeful note for the future of Gwen and Hillcrest.
I am sorry we don't get to see more of Sarah in this book, but we do hear about her. I also liked that we get to know Lucy Mackenzie a bit more. She is a fascinating character who could easily have filled her own book.
I absolutely loved re-reading this series. Definitely a five star keeper shelf favorite all the way around, not a weak volume in it.
The majority of this book follows Gwen at age 38 as the world prepares for another war. Gwen as homebody is the perfect anchor for this series to end on. She and Hillcrest are closely tied to one another and are the touchstone her sisters return to throughout their lives. That being said, there is more to her character than the homebody gardener she is seen as in the other books. By taking on an orchid collection (and care of her nephew, Antony's namesake) she grows into a fuller and stronger version of herself who is no longer hampered by the past. This book ends on a positive, hopeful note for the future of Gwen and Hillcrest.
I am sorry we don't get to see more of Sarah in this book, but we do hear about her. I also liked that we get to know Lucy Mackenzie a bit more. She is a fascinating character who could easily have filled her own book.
I absolutely loved re-reading this series. Definitely a five star keeper shelf favorite all the way around, not a weak volume in it.
December 31, 2017
The main appeal of Gwen’s Story at the beginning was to finish filling in the gaps of the series. Gwen has a good perspective because she did not leave Hillcrest, giving her the longevity to complete the story. While maintaining some of the series flaws (in my opinion) that I encountered, such as jumping through time with little warning, bluntly announcing character deaths, and assuming the reader has ample background knowledge on things like London in the 1920/30s, this book had some good features unto itself. Unlike the other books that let you know the year, Gwen is organized in”eras”, if you will. Since Gwen’s life stayed the same for such an amount of time, her developing such an intense interest in orchids defines a new period of her life. There is another shift as she branches out from Hillcrest and sees what’s going on in the world around her.
July 7, 2009
In this final book about the Purcell sisters, Gwen, a talented illustrator and gardener, is drawn away from her beloved home to pursue a sudden interest in orchids, as World War II breaks out.
June 4, 2020
I enjoyed this one more than I had when I was a child, I came to appreciate Gwen’s depths more.
August 15, 2015
I didn't care for the writing style of this book.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews