The Forbidden Orchid in The Reader's Lounge

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May 22, 2014 Pili rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I was pretty sure after A Mad Wicked Folly, but now having read The Forbidden Orchid, I know that Sharon Biggs Waller writes the kind of historical fiction that reminds me why I love the genre! Thoroughly researched, painted so vividly you can feel the earth under your nails and the sea breeze on you face! With amazing & complex characters and a journey that is never as straightforward as you'd expect.

Elodie is the oldest on a family of ten girls with a father that spends most of the time away, I was pretty sure after A Mad Wicked Folly, but now having read The Forbidden Orchid, I know that Sharon Biggs Waller writes the kind of historical fiction that reminds me why I love the genre! Thoroughly researched, painted so vividly you can feel the earth under your nails and the sea breeze on you face! With amazing & complex characters and a journey that is never as straightforward as you'd expect.

Elodie is the oldest on a family of ten girls with a father that spends most of the time away, travelling the world and finding new plants for collectors and scientists. She is both responsible and level headed and also a little bit eccentric since she isn't one to conform exactly to the society's expectations. I absolutely loved reading through her journey of discovering who she is and growing into the woman she wants to be. She had the rebellion and the fear and the strength to try and do what she thought was right. And thankfully also had the common sense to try and learn from others when need be, even if she was a bit of the "I will go on by sheer force of will if need be" variety.

I loved that there was a lot of emphasis in the family dynamics, between Elodie and her sisters, the relationship between their parents, Elodie and her dad, and then the different relationships with a different culture once we start the journey in search of the orchid. I loved that Elodie was most of the time torn between defiance & compliance and that she learnt what battles to fight upfront and which ones to try and turn her way in more subtle ways.

I've already mentioned the fantastic world building and the attention to detail that Sharon so easily slips everywhere, but I just love how completely you feel like you are there in the China seas, or the jungle looking for an orchid, or the English countryside.

The book felt a lil slow in the beginning but I think that was more my impatience with getting onto the travelling in China and getting onto the orchid search than the book's fault. You cannot have a girl in 1861 go trampling in search of an orchid without some proper set up and serious circumstances! But once things started getting in motion, the pacing was as flawless as always!

There's romance in the book, and oh boy, was I rooting for them both since the very first moment! And if we do add the most adorable doggie ever to the book... there's plenty of cute moments! And some very necessary ones to lighten the mood here and there. There's a point when you might want to shake Elodie, but she really needs to learn to make her own choices, so do have patience with her!

A really wonderful historical fiction book that I absolutely adored and cannot wait to read as a finished copy next!! Very much deserved 5 stars! ...more

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Jan 14, 2016 Lauren marked it as to-read

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