It would seem that her birth mother would have been just as intrigued by her daughter's daughter who had known Jasmine longer. I should have left it at page 80, with "Oh Julia, I'll never forget until my dying day, the moment I walked into that Magnolia bedroom and saw her for the first time". Plus, the whole story, the diary which doesn't really play a role at all, is just stupid and very predictable! Started it with such high hopes (beautiful cover, great blurb), when I got to where one sister is telling the other how old she is and about her house, dogs, husband and kids I thought 'hmmm, not sure her sister needs to be TOLD how old she (her sister) is', but gave it the benefit of the doubt. It is whilst coming to terms with her grief that she discovers quite by chance a family secret that will cause even more heartache.

Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley | Goodreads Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley | Goodreads

For fans of The House at Riverton and Rebecca—a debut spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from a magnificent estate in war-torn England to Thailand, this sweeping novel tells the tale of a concert pianist, Julia, and the prominent Crawford family whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences for generations to come. Julia has just suffered a great loss in her life and has gone back to see her grandmother who begins telling her stories of the people who once lived in a great house where Julia's grandmother worked. This book includes incest; two adoptions that are only revealed in adulthood; a husband, who re-emerges alive after his death and turns out to be a complete idiot. One in particular toward the end was just totally absurd, negating whatever redeeming qualities the novel had maintained up to that point. Kaip ir kitose mano skaitytose jos knygose istorija pasakojama dviem laiko linijomis: praeitimi ir dabartimi.I never throw books away, ever, but "Hothouse Flower" deserves nothing better than a new life as toilet paper. As a child Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park, the great house where her grandfather tended exotic orchids. I loved in England, I have English relatives and I can assure you that no one talked the way the aristocrats in this book did.

Hothouse Flower - Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie - Google Books

Julia Forrester has many happy memories of a childhood spent at Wharton Park, playing amongst the exotic flowers her grandad cared for. Remembering the past and finding hidden secrets are a part of THE ORCHID HOUSE that is very appealing. The fact that their 3rd cousins was brought up a few times so that it could be reiterated to the reader by one of the characters that it's 'not a big deal'. But when an old diary is found during renovation work, the pair turn to Julia's grandmother to hear the truth about the love affair that changed Wharton Park's fortunes all those years ago .So madly in love that whilst he's back in England he makes love to his wife, and literally says he doesn't even know why. While characters propel The Baker's Daughter, it is the setting that drives Lucinda Riley's The Orchid House, already a bestseller in Europe. With her newfound independence, she can say goodbye to her overbearing mother and continue her modeling career. The Baker's Daughter is a character-driven novel, while The Orchid House is propelled by its setting.