Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel
by Margot Berwin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margot BerwinEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-16
ISBN: 0307377849
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Pantheon
Book Reviews of Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel
Book Review: High Praise for this Vibrant Experience
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
At first I thought I selected this book because of my wife (but not *for* my wife) because of her love of horticulture and her penchant for romance. I later learned that I was wrong on two counts: First, it's not a "book", it's a story. Second, I didn't choose the story, the story chose me.
A book is a physical assembly of pages, a linear march from page one to the end. But a story doesn't end when you get to the last page of the book. A story sneaks out of the pages and follows you around. A story takes you for a walk. A story is there whether you know it or not. It's waiting for you when you start your car and it and startles you in the mirror while you're shaving. A story like this makes you look around the room to see if anyone else heard that sound. Worst of all, this story drives you mad as you find yourself cleaning up the leaves and feathers that just fell from the pages.
I don't know how Margot Berwin did it.
My first clue should have been the mention of her inspirations from Hermann Hesse and Carlos Castaneda. Those were strange days back in college when I read the entire Teachings of Don Juan series and then Steppenwolf and Siddhartha. I never expected to repeat that experience as an adult, but somehow it snuck up on me. Those stories challenged my views of perception and suggested that we each have the power to define the boundaries of "reality" in our lives. So did Berwin rip off Castaneda & Hesse? It's hard to charge someone of ripping off an author whose anthropology studies at UCLA turned into obvious tales of fiction inspired by Don Juan's "little smoke". Berwin's story has a much different flavor. And as far as ripping off Hesse, I doubt it's possible to imitate his unhinged style; you either write like that or you don't.
Berwin's style came at me from every different direction. Her writing has a physical texture to it that surrounds you. Her words become smells and feelings and tastes, like a rich cup of exotic tea. This is a challenge for me, because I'm a Bud Light kind of guy.
What's the story about?
It almost doesn't matter. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if your copy holds a different story than mine, because she challenges the reader to adjust his perception to the extent that you can't be sure what's there and what's not. Her story surrounds the myth of the nine tropical plant species that, when collected under the proper circumstances, are said to reward their owner with enhanced qualities of knowledge, love, sex, and so on. Rather than working around the limits of existing myths (vampires, Aztec gold, or whatever), Berwin was bold enough to fabricate her own myth (I didn't know we could do that). She cheated, and it's fantastic.
Her characters present us with amazing powers: the power to reinterpret our surroundings to the point that the garbage truck parked out front doesn't smell bad at all (her analogy, not mine) and the power be called in by something as seemingly benign as a potted plant. Just a plant, ha!
Only you can know if this book is right for you at this point in time. As far as I'm concerned though, this book is the perfect prescription for our unbalanced society. These days we all suffer from the fear of an uncertain economy, but we can blame ourselves for most of this state of mind. We're all addicted to 24/7 cable news cycles, we're slaves to our consumer electronics, and we have no real confidence in the world we've created for our children. Berwin's story is a very good step towards helping us all return to the balanced lives we were designed to live.
Summary of Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel
In the heart of New York City, hidden in the back room of an old Laundromat, are nine rare and valuable plants. Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire tells the story of this legendary garden, and the distance one woman must travel?from the cold, harsh streets of Manhattan to the lush jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula?to claim what is hers.Lila Nova lives alone in a plain, white box of an apartment. Recovering from a heartbreaking divorce, Lila?s life is like her home: simple, new, and empty. But when she meets a handsome plant-seller named David Exley, an entire world opens up before her eyes. Late one night Lila stumbles across a strange Laundromat and sees ferns so highly-prized that a tiny cutting can fetch thousands of dollars. She learns about flowers with medicinal properties to rival anything found in drugstores. And she hears the legend of nine mystical plants that bring fame, fortune, immortality, and passion.
The owner of the Laundromat, Armand, presents Lila with a test: if she can make the cutting from a fire fern grow roots, he will show her the secret of his locked room. But Lila is too trusting, and with one terrible mistake she ruins her chance to see Armand?s plants. The only way to win it back is to travel, on her own, to the Yucatan.
Deep in the rain forests of Mexico, Lila enters a world of shamans and spirit animals, snake charmers, and sexy, heart-stopping Huichols. Alone in the jungle, Lila is forced to learn more than she ever wanted to know about nature?and about herself. An exhilarating journey of love and self-discovery, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire brings together mystery, adventure, and heat, in every sense of the word.
Amazon Exclusive: Christina Schwarz Reviews Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire
Christina Schwarz is the author of So Long at the Fair, All Is Vanity, and Drowning Ruth, a #1 bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, which was selected for Oprah?s Book Club and optioned by Wes Craven for Miramax. Read her exclusive Amazon guest review of Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire:
Debut novelist Margot Berwin gives her fecund imagination free play in this lush and steamy summer read. Recently divorced and craving a blank slate, 30-something advertising copywriter Lila Nova moves into a new studio apartment ?with absolutely no character? on Union Square. Lila, the sort of contemporary heroine given to amusing self-deflating wisecracks, is not, however, destined to inhabit a clean, white box for long. Within a few chapters, packed with romantic betrayal, plant lore and a couple of visits to a surreal Laundromat in the East Village, she?s on her way to ?high adventure? in the Yucatan rain forest, where she?ll encounter ancient magic, poisonous creatures, a murderous exotic plant dealer, and, yes, true love. A wildly inventive novel as vivid and colorful as a jungle flower.
(Photo © Deone Jahnke)
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