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The Disorder of Longing |
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Natasha Bauman - Author
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| Book: Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 432 pages | ISBN 9780399154959 | 12 Jun 2008 | Putnam Adult | Adult |
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When her husband arrives home carrying a crate of colorful orchids, Ada Caswell Pryce thinks he is bringing her a gift, a peace offering during an unhappy time in their marriage; little does she know how much these strange looking flowers are going to change her life.
By Boston standards of the 1890’s, Ada is not a good wife. Strong-willed and beautiful, she longs for the days at university when she was free to be herself. Her husband Edward is intent on curbing her wild behavior, but she thwarts him at every turn -- she drinks wine with the housekeepers, gives feminist books to her maid, and sneaks out for midnight horseback rides along the Charles River.
To treat Ada’s “hysteria,” Edward restricts her daily activities and her relationships, then carefully choreographs her sexuality. Unable to bear another day of her stultifying and demeaning existence, Ada secretly plots ways to leave. Ultimately, it is her husband’s all-consuming passion for collecting rare orchids that provides Ada with a daring opportunity for escape.
Once free, Ada’s lust for adventure takes her through the dangerous slums of New York, across the high seas of the Atlantic, and finally deep into the lush jungles of Brazil.
“A tale of powerful passions and an extraordinary young woman…This is the kind of book you stay up all night to finish, and in the morning you want to go out and do something daring. Ada will haunt you, urging you to be braver, truer to the wildness in your heart.”
--Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife
"More than a gothic tale of one woman’s awakening in a tightly conscribed society. It is a sweeping exploration of obsession in which Bauman asks: How far would each of us go to satisfy desire? What rules would we be willing to break?"
--Anne D. LeClaire, author of The Lavender Hour and Entering Normal
"Luscious, sensuous, honest, and true--Ada's voyage of self discovery takes her from the drawing rooms of high-society Boston to the jungles of Brazil in quest of orchids, love, and freedom. I stayed up late finishing this delectable, well-researched historical novel."
--Susanne Dunlap, author of Emilie's Voice and Liszt's Kiss
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