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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Victorian woman takes her life into her own hands when the urge to fight or flee her husband becomes essential to live, September 8, 2008
This review is from: The Disorder of Longing (Hardcover)
Recently I had the pleasure of seeing an orchid in bloom. I don't know enough about the plants to say more than it was purple and exquisitely beautiful and delicate and I was afraid to touch it in case I might damage it in some way. For a long time my step-mother has had one or two orchids but they're tricky plants if you aren't a specialists. Too much light or too much water or the wrong temperature could easily kill them. But in spite of (or perhaps because of) their finicky nature these plants have become somewhat of an obsession for serious collectors and amateur gardeners around the globe.
"The Disorder of Longing" is a novel that combines the essential human nature to escape an environment that isn't conducive to growth (literal or personal) and the incredible sensuality of orchids, especially when the trade was first beginnings and procuring these pants required much more effort (and danger) then simple cultivation today. The overall effect is a sensual novel with a main character that unfurls like a blossoming flower itself.
Ada isn't exactly a typical American Victorian woman. She went to college, had a married lover and participated (if half-heartedly) in the woman's suffrage movement. But she made a mistake that would dictate the rest of her life. She slept with a man she was seeing, and, as a man of the age and her high social station, he saw no other option then to marry. And so she did.
For years Ada has been a housewife and has gained some minimal satisfaction from the role. But as her husbands Edward becomes more and more controlling (and obsessed with practicing only Tantric sex which as described in the book sounds just awful and pointless) and critical of her every action. Every minor protest to his total control of her life, every longing for friendship, adventure, love or a simple touch is added to a list of transgressions until Ada is being treated for hysteria. And yes, I mean that old Victorian treatment which if practiced today would get a doctor prosecuted for sex crimes.
But Edward's growing interest in orchids and his contacts with orchid hunters has inspired a kind of longing in Ada to be free, to see the beautiful and unusual plants in their natural environment- Brazil. And when of the hunters brings a terrible side of Edward to light it only cements that Ada can see no option but to die or escape. And it is to the jungles she heads, dressed as a man and free for the first time in her life.
But a Victorian woman had the same legal status as a child, lunatic or criminal and Ada has no legal right to do anything her husband doesn't want her to do. Can she out run him in his obsession to control her and both free and find herself amidst the green jungles and competitive orchid hunters of Brazil-or is there nowhere safe from his influence?
This is a novel of complex characters in a time when men had every right and women none-if they married. When lines between races were extreme and the search for a rare flower was motive for spending a fortune, or ordering a murder. Sensual portrayed and highly in tune with the human flight or fight reaction this is a novel that no only shows exactly how far we have come in gender and race relations, but will inspire you to find your true self, whatever it may be and however it may be perceived and to run off to the deep jungles of Brazil and hunt rare and lovely flowers.
Four stars.
For other novels about hysteria and its treatment's check out An Inconvenient Wife.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Victorian Era Novels I've read, July 16, 2008
This review is from: The Disorder of Longing (Hardcover)
Ada Caswell finds the restriction on women's lives suffocating in this novel set in Boston during the 1890s. She is an educated woman who went to college, found comfort in the suffrage movement and is an outspoken activist. That is until her mother finds her daughter creeping up in age. The last thing Ada's mother wants is a spinster and strongly suggest she marries Edward Price, a young man she meet at college.
With no where to go and no choices Ada agrees to marry Edward. In the beginning their marriage is a good one, but things changed when Edward wants her to practice Karezza. Her sexual desires are never satisfied and Ada finds life as a Victorian housewife unappealing. Unable to conform Ada breaks free and goes to hunt for orchids.
Without a doubt Ms. Bauman did an excellent job researching her novel. I enjoyed the historical details very much. I felt Ada's pain and discomfort as she tried to bend to society's rules. I felt her disappointment when she was sitting up in her room as her husband and his friends were having fun downstairs.
The first part of the story was the best Victorian era novel I have ever read. But everything changed when Ada became an orchid hunter. I had a difficult time believing two men would willingly accept her on their journey. I was saddened to see a perfectly good novel depicting Victorian values suddenly take a U turn into something that felt a little too modern to me.
Others who are not as strict when it comes to their historical fiction will enjoy this novel. It is an excellent story about a young woman finding herself during a very oppressive time.
With that said, I hope Ms. Bauman continues to write novels. I look forward to see what she writes in the future. It's my selfish wish that she continues to write about the Victorian Era, but maybe next time she doesn't throw that u turn in there. ;-)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating Journey, July 14, 2008
This review is from: The Disorder of Longing (Hardcover)
Ada Caswell Price's journey from 1890's Boston to the Amazon jungle brings her not only half-way around the world in search of the rarest of orchids, but to the exploration of her own heart and what it truly means to be herself. What she finds is that a woman's longing for fulfillment lies not in the men around her, but in the exploration of her own nature and abilities. Even if it means learning to live as a man. Natasha Bauman, with impeccable research and beautiful prose, evokes accurate Victorian repression as she depicts Ada, an accomplished young woman, who winds up married to a man who gives her gowns and jewels, but deprives her of her soul and spirit. When Edward begins collecting orchids, Ada finds herself entranced, wanting to know more about them, and herself. Entombed by Victorian mores and customs in her own Back Bay mansion, much as Edward's orchids can now exist only in their hothouse, Ada yearns to see the flowers in the natural environment their rareness and beauty deserve. Fascinated by the orchid hunters Edward hires, Ada eventually finds a way to determine her own future with the help of the African-American William and his Brazilian partner, Jao.
Where most authors would lead Ada only on a journey of the heart, Bauman fearlessly takes Ada to the depths of her soul. Longing is not just a sensual reference, although Ada remains a very passionate woman, always attracted to men. Desire and longing, in Bauman's skilled hands, become metaphors for a life lived differently, one outside social customs and the complacency of the expected. In can't-stop-reading prose, one woman's disorder becomes a window for all women.
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