Customer Reviews

Hothouse Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire: A Novel

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

You know that feeling, when you look at a book's cover, read the jacket copy, and think, "Okay, I know what to expect here." That's what I thought entering into Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire. I was expecting some light chick-lit with a fish out of water bent. And to a degree, that's what I got. But I also got a whole lot that I didn't expect.

Divorced Manhattan ad exec Lila Nova is a sympathetic character, but she was... harder than I expected. As the novel opens, she's trying to adapt to a new life alone in a featureless white box of an apartment. On a hunt for a little greenery to spruce the place up, she meets ruggedly handsome greensman, David Exley. It's easy to buy what he's selling, and what he's selling is a bird-of-paradise. It's Lila's first tropical plant, and it brings her a peace and comfort she never would have expected. She finds herself interested in learning more about tropicals and more about the tropical plant salesman--despite his mixed signals.

Walking home one night, Lila spies a gorgeous plant in a laundromat's window. Entering the establishment to see it closer, she enters a whimsical oasis in lower Manhattan. Warm air from the dryers and humidity from the washing machines help support a tropical paradise. There's soft moss on the floor, grass growing on top of the machines, tropical flowers and plants of every kind hanging from the ceiling, and even animals in this urban ecosystem! The proprietor of this odd laundry is an even odder character named Armand. I expected him to be a kindly old mentor type, but Armand defied my expectations at every turn. He was fascinating, strange, disturbing, mystical, and compelling. On their first meeting, Armand gives Lila a cutting from the plant that drew her in and challenges her to grow it. He tells her if she succeeds that he'll show her the "nine plants of desire" he keeps locked in the back room, and warns her to tell no one about them.

Infatuated Lila is indiscreet, and suddenly both Exley and the plants are gone. Lila feels terrible, and Armand uses her guilt as leverage to talk her into a frankly crazy journey to the Yucatan to hunt for replacement plants. Off-balance in Mexico, Lila meets the hot and erotic Diego, and it's non-stop adventure, romance, and mysticism from there. I couldn't help but think of the film Romancing the Stone, but with plants as the treasure instead of jewels.

This is a quick read. I'd be shocked if it took you more than five hours. It's just the right length to stay light and entertaining. I have a very limited tolerance for the type of mystical mumbo jumbo that some of the characters espouse, but the plants were great and the men were hunky. So, I chose to just sit back and enjoy the scenery on this magical mystery tour.

First, let me just state that I do not read "chick lit". This was a first for me, and I read it in one day while I was at work. I managed to sneak it under my desk. Not that there is anything wrong with "chick lit", but it isn't my usual style. I thought the plot sounded interesting: A woman finds an obsession with plants that helps her discover a new-found happiness in life? Ok, I am game!

Obviously, I enjoyed reading this book immensely. If you are looking for a hot romance novel, look elsewhere. The main character had a life that she loved, until her husband tells her that he is leaving. She has no life, nothing to look forward to, no friends, etc. She moves into a boring, white and wood studio for a fresh start. One day, she meets a man selling tropical plants and he pushes her to buy a Bird of Paradise.

At first, the plant means everything to her. She says "Plant first. Then people." She isn't very confident in herself. As time moves along, she finds herself rather plant obsessed in a good way, and its bringing her a new look on life.

I loved how the book was set up: each chapter is the name of a tropical plant, and there is a quote describing it. Within the chapter, the plant it is named for plays an important role. The structure of the novel was simple, as was the writing and style, but it made the book entirely readable.

The main character was totally someone I could relate to, despite not having a similar experience in my own life. I found that while I was reading, my interest in plants and gardening grew, and I was totally engaged throughout. There isn't a gripping plot, with tons of twists and turns, but you watch the main character grow, first roots, then some semblance of a normal, happy and healthy life. It was very rewarding to read.

Even if you're like me, and don't normally read "chick lit" I recommend giving this book a try. It was pretty fulfilling, and I managed to have a wonderful outlook on life after reading it.

This one is different, alright. The protagonist, Lila, befriends a plant man in Union Square and is soon overtaken by adventure and her passions. The latter are connected to a myth about the nine plants of desire (gloxinia, cycad, cacao, moonflower, cannabis/sinsemilla, lily of the valley, mandrake, chicory and datura) which, when found together, act as a kind of mystical genie in a bottle. Alas, Lila seems only to be driven by ardor for men, so it's a little difficult to root for her. (No pun intended.) There is one scene, midway through the novel, when she is overtaken by passion for a guy who points a gun at her. If you can stomach that, he is later portrayed as the love of her life, although I never once got a sense of what they saw in each other. There are other ridiculous scenes, such as when Lila tracks a black panther through the Mexican jungle, climbing on all fours and sleeping in tree branches. Can't wait to see what a movie would do with that scene!

Elsewhere in the novel, I liked the details of plant life, the jungles of Quintana Roo, and some of the mystical elements of the story. What I didn't like were any of the characters. Lila seems to exist only for male attention, and the men in the story don't even treat her all that well. Some of the writing was downright awkward as well. All in all, this is a breezy read with some peculiar values.

This book starts with a purchase of a plant.Thats the beginning of a journey for Lila, who hears the myth of the nine plants of desire. She packs, and before you know it, She is headed for the Yucatan, with a bag of travel aids & beauty products.
What would make this Woman go to extremes? And what waits for Her to discover in the hot jungle? The book know all. A great beach/pool book to take you away from it all.

Lila is a recent divorcee with a new apartment in need of sprucing up. So, she goes to the market and ends up with a Bird of Paradise that she buys from the handsome David Exley. Exley tells her a yarn about the 9 Plants of Desire conveniently after she meets an odd laundry mat owner with an odd collection of 9 plants. Needless to say, the plants disappear and Lila ends up in the Yucatan looking for replacements.

This book was compared to Eat, Pray, Love and the Orchid Thief. While I have never read the former, to compare this book to the later is a travesty indeed. While of a similar pace and writing style, this book lacks the charm and delivery of The Orchid Thief. Many of the so called rare, nine plants of desire are pretty mundane (although one could say that you had to have 1 specific plant of each). For some of the plants, the thought of locating one in the Yuatan is preposterous. The way that sex is used in the book is best described as "desperate" and a nice portion of the book reminds of a story about a bad mushroom trip during the `70 the crazy guy at the local diner tells.

Boring read. Nonsensical. Would not have picked it myself. Read at the request of one of my bookclub members.

So yes this book borrows from many tales--Little Shop of Horrors morphing into Romancing the Stone, but it was quite promising and engaging up until the trip to Mexico and then it just got silly. Mysterious, supposedly rare plants rather easily found, the local guy she falls for supernaturally perfect with an iron constitution, the climax resting on a rather huge plot hole related to the availability of a lily of the valley. Well, let's see what Julia Roberts can make of it.

This novel is about Lila Nova, a thirty something divorcee in the ad business. Like the typical chick lit heroine, Lila is insecure, between relationships, and lonely. She decides to expand her horizons by acquiring a plant. Because her apartment is bright and sunny, she gets a tropical plant from David Exley, a plant vendor in her New York City neighborhood. She develops an interest in tropical plants and finds a plant filled laundromat. A series of events leads her to the Mexican jungle, seeking to find the so-called nine plants of desire.

The author invents the myth of the nine plants of desire and conveniently uses the plans to teach "life lessons" to Lila. Events in the jungle are crazy, characters strange. The plot seems very contrived, placing the main character in needless danger. The novel also seems to try too hard to fit into the magical realism genre, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, or Laura Esquivel. Unlike One Hundred Years of Solitude, House of the Spirits, or Like Water for Chocolate, however, the main character - Lila - is skeptical of the magic and stumbles through the novel, guided by men and fooled by men.

I struggled to get through Hothouse Flower. Many times, I nearly put it down because it was so far-fetched and contrived. I never have those feelings when I read Allende, Garcia Marquez, or Esquivel, even though the plots are unrealistic. Those authors tell a story in such a matter of fact way that I can "believe" what cannot be true. Berwin lacks that gift. Hothouse Flower tries too hard to be mysterious, magical, and insightful. Ultimately, it is a silly, Indiana Jones/Hollywood style novel with little depth.

I really enjoyed this book and for me it was a fast read. It took me a day to read it. It started off a little slow but once the conflict took place the story propelled itself naturally into such a whirlwind of a ride.

Here you have story about a 30 something divorcee, Lila, living in New York who is trying to deal with the emotional after effects of divorce - new life, new apartment: clean slate. In the process of redesigning her life she goes to the market place to buy greenery for her new apartment. She finds the proprietor of the plant stand intriguing and earthy in a hunky kind of way, and buys her first tropical plant, not knowing the tremendous effect that this purchase will make in her life. She then encounters a mysterious laundromat with secrets which opens her up into a world of myth, plant magic, mystery, love, and adventure...

Intrigued with the mysterious plant stand proprietor and laundromat owner and new affinity with tropical plants she gets caught up in deception and thrown into a quest for retribution because of lust and greed. This quest sets her off to Mexico in search of the 9 plants of desire where she encounters plant lore, shaminism, learns about survival, meets an exotic modern-day tarzan who is more intoxicating than chocolate, and ends up a changed woman by the end of the story. I won't ruin the rest of the story by giving away too much, so pick up the book and read it.

If you are looking for a character who demonstrates personal growth, who tackles the fine lines of love, attraction, guilt, retribution, and becoming one with nature, then this story is for you. There are a lot of personal insights about human nature sprinkled throughout without lecturing. You learn about taking risks and truly living life outside your comfort zone.

And the metaphorical language between human nature and plant life is enlightening. The descriptions are vivid without ever becoming overbearing. You could actually picture yourself in the various settings within the story (i.e. the New York Green Market place, Mexican Jungle/Rainforest).

However, many of the key characters seem a bit eclectic and too surreal with their "bigger than life" looks and personalities, but that was probably one of its major charms. THe characters were not boring. This story makes a fascinating read for anyone who is looking to escape, who wants to take a virtual but very "raw" adventure into a foreign land, experience lust (with subtlety yet erotic), go on a treasure hunt of sorts, and at the end be left breathless and renewed.

A highly recommended artistic read!!

This book was put forth as "Orchid Thief" with romance and adventure thrown in.... it was not. This was from the beginning the story of a person trying to live in a hostile environment and since she was not able to make a go of her 4 year marriage, she attempts to force tropical plants to survive in a New York apartment. We are constantly bombarded by her smacking up against voyeurism, deceit, vandalism, and eventually gratuitous animal cruelty and death.

This story is ripe with Arman and his wife, Sonali. She is told to us to be a "Flower Person" and Armand is a "Root Person". All things are explained in mystical terms that try to clean up terror, illegal drugs, death by scorpions and animal sacrifice to remove the evil from pulled up mandrake roots.

It is full of contrived sexuality, usually accompanied by a drug altered state and in the end, Lila, the main character, almost kills her true love by feeding him poisonous mandrake root in a dessert to get him to make love to her.

The whole premise of the book is the journey to find the 9 Plants of Desire that Lila's one-night-stand steals from Armand...and come to find out, all this was just a test of Armand's to help Lila find herself...

Really. I am a plant person and I was disgusted by the end. I am glad that Lila found herself in the end and I was glad when the book was over.