What do you think?
Rate this book
The Orchid Hour
Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Blue, returns with a tantalizing historical novel about a woman caught up in a secret nightclub that one can only reach through a certain florist on a cobblestone street.
New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia. After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour.
When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of The Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now. She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia wonders if she too could rewrite her life’s rules. As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?
New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia. After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour.
When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of The Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now. She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia wonders if she too could rewrite her life’s rules. As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 10, 2023
About the author
Nancy Bilyeau
15 books907 followersIf you tell Nancy Bilyeau that reading one of her historical novels of suspense is like strapping yourself into a time machine, you'll make her a happy woman. She loves crafting immersive historical stories, whether it's Jazz Age New York City in "The Orchid Hour," the 18th-century European porcelain workshops and art galleries in "The Blue" or "The Fugitive Colours," or Henry VIII's tumultuous England in "The Crown," "The Chalice," and "The Tapestry."
A magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of "Rolling Stone" and "Entertainment Weekly," Nancy drew on her journalism experience to research "The Orchid Hour," which includes real-life figures such as Lucky Luciano, Arnold Rothstein, and Lous Buchalter. While working as deputy editor of the nonprofit Center on Media, Crime and Justice in New York City, Nancy covered organized crime as well as cybercrime and terrorism.
For her Genevieve Planche novels--"The Blue" and "The Fugitive Colours"--she drew on her own heritage to create her Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Pierre's stone house still stands and is the third oldest house in New York State.
Nancy's mind is usually in past centuries, but she lives with her family in upstate New York.
Visit Nancy's website at www.nancybilyeau.com
A magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of "Rolling Stone" and "Entertainment Weekly," Nancy drew on her journalism experience to research "The Orchid Hour," which includes real-life figures such as Lucky Luciano, Arnold Rothstein, and Lous Buchalter. While working as deputy editor of the nonprofit Center on Media, Crime and Justice in New York City, Nancy covered organized crime as well as cybercrime and terrorism.
For her Genevieve Planche novels--"The Blue" and "The Fugitive Colours"--she drew on her own heritage to create her Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Pierre's stone house still stands and is the third oldest house in New York State.
Nancy's mind is usually in past centuries, but she lives with her family in upstate New York.
Visit Nancy's website at www.nancybilyeau.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
Read
March 25, 2023With 'The Orchid Hour,' my seventh historical novel, I realized (probably much later than most authors would!) that there are certain things I love to do in my fiction. I create a strong woman main character, pick a historical period I'm intensely interested in, craft a suspense plot, and weave in little-known details about an intriguing object or a formula, whether it be a relic, a tapestry, or a color shade. In my new novel, I fuse my love of New York City history with my fascination with the secret world of the speakeasy AND the seductive power of the orchid. Finally, I was a journalist early in my career and the deputy editor of the Center for Media, Crime and Justice in NYC for four years later on--I wrote about crime and, for this book, I researched deeply the origins of organized crime in NYC that was fueled by the Roaring 20s. I discovered many many things that challenged assumptions about life in the 1920s, particularly for those reveling in the real risks of defying Prohibition. As I always do, I tried to immerse a reader in the world I've built for my novel, based on months or even years of research. I want you to feel that you are pushing open the door to the glamorous and dangerous nightclub called The Orchid Hour... I hope you enjoy the experience.
August 6, 2023
Audenzia (Zia) Luciana emigrates with her family from Italy to New York in the early 20th century. They brave the hostile neighbours until they move to the area known as 'Little Italy'. Zia meets Armando De Luca, they get married & have a son, Michael. Armando is killed in WWI alongside Zia's younger brother, & she also loses her parents to the 'flu epidemic so 1923 sees Zia living with her in-laws & working a quiet job at the local library. One day, a regular visitor to the library called Mr Watkins asks Zia to translate a play for him. Their small interaction sets off a chain reaction which completely changes Zia's life, bringing her back into contact with her cousin Salvatore Luciana who runs with a rougher crowd, & is involved with the opening of a speakeasy club named The Orchid Hour. When her father-in-law is shot & killed & all enquiries point to The Orchid Hour as the epicentre of what is going on, & when the police don't seem interested in investigating the killing, Zia manages to get a job at the club to carry out her own investigation.
New York in the 1920s? I am there for that! I'm a big fan of the whole flapper, speakeasy, Louise Brooks era. I really liked Zia, the main character, & seeing her develop from being a quiet woman older than her years & only interested in raising her son, to a more confident modern woman was wonderful. The book starts out at quite a slow pace, but once The Orchid Hour becomes involved, the story picks up. There's highlighting of the xenophobia that Italian-Americans faced in America in the 1920s, & the rise of organised crime via the subverting of Prohibition laws. I swear you can almost hear Humphrey Bogart giving a voice over as you read it. One of the best books I've read this year.
TWs: xenophobia, gun violence, murder.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Lume Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
New York in the 1920s? I am there for that! I'm a big fan of the whole flapper, speakeasy, Louise Brooks era. I really liked Zia, the main character, & seeing her develop from being a quiet woman older than her years & only interested in raising her son, to a more confident modern woman was wonderful. The book starts out at quite a slow pace, but once The Orchid Hour becomes involved, the story picks up. There's highlighting of the xenophobia that Italian-Americans faced in America in the 1920s, & the rise of organised crime via the subverting of Prohibition laws. I swear you can almost hear Humphrey Bogart giving a voice over as you read it. One of the best books I've read this year.
TWs: xenophobia, gun violence, murder.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Lume Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
August 10, 2023
THE ORCHID HOUR swept me up from the very first page, and didn’t let go until the end. Nancy Bilyeau masterfully intertwines historical details and facts (as well as a few real-life characters) into the narrative without slowing the pace or becoming didactic. I enjoyed the atmospheric and immersive glimpse of 1920s New York, especially Greenwich Village. The clothing and food descriptions were divine! This is a novel redolent with sensuality, intrigue, and suspense. If you like Agatha Christie, you will love THE ORCHID HOUR.
Zia is a smart, well-read heroine with a steady head on her shoulders. As she navigates the politics of the dangerous underworld she finds herself a reluctant player within, loyalty to her family and her strong sense of integrity serve as a spoil to the illicit dealings she bears witness to. The author demonstrates sensitivity and empathy as she relays the complex realities of the immigrant experience in the US, and balances the sometimes dire situations Zia faces with hopefulness and a bit of romance along the way.
Don’t miss the author’s note, which contains intriguing information about the real-life characters Bilyeau features in the novel. Highly recommend!
Zia is a smart, well-read heroine with a steady head on her shoulders. As she navigates the politics of the dangerous underworld she finds herself a reluctant player within, loyalty to her family and her strong sense of integrity serve as a spoil to the illicit dealings she bears witness to. The author demonstrates sensitivity and empathy as she relays the complex realities of the immigrant experience in the US, and balances the sometimes dire situations Zia faces with hopefulness and a bit of romance along the way.
Don’t miss the author’s note, which contains intriguing information about the real-life characters Bilyeau features in the novel. Highly recommend!
March 9, 2023
The Orchid Hour reeks, but in the best possible way. It reeks with the smell of lasagna in Little Italy, the smell of cheap gin in a 1920s speakeasy, and most importantly and most delicately with the scent of orchids at midnight. It reeks of sleazy dodges, flimsy aliases, and multiple murders.
The Orchid Hour masquerades as a murder mystery, and it’s satisfying at that level, but underneath that layer, there’s another that’s a love story, and when all those layers are peeled away, it’s a coming-of-age story.
But our hero isn’t a child, not even a teen-ager. She's an Italian-American widow and mother who’s nearly thirty, in a time (not so long ago) when a woman was supposed to have no desires of her own, but only the family’s. When a girl had no girlhood, and a woman was defined only by her place in the family.
That’s where we find Zia de Luca at the opening of the novel, working at her day job at the library, her hair done up in a bun, wearing sensible shoes, going home to do the books for her father-in-law’s cheese shop and looking after her eight-year-old son.
But the first murder puts paid to that, and the second murder sets Zia on the path of vengeance, a path to New York’s nascent criminal under-world, and a path to self-discovery and self-transformation. To a time which will only last as long as the vagrant scent of the orchid, but a time which will change her life forever.
Told not only through Zia’s eyes, but that of the NYPD officer who tries his best to help her and a gangster who sees murder as a simple career opportunity, this novel encompasses New York, 1923 in all its glory and grime, from City Hall to Little Italy, from Greenwich Village to the Great White Way. Thanks to Bilyeau’s masterful hand, we step out into the wilds of New York with Zia. Maybe we’ll find love. Maybe we’ll find ourselves, by being taken out of ourselves.
This is Nancy Bilyeau’s eighth book, her best by far, and she’d already set a high bar. What are you waiting for? Pick it up now.
The Orchid Hour masquerades as a murder mystery, and it’s satisfying at that level, but underneath that layer, there’s another that’s a love story, and when all those layers are peeled away, it’s a coming-of-age story.
But our hero isn’t a child, not even a teen-ager. She's an Italian-American widow and mother who’s nearly thirty, in a time (not so long ago) when a woman was supposed to have no desires of her own, but only the family’s. When a girl had no girlhood, and a woman was defined only by her place in the family.
That’s where we find Zia de Luca at the opening of the novel, working at her day job at the library, her hair done up in a bun, wearing sensible shoes, going home to do the books for her father-in-law’s cheese shop and looking after her eight-year-old son.
But the first murder puts paid to that, and the second murder sets Zia on the path of vengeance, a path to New York’s nascent criminal under-world, and a path to self-discovery and self-transformation. To a time which will only last as long as the vagrant scent of the orchid, but a time which will change her life forever.
Told not only through Zia’s eyes, but that of the NYPD officer who tries his best to help her and a gangster who sees murder as a simple career opportunity, this novel encompasses New York, 1923 in all its glory and grime, from City Hall to Little Italy, from Greenwich Village to the Great White Way. Thanks to Bilyeau’s masterful hand, we step out into the wilds of New York with Zia. Maybe we’ll find love. Maybe we’ll find ourselves, by being taken out of ourselves.
This is Nancy Bilyeau’s eighth book, her best by far, and she’d already set a high bar. What are you waiting for? Pick it up now.
August 5, 2023
I thank NetGalley and Lume Books for providing me an ARC copy of this book, which I freely chose to review.
I discovered Nancy Bilyeau through Rosie’s Book Review Team (my thanks to Rosie and all the team members) a while back, and I’ve been an avid follower of her since, although I am aware I have plenty of back reading to catch up with, as this is only the third of her novels I read. And yes, it is as good as the other two.
Bilyeau is one of those authors who seems to have been born for a particular genre, historical fiction, and she has an uncanny ability to bring to life past eras, places, and people, and to seamlessly create a rich historical tapestry by combining real historical figures with fictional characters, at the same time pulling the readers into intriguing stories and making them inhabit a world and a time they might know little about.
In this case, the author introduces us to the New York of the early 1920s, the prohibition era, with Zia (Audenzia), a young Italian emigrant who arrived in New York with her family when she was very young, now a widow (her husband died during WWI), with a young son, and living in her in-laws apartment in Little Italy. She works in a public library, although things are about to change there (funding cuts and eugenics play a part in that), and her life gets thrown into turmoil due to events that, at least initially, seem to have little to do with her. Being now an orphan and a widow, from Sicily, (her late husband was from Naples and there are issues at play there), means that she follows pretty strict rules as to what she should do, what is proper, and how much freedom she is actually allowed. When two violent events strike —the second one directly affecting her life and her circumstances—, she decides to take things into her own hands, and her life is changed forever. This is also an adult coming-of-age story, as Zia has to make many changes to her life to follow her plan, which has a greater impact on her way of seeing things than she’d ever expected. The myth of Persephone and Hades is mentioned several times in the novel, and it seems particularly fitting to Zia’s life and to the novel as a whole. (And yes, although I remembered the story vaguely, I did check it in more detail as I was reading the novel, and it is fascinating).
The story is narrated mostly from Zia’s point of view, in the first person, and that helps readers feel closer to her, empathise with her, and understand how she feels, her doubts, her uncertainty, her hopes, and her strength and determination. She is very loyal to her family, and to her family duties, but the weight of tradition weighs heavy on her, and she soon realises that some members of her family have taken a dangerous path, although that doesn’t stop her from feeling quite close to them (him, in this case). We meet many other characters, some entirely fictional, while others are well-known historical figures, many from the underworld, and the author provides us with some other perspectives, as some of the chapters are narrated, in the third-person, from two other characters’ point of view: Frank, an NYPD detective whose family circumstances are quite difficult (his wife is in hospital, in a coma, suffering from a disease doctors seem to know little about, most probably encephalitis, and people who are familiar with the movie Awakenings or the book by Dr Oliver Sachs will get an idea of what it must have been like for the illness sufferers and their relatives), and Louis, a hoodlum looking for a way into the criminal organisations running things in New York (based on the real Louis Buchalter). This introduces us to other spheres and helps us understand the complexity of New York society at the time and the forces that influenced people, pulling them sometimes in directions they didn’t want to go (but not all were that reluctant either).
There is an initial chapter set in the 1960s, in New York. We meet an older Zia, and a new investigation into events from the past makes her remember what happened. We retrieved her in the 1960s at the end, and the trip down memory lane is one full of excitement, threats, revenge, crime, eugenics, prejudice, police and political corruption, bootleggers, drugs, but also new fashions, music (Charleston, jazz), the roaring twenties, prohibition, cars, modernity, new roles and social mobility, speakeasies, night-clubs, delicious foods, traditional Italian life, women with careers, the world of cinema, and, orchids. The author does not hammer us with her research, but she creates a vivid canvas where all our senses (even the smell) transport us to New York in the 1920s. She explains what fascinated her about the era in her author’s note, at the end of the book, and it is well worth a read, as she explains who the fictional and real characters are, and includes a reading list for those who might want to find more about the era and many of the topics discussed throughout the book, together with podcasts and TV series. She also mentions the real locations of the story, recommends some museums (and a library) for us to visit, and acknowledges the many people who have helped her create this fascinating world.
I don’t want to spoil the story by going into too much detail, but I particularly enjoyed the transformation Zia goes through, and how she becomes an independent woman, able to make her own decisions and even move out of her in-laws' home. She also finds love, but she does not become foolishly romantic or lose her sense of self, and she manages to lead a full life despite the odds. I loved her relationship with her relatives, particularly Sal, and her memories of her childhood and her passage to New York. I also enjoyed the information about the orchids (a plant that has always fascinated me), and the opportunity to peer into the lives and psyches of some characters whose alliances and morality were not straightforward. This is not a simple story with a happy ever after for all involved, as many bad things happen during it, but, all things considered, I thought the ending was perfect.
This is a novel I’d recommend to anybody interested in 1920s US history, especially concerning the prohibition era in New York, those who are fascinated by that historical period and the changes taking place in society at the time, and also anybody who appreciates a beautifully written story with a main female character who grows and develops, discovering new things about her surrounding, and especially about herself. She might lose some of her innocence in the process, but there is much to gain as well. Any fans of the author should read it, and for those who haven’t met her yet, this is a great opportunity to do so.
In case you need any further recommendations, these are the author’s words on how and why she became interested in the subject of this novel:
My idea for this historical novel grew from my fascination with Jazz Age New York, a place and time filled with both the exquisite and the ugly. It’s almost as if one can’t exist without the other.
Her novel shows the precarious balance between the two, and how difficult it was not to stray too far into the dark side.
I discovered Nancy Bilyeau through Rosie’s Book Review Team (my thanks to Rosie and all the team members) a while back, and I’ve been an avid follower of her since, although I am aware I have plenty of back reading to catch up with, as this is only the third of her novels I read. And yes, it is as good as the other two.
Bilyeau is one of those authors who seems to have been born for a particular genre, historical fiction, and she has an uncanny ability to bring to life past eras, places, and people, and to seamlessly create a rich historical tapestry by combining real historical figures with fictional characters, at the same time pulling the readers into intriguing stories and making them inhabit a world and a time they might know little about.
In this case, the author introduces us to the New York of the early 1920s, the prohibition era, with Zia (Audenzia), a young Italian emigrant who arrived in New York with her family when she was very young, now a widow (her husband died during WWI), with a young son, and living in her in-laws apartment in Little Italy. She works in a public library, although things are about to change there (funding cuts and eugenics play a part in that), and her life gets thrown into turmoil due to events that, at least initially, seem to have little to do with her. Being now an orphan and a widow, from Sicily, (her late husband was from Naples and there are issues at play there), means that she follows pretty strict rules as to what she should do, what is proper, and how much freedom she is actually allowed. When two violent events strike —the second one directly affecting her life and her circumstances—, she decides to take things into her own hands, and her life is changed forever. This is also an adult coming-of-age story, as Zia has to make many changes to her life to follow her plan, which has a greater impact on her way of seeing things than she’d ever expected. The myth of Persephone and Hades is mentioned several times in the novel, and it seems particularly fitting to Zia’s life and to the novel as a whole. (And yes, although I remembered the story vaguely, I did check it in more detail as I was reading the novel, and it is fascinating).
The story is narrated mostly from Zia’s point of view, in the first person, and that helps readers feel closer to her, empathise with her, and understand how she feels, her doubts, her uncertainty, her hopes, and her strength and determination. She is very loyal to her family, and to her family duties, but the weight of tradition weighs heavy on her, and she soon realises that some members of her family have taken a dangerous path, although that doesn’t stop her from feeling quite close to them (him, in this case). We meet many other characters, some entirely fictional, while others are well-known historical figures, many from the underworld, and the author provides us with some other perspectives, as some of the chapters are narrated, in the third-person, from two other characters’ point of view: Frank, an NYPD detective whose family circumstances are quite difficult (his wife is in hospital, in a coma, suffering from a disease doctors seem to know little about, most probably encephalitis, and people who are familiar with the movie Awakenings or the book by Dr Oliver Sachs will get an idea of what it must have been like for the illness sufferers and their relatives), and Louis, a hoodlum looking for a way into the criminal organisations running things in New York (based on the real Louis Buchalter). This introduces us to other spheres and helps us understand the complexity of New York society at the time and the forces that influenced people, pulling them sometimes in directions they didn’t want to go (but not all were that reluctant either).
There is an initial chapter set in the 1960s, in New York. We meet an older Zia, and a new investigation into events from the past makes her remember what happened. We retrieved her in the 1960s at the end, and the trip down memory lane is one full of excitement, threats, revenge, crime, eugenics, prejudice, police and political corruption, bootleggers, drugs, but also new fashions, music (Charleston, jazz), the roaring twenties, prohibition, cars, modernity, new roles and social mobility, speakeasies, night-clubs, delicious foods, traditional Italian life, women with careers, the world of cinema, and, orchids. The author does not hammer us with her research, but she creates a vivid canvas where all our senses (even the smell) transport us to New York in the 1920s. She explains what fascinated her about the era in her author’s note, at the end of the book, and it is well worth a read, as she explains who the fictional and real characters are, and includes a reading list for those who might want to find more about the era and many of the topics discussed throughout the book, together with podcasts and TV series. She also mentions the real locations of the story, recommends some museums (and a library) for us to visit, and acknowledges the many people who have helped her create this fascinating world.
I don’t want to spoil the story by going into too much detail, but I particularly enjoyed the transformation Zia goes through, and how she becomes an independent woman, able to make her own decisions and even move out of her in-laws' home. She also finds love, but she does not become foolishly romantic or lose her sense of self, and she manages to lead a full life despite the odds. I loved her relationship with her relatives, particularly Sal, and her memories of her childhood and her passage to New York. I also enjoyed the information about the orchids (a plant that has always fascinated me), and the opportunity to peer into the lives and psyches of some characters whose alliances and morality were not straightforward. This is not a simple story with a happy ever after for all involved, as many bad things happen during it, but, all things considered, I thought the ending was perfect.
This is a novel I’d recommend to anybody interested in 1920s US history, especially concerning the prohibition era in New York, those who are fascinated by that historical period and the changes taking place in society at the time, and also anybody who appreciates a beautifully written story with a main female character who grows and develops, discovering new things about her surrounding, and especially about herself. She might lose some of her innocence in the process, but there is much to gain as well. Any fans of the author should read it, and for those who haven’t met her yet, this is a great opportunity to do so.
In case you need any further recommendations, these are the author’s words on how and why she became interested in the subject of this novel:
My idea for this historical novel grew from my fascination with Jazz Age New York, a place and time filled with both the exquisite and the ugly. It’s almost as if one can’t exist without the other.
Her novel shows the precarious balance between the two, and how difficult it was not to stray too far into the dark side.
March 15, 2024
Audenzia De Luca has a number of names in this story set in Little Italy section of New York in the 1920's. She goes by Zia to her large extended family, who live under the independence limiting rule of ordine della famiglia - something she soon finds she needs to get out from under. The major portion of Zia's story is during Prohibition, and she finds herself mixed up with the start-up of a new speakeasy named The Orchid Hour. . . .her special talents with plants, specifically orchids (quickly gained by her last employment at the local library) gives her access to the care and maintenance of a kind of hybrid that kicks in super scents at night. . .hence the name of the new establishment:
It was time to find out if the Brassavola magic was real. I leaned down, breathless with suspense, to inhale. My senses came alive. The scent of the Brassavola was like a gardenia but with a trace of something I could only compare to a rich soap, one created for pampering, and best of all, a dash of lemon. I adored lemon, the fruit of Sicily.
My head spun with the delight of the orchid, our Lady of the Night.
An engaging read, transporting one back to the days of F. Scott and Zelda, and the dark shadows of mob bosses.
*A sincere thank you to Nancy Bilyeau, Lume Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* 52:2
It was time to find out if the Brassavola magic was real. I leaned down, breathless with suspense, to inhale. My senses came alive. The scent of the Brassavola was like a gardenia but with a trace of something I could only compare to a rich soap, one created for pampering, and best of all, a dash of lemon. I adored lemon, the fruit of Sicily.
My head spun with the delight of the orchid, our Lady of the Night.
An engaging read, transporting one back to the days of F. Scott and Zelda, and the dark shadows of mob bosses.
*A sincere thank you to Nancy Bilyeau, Lume Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* 52:2
August 3, 2023
What a delight of a book. It blooms into life from the first page. From the moment you open the book and start to read you are emersed in the Jazz era. You are plunged into a world of gangsters and movie stars. It is like being transported back in time.
Nancy manages to combine a murder mystery with a love story and set it all against a world which seems palpably real. The New York of 1923 jumps out at you. The places and the people who populate it are long dead but brought magically back to life. The main characters, Sal excepted, are fictional but they seem real. The Orchid Room is fiction but you can almost smell the atmosphere.
The book begins in 1963 but flashes back forty years. Nancy used multi-character viewpoints and I find that an excellent way of delving into characters and their motives. You find yourself engaging with them, even those who are less likeable than others. The structure of the story races you through it at breakneck speed. It is a hard book to put down and all the time there are so many threads binding the story together that the story is like an orchid and its roots. We see the world through Zia’s life, work and complicated relationships.
The real-life characters used by the author sit comfortably with the fictional ones. I confess that my interest was so piqued I looked into some of the real characters and events. Nancy’s research is flawless.
I rarely read much beyond the medieval period but Nancy’s book made me want to read more. This is a tour de force and my only problem is identifying the genre: is it historical, love story, crime drama, whodunit? It defies categorization and I suspect that is what the author intended. Well done, Nancy.
Nancy manages to combine a murder mystery with a love story and set it all against a world which seems palpably real. The New York of 1923 jumps out at you. The places and the people who populate it are long dead but brought magically back to life. The main characters, Sal excepted, are fictional but they seem real. The Orchid Room is fiction but you can almost smell the atmosphere.
The book begins in 1963 but flashes back forty years. Nancy used multi-character viewpoints and I find that an excellent way of delving into characters and their motives. You find yourself engaging with them, even those who are less likeable than others. The structure of the story races you through it at breakneck speed. It is a hard book to put down and all the time there are so many threads binding the story together that the story is like an orchid and its roots. We see the world through Zia’s life, work and complicated relationships.
The real-life characters used by the author sit comfortably with the fictional ones. I confess that my interest was so piqued I looked into some of the real characters and events. Nancy’s research is flawless.
I rarely read much beyond the medieval period but Nancy’s book made me want to read more. This is a tour de force and my only problem is identifying the genre: is it historical, love story, crime drama, whodunit? It defies categorization and I suspect that is what the author intended. Well done, Nancy.
August 19, 2023
I received an AD PR copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Insta Book Tours.
The Orchid Hour is a novel set in the 1920s Prohibition era in New York and we follow Audenzia (Zia) as she navigates life as not only a single parent war widow but also navigating the rules and regulations within the sicilia families she was not only born into but married in to too. I loved seeing Zia develop across the course of the book from a timid librarian into an investigator after her father-in-law and an elderly accuantance she was fond of are killed. Zia had so much strength and courage, especially for the era and her heritage. Her investigation takes her to the Orchid Hour, which is a nightclub owned by a very dangerous gangster. The author did an amazing job of mixing fictional characters with real-life people, and the book really pulls you in! I didn't want this book to end!
The Orchid Hour is a novel set in the 1920s Prohibition era in New York and we follow Audenzia (Zia) as she navigates life as not only a single parent war widow but also navigating the rules and regulations within the sicilia families she was not only born into but married in to too. I loved seeing Zia develop across the course of the book from a timid librarian into an investigator after her father-in-law and an elderly accuantance she was fond of are killed. Zia had so much strength and courage, especially for the era and her heritage. Her investigation takes her to the Orchid Hour, which is a nightclub owned by a very dangerous gangster. The author did an amazing job of mixing fictional characters with real-life people, and the book really pulls you in! I didn't want this book to end!
April 3, 2023
Great read, with overtones of "The Godfather" (but from a woman's viewpoint) and Agatha Christie.
August 10, 2023
4.5 stars
What a fascinating story full of great characters and the vivid setting of New York City in the 1920’s.
Zia is a wonderful heroine. The journey she follows from meek and timid librarian, trying to provide for her son and be a good daughter-in-law, to the brave and courageous investigator in The Orchid Hour mixing with the seedier side of life is so compelling. Her resilience and determination in finding the truth is to admired but of course comes with a cost.
I loved the links to the real life crime world of the 20’s - it really brought home how dangerous it was for Zia. and the details about the orchids were fascinating.
A truly brilliant piece of storytelling.
What a fascinating story full of great characters and the vivid setting of New York City in the 1920’s.
Zia is a wonderful heroine. The journey she follows from meek and timid librarian, trying to provide for her son and be a good daughter-in-law, to the brave and courageous investigator in The Orchid Hour mixing with the seedier side of life is so compelling. Her resilience and determination in finding the truth is to admired but of course comes with a cost.
I loved the links to the real life crime world of the 20’s - it really brought home how dangerous it was for Zia. and the details about the orchids were fascinating.
A truly brilliant piece of storytelling.
July 23, 2023
I’m a big fan of Nancy Bilyeau’s historical fiction. Her writing here is just as evocative of the times about which it was written: the jazz age New York. Zia, the main character is a young widowed woman living with her son and in laws. Through the book the reader watches her challenged by political and gangster shenanigans. While I did enjoy the story, I found I didn’t particularly connect with Zia and generally found this one of the author’s less compelling efforts. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.
September 13, 2023
The year is 1923 and the reader is immersed in the not so 'good 'ol days' of Little Italy, New York. A time when prohibition was the law and the 'Black Hand' enforced a protection racket. A time of first generation immigrants, overcrowded tenements, speakeasy's, rum runners, racketeers, bootleggers, and police corruption.
It was also a period of intense racial prejudice and xenophobia. The Italians disliked the Jewish. The Jewish disliked the Irish. The Irish disliked the Asians. The Protestants disliked the Catholics. And... EVERYBODY hated the Sicilians because of their fear of the Sicilian gangsters. Scarily, it was also a time when the push for eugenics was at its peak.
Our protagonist, Zia De Luca, is a first generation immigrant from Sicily. Since landing in America she has lost her parents to the Spanish Flu, and also her beloved husband and brother in the Great War. Now, at twenty-seven years of age, she and her young son live with her late husband's parents on Mulberry St. in Little Italy. She works in a public library and help out with her father-in-law's cheese shop.
After a library patron enlists her assistance to translate a play, events culminate in his being murdered outside the library. Thus begins a dark spiral that consumes Zia in its wake. Then another murder hits very close to home and Zia is determined to see justice done. She thinks the two murders are connected in some way to a speakeasy called 'The Orchid Hour' and she enlists the assistance of Charles Luciano (formerly named Salvatore and Zia's cousin) to secure her access to the club. She and Salvatore had a strong bond that originated when they suffered the deprivations and squalor of travelling in steerage on the same ship from the old country.
With themes of avarice, bribery, power, and corruption, this novel immerses the reader in its world. The book was well researched and the characters believable. Interspersed with the fictional characters were real historical characters such as J. Edgar Hoover, 'Lucky' Luciano, and many more. New York, the 'Big Apple' is shown to be rotten through to its core. Fans of historical fiction will relish this foray into a rather sordid time in American history.
It was also a period of intense racial prejudice and xenophobia. The Italians disliked the Jewish. The Jewish disliked the Irish. The Irish disliked the Asians. The Protestants disliked the Catholics. And... EVERYBODY hated the Sicilians because of their fear of the Sicilian gangsters. Scarily, it was also a time when the push for eugenics was at its peak.
Our protagonist, Zia De Luca, is a first generation immigrant from Sicily. Since landing in America she has lost her parents to the Spanish Flu, and also her beloved husband and brother in the Great War. Now, at twenty-seven years of age, she and her young son live with her late husband's parents on Mulberry St. in Little Italy. She works in a public library and help out with her father-in-law's cheese shop.
After a library patron enlists her assistance to translate a play, events culminate in his being murdered outside the library. Thus begins a dark spiral that consumes Zia in its wake. Then another murder hits very close to home and Zia is determined to see justice done. She thinks the two murders are connected in some way to a speakeasy called 'The Orchid Hour' and she enlists the assistance of Charles Luciano (formerly named Salvatore and Zia's cousin) to secure her access to the club. She and Salvatore had a strong bond that originated when they suffered the deprivations and squalor of travelling in steerage on the same ship from the old country.
With themes of avarice, bribery, power, and corruption, this novel immerses the reader in its world. The book was well researched and the characters believable. Interspersed with the fictional characters were real historical characters such as J. Edgar Hoover, 'Lucky' Luciano, and many more. New York, the 'Big Apple' is shown to be rotten through to its core. Fans of historical fiction will relish this foray into a rather sordid time in American history.
August 11, 2023
This is a bit of crime fiction, mixed with cheese and orchids in New York during the "roaring 20"! Does that entice you to read my full #bookreview? I hope so. Here it is:
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2023/08/1...
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2023/08/1...
July 8, 2023
Thanks to Net Galley and Lume Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The Orchid Hour is an historical novel set in Prohibition era New York and all that entails: post World War 1 trauma, political and police corruption, the Jazz Age, institutional racism, speakeasies and gangsterism.
The main character and first person narrator of parts of the book is Audenzia (Zia), a young war widow with a young son who is enfolded but constrained by the social and family rules of the Sicilian families she was born in and married into. As an employee she meets and befriends an elderly man. When he, and later her beloved father-in-law, are killed she sets out to discover why. Her quest brings her to the Orchid Hour, a smart night club owned by a powerful gangster.
Bilyeau fills the story with fictional characters, intertwined with many real people. The story is almost incidental. What strikes is the way she brings to life the people, the mood, the culture and the hopes, dreams and fears of 1920s New York: Prohibition, jazz, drug addiction, model T Fords, early cinema and immigrant communities, as well as nods to the theory of eugenics, innocent support of Italians for the rising Mussolini and the craze for orchids.
A well crafted story and an easy read.
The Orchid Hour is an historical novel set in Prohibition era New York and all that entails: post World War 1 trauma, political and police corruption, the Jazz Age, institutional racism, speakeasies and gangsterism.
The main character and first person narrator of parts of the book is Audenzia (Zia), a young war widow with a young son who is enfolded but constrained by the social and family rules of the Sicilian families she was born in and married into. As an employee she meets and befriends an elderly man. When he, and later her beloved father-in-law, are killed she sets out to discover why. Her quest brings her to the Orchid Hour, a smart night club owned by a powerful gangster.
Bilyeau fills the story with fictional characters, intertwined with many real people. The story is almost incidental. What strikes is the way she brings to life the people, the mood, the culture and the hopes, dreams and fears of 1920s New York: Prohibition, jazz, drug addiction, model T Fords, early cinema and immigrant communities, as well as nods to the theory of eugenics, innocent support of Italians for the rising Mussolini and the craze for orchids.
A well crafted story and an easy read.
March 16, 2023
The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau
Pub date 8.10.23
Synopsis: Zia is an Italian immigrant widow during the prohibition who wants a better life for herself. While working at a local library she befriends a man who is later murdered followed by her father in law. She wants answers so she enlists the help of her gangster cousin Sal to get a job at an up and coming speak easy, The Orchid Hour. Will she get the answers she craves or will she blur the lines of her real life to the self appointed undercover one?
My thoughts: I was so excited about this story. Being Italian and Sicilian I was very interested in the description of this historical fiction novel. However, I ended up being let down by the story as a whole. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story line. I was drawn into the setting and atmosphere that the author created with her words but that’s where my enjoyment ended. I felt that I couldn’t get a deep enough connection with the characters and instead of wanting to keep reading I had to convince myself to just get through a chapter before calling it quits for the evening. I felt that the first 3/4 of the story dragged on leaving the remaining 1/4 feeling rushed to be completed. I would have like the storyline to flow better instead of dragging so that the ending could have been given the time and detail it deserved. There were also multiple typos/grammatically improper phrases in the text which is a big pet peeve of mine when reading a book. Overall,I thought this novel was a great idea with a ton of potential but it just fell flat.
Pub date 8.10.23
Synopsis: Zia is an Italian immigrant widow during the prohibition who wants a better life for herself. While working at a local library she befriends a man who is later murdered followed by her father in law. She wants answers so she enlists the help of her gangster cousin Sal to get a job at an up and coming speak easy, The Orchid Hour. Will she get the answers she craves or will she blur the lines of her real life to the self appointed undercover one?
My thoughts: I was so excited about this story. Being Italian and Sicilian I was very interested in the description of this historical fiction novel. However, I ended up being let down by the story as a whole. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story line. I was drawn into the setting and atmosphere that the author created with her words but that’s where my enjoyment ended. I felt that I couldn’t get a deep enough connection with the characters and instead of wanting to keep reading I had to convince myself to just get through a chapter before calling it quits for the evening. I felt that the first 3/4 of the story dragged on leaving the remaining 1/4 feeling rushed to be completed. I would have like the storyline to flow better instead of dragging so that the ending could have been given the time and detail it deserved. There were also multiple typos/grammatically improper phrases in the text which is a big pet peeve of mine when reading a book. Overall,I thought this novel was a great idea with a ton of potential but it just fell flat.
August 17, 2023
3.5 (RTC)
I’d like to thank Insta Book Tours for having me on the tour. I took part in the tour for one of Nancy’s previous books so I was excited to start this one.
✍🏻Nancy Bilyeau’s writing is so beautiful, it’s descriptive and paints a detailed picture in my imagination, 1920’s New York definitely came to life!
🕵🏻♀️We start with the mystery of what happened at The Orchid Hour and the mysteries just keep on coming. Who murdered Mr Watkins? What is Sal up to? There were lots of questions that we got the answers to.
⭐This was a slow-burn read with a hint of romance too. The struggles that Zia faced throughout her life were heart breaking. With links to prominent figures of the 1920’s Nancy Bilyeau once again weaves fact and fiction masterfully.
I’d like to thank Insta Book Tours for having me on the tour. I took part in the tour for one of Nancy’s previous books so I was excited to start this one.
✍🏻Nancy Bilyeau’s writing is so beautiful, it’s descriptive and paints a detailed picture in my imagination, 1920’s New York definitely came to life!
🕵🏻♀️We start with the mystery of what happened at The Orchid Hour and the mysteries just keep on coming. Who murdered Mr Watkins? What is Sal up to? There were lots of questions that we got the answers to.
⭐This was a slow-burn read with a hint of romance too. The struggles that Zia faced throughout her life were heart breaking. With links to prominent figures of the 1920’s Nancy Bilyeau once again weaves fact and fiction masterfully.
January 24, 2024
3.85 New York in the 20's from the perspective of an Italian immigrant woman and the other two main characters involved in a couple of murders. Challenges, tragedies and Italian cultural expectations dominate the story. The ending, which had a lot of authenticity, wraps up in 1963. The author loosely based some of her characters on real people (Lucky Luciano for one) that were active in the New York clubs during prohibition.
March 1, 2023
A good, interesting and captivating novel. I enjoyed reading about New York in the 1920s, loved the Orchid history, and I liked the main character's personality a lot! I obviously learned a lot about orchids, the Mafia and about life and their social status as an immigrant in America.
I did find the first 20% of the novel a bit slow, but still I could not stop reading! A great read from a great writer! I recommend all her novels!
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest.
I did find the first 20% of the novel a bit slow, but still I could not stop reading! A great read from a great writer! I recommend all her novels!
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest.
March 5, 2023
I needed this book as a New Yorker in this post-pandemic world because NYC was, and always will be, heaven on earth. Five out of five stars, as a NYC, murder mystery, and historical fiction lover. From a New Yorker’s perspective, this book is spot on when describing New York City and its famous neighborhoods, love that! The roaring jazz age of the 20’s feels like a fresh timeline when reading historical fiction. I fell in love with the main character Audenzia, right from the start. And I love libraries! So these four things made the book unputdownable for me! It was a slow burn for the first 3 chapters, and by chapter four, the tension was fast-building. My heart was in my throat as the danger got worse, but the book made me smile too, as the Italian accents were perfect. It made the story suspenseful and fun at the same time. I didn’t know what it was like to live in NYC in the 20’s, so I learned a bit as well. The danger and racism at that time was captivating to read about. Watkins and Audenzia’s friendship was a joy (and sad) to see develop. The book really pulled together all the many, many details about this murder mystery at the end, it left me very sad when the book was finished, not because of the ending (which was awesome!) but because I wanted the story to go on and on. For me, it was a perfect historical mystery. Thanks to Lume Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I volunteered to read it and give my honest opinions. #TheOrchidHour #NetGalley
September 26, 2023
I loved everything about this audiobook, the setting, the characters, the plot the narration and of course that gorgeous cover!
The story was told from three different characters points of view, Zia the main character, plus Frank and Lewis two side characters. I loved Zia and empathised with her as she struggled to find out why the man was murdered outside the public library where she worked. I held my breath as she made important decisions that could endanger herself and those close to her, but also rooted for her and as she got closer to the truth.
This story instantly transported me to New York in the 1920s, it had me Googling areas of the city, nightclubs and infamous characters from the age, wanting to find out more.
Quinn Kitmitto a new-to-me narrator was superb. Her voice talents amazed me, as she moved flawlessly between the different accents, genders and age groups. I will definitely be looking out for more audiobooks narrated by her in the future.
Highly recommended on audio if you enjoy historial mysteries set in the 1920s.
The story was told from three different characters points of view, Zia the main character, plus Frank and Lewis two side characters. I loved Zia and empathised with her as she struggled to find out why the man was murdered outside the public library where she worked. I held my breath as she made important decisions that could endanger herself and those close to her, but also rooted for her and as she got closer to the truth.
This story instantly transported me to New York in the 1920s, it had me Googling areas of the city, nightclubs and infamous characters from the age, wanting to find out more.
Quinn Kitmitto a new-to-me narrator was superb. Her voice talents amazed me, as she moved flawlessly between the different accents, genders and age groups. I will definitely be looking out for more audiobooks narrated by her in the future.
Highly recommended on audio if you enjoy historial mysteries set in the 1920s.
September 17, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
This was such a clever and immersive historical fiction novel. It was set during a time period that I had never read about before and I was so ignorant of the issues that Sicilians had gone through when they moved to the US.
Not only did I learn a lot while reading the book, but I grew very fond of the main character. It was lovely to see her throw off the 'shackles' that had been placed upon her by her feelings of responsibility to her in-laws after her husband's death. It was quite melancholic at times, but the atmosphere of the book shone throughout and I felt myself researching orchids afterwards.
I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
This was such a clever and immersive historical fiction novel. It was set during a time period that I had never read about before and I was so ignorant of the issues that Sicilians had gone through when they moved to the US.
Not only did I learn a lot while reading the book, but I grew very fond of the main character. It was lovely to see her throw off the 'shackles' that had been placed upon her by her feelings of responsibility to her in-laws after her husband's death. It was quite melancholic at times, but the atmosphere of the book shone throughout and I felt myself researching orchids afterwards.
I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
February 13, 2024
Set in 1923 New York City, Audenzia (Zia) De Luca lives with her son in her in-laws' home. She's still suffering from the shock of the loss of both her husband and brother in WWI. Her in-laws run a small shop, selling what they think are the best cheeses; Zia does their books, and also works at a public library. Her father-in-law, and other business owners in the area, must pay a local heavy protection money regularly.
Zia misses her cousin Sal, with whom she and her family made the crossing to America from Sicily. Sal is always scheming and has his eye on opportunity, and is often in trouble, something that does not endear him to Zia's in-laws or Zia's older, overly protective brother.
One of the library patrons who loves poetry is friendly to Zia, inflaming the jealousy of a coworker. One day, he is murdered outside the library, and Zia is horrified, both by the murder, and angry when the police suspect her because she's originally from Sicily. When violence comes to the shop, Zia learns that both crimes have a connection to a speakeasy called the Orchid Hour. Sal is coincidentally an investor in The Orchid Hour.
Zia decides to investigate when the police get nowhere, getting Sal to help her infiltrate the club. Zia's world opens up to excitement, beauty, and friendship, leading to big changes in her life.
Author Nancy Bilyeau gives us an entertaining historical novel. Set at the intersection of Prohibition, growing organized crime, and immigration, she shows how New York City is transforming during this period.
Zia is a solid lead, doing what she has to to make a better life for her son. Zia is intelligent and adaptable, speaks multiple languages, and is determined to find the truth and take it to the police. She has to decide if she's going to continue to do things the way her in-laws want, living a small, quiet life under their control. Or is she going to do whatever is necessary to reinvent herself to fit in with her new complex, double life. Her determination moves much of the plot forward, bringing her many new experiences meeting people not quite on the right side of the law, as well as dancers and actors, while growing past the confines others want her to stay in.
This was a compelling story, as Zia gets a sense of who is behind the crimes that have touched her life, as well as a better sense of who her beloved cousin Sal is becoming. I love a story that mixes real facts credibly into fiction, and also creates characters one comes to care deeply for. Bilyeau definitely succeeded.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Lume Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Zia misses her cousin Sal, with whom she and her family made the crossing to America from Sicily. Sal is always scheming and has his eye on opportunity, and is often in trouble, something that does not endear him to Zia's in-laws or Zia's older, overly protective brother.
One of the library patrons who loves poetry is friendly to Zia, inflaming the jealousy of a coworker. One day, he is murdered outside the library, and Zia is horrified, both by the murder, and angry when the police suspect her because she's originally from Sicily. When violence comes to the shop, Zia learns that both crimes have a connection to a speakeasy called the Orchid Hour. Sal is coincidentally an investor in The Orchid Hour.
Zia decides to investigate when the police get nowhere, getting Sal to help her infiltrate the club. Zia's world opens up to excitement, beauty, and friendship, leading to big changes in her life.
Author Nancy Bilyeau gives us an entertaining historical novel. Set at the intersection of Prohibition, growing organized crime, and immigration, she shows how New York City is transforming during this period.
Zia is a solid lead, doing what she has to to make a better life for her son. Zia is intelligent and adaptable, speaks multiple languages, and is determined to find the truth and take it to the police. She has to decide if she's going to continue to do things the way her in-laws want, living a small, quiet life under their control. Or is she going to do whatever is necessary to reinvent herself to fit in with her new complex, double life. Her determination moves much of the plot forward, bringing her many new experiences meeting people not quite on the right side of the law, as well as dancers and actors, while growing past the confines others want her to stay in.
This was a compelling story, as Zia gets a sense of who is behind the crimes that have touched her life, as well as a better sense of who her beloved cousin Sal is becoming. I love a story that mixes real facts credibly into fiction, and also creates characters one comes to care deeply for. Bilyeau definitely succeeded.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Lume Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
December 15, 2023
I just reviewed The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau. #TheOrchidHour #NetGalley
BRILLIANT! Absolutely Brilliant!
Couldn’t put this down which is why I’m doing this review at 1:35am!
There is NOTHING I don’t love about this book. The beautiful cover, the plot, the narrative…..the book hits the ground running and it doesn’t release its grip on the reader until the final word!
For me, this was the best book I’ve read in a long time and a completely new genre to what I would usually read but the author pulled it off with aplomb!
BRILLIANT! Absolutely Brilliant!
Couldn’t put this down which is why I’m doing this review at 1:35am!
There is NOTHING I don’t love about this book. The beautiful cover, the plot, the narrative…..the book hits the ground running and it doesn’t release its grip on the reader until the final word!
For me, this was the best book I’ve read in a long time and a completely new genre to what I would usually read but the author pulled it off with aplomb!
August 22, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley & Lume Books for an eARC of this book. The following review is my honest reflection on the text provided.
Yet again, I probably should've written this review right after I read the book, not over nine months later... I remember the plot being incredibly farfetched and not really understanding why the characters were making such strange choices that seemed both out of character and unnecessary. It took a long time for the story to pick up and then everything felt rushed in the end. Overall a pretty average read.
Yet again, I probably should've written this review right after I read the book, not over nine months later... I remember the plot being incredibly farfetched and not really understanding why the characters were making such strange choices that seemed both out of character and unnecessary. It took a long time for the story to pick up and then everything felt rushed in the end. Overall a pretty average read.
January 5, 2024
I don’t even know where to start writing after reading The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau. Readers would think that reading a story set around the early 1920’s, it would be a fairly simple story …. WELL … I am here to tell you that that is far from the truth. Readers will be pleasantly shocked to learn that you will be swept away into a time that was scary, but fun scary at times, exciting and emotional.
In The Orchid Hour readers are introduced to Audenzia “Zia” De Luca who is in her twenties but has already lived a lifetime. Zia lost her brother and husband to the Great War but she was fortunate to have her son, Michael, and her in-laws. Zia worked for the local branch of the library as well as in her in-laws cheese shop. Her and Michael also lived with her mother and father-in law in an apartment above the store. Zia was content with her life. Unfortunately that all changed when she lost her job at the library and Mr. Watkins, a gentlemen who visited the library, was gunned down in front of the library and the police were looking at her as a suspect or person of interest.
After Zia is interviewed by the police, she decides that she needs to find out more about Mr. Watkins and why someone would want him dead. This kind of thing is right up her cousin Salvatore’s alley … but she has to do it all without her in-laws knowing. And when someone very close to her is also murdered, she goes deep in the illegal world to find out answers to her questions ….. while keeping it all a secret from the family.
Readers will be on the edge of their seats reading The Orchid Hour. Bilyeau knows how to keep the reader engrossed in the story and you will not want to leave until you get to the truth !! Readers cannot help but feel for Zia and will want to jump into the book to help her out … oh, if only we could.
In The Orchid Hour readers are introduced to Audenzia “Zia” De Luca who is in her twenties but has already lived a lifetime. Zia lost her brother and husband to the Great War but she was fortunate to have her son, Michael, and her in-laws. Zia worked for the local branch of the library as well as in her in-laws cheese shop. Her and Michael also lived with her mother and father-in law in an apartment above the store. Zia was content with her life. Unfortunately that all changed when she lost her job at the library and Mr. Watkins, a gentlemen who visited the library, was gunned down in front of the library and the police were looking at her as a suspect or person of interest.
After Zia is interviewed by the police, she decides that she needs to find out more about Mr. Watkins and why someone would want him dead. This kind of thing is right up her cousin Salvatore’s alley … but she has to do it all without her in-laws knowing. And when someone very close to her is also murdered, she goes deep in the illegal world to find out answers to her questions ….. while keeping it all a secret from the family.
Readers will be on the edge of their seats reading The Orchid Hour. Bilyeau knows how to keep the reader engrossed in the story and you will not want to leave until you get to the truth !! Readers cannot help but feel for Zia and will want to jump into the book to help her out … oh, if only we could.
August 11, 2023
The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau is an enchanting Historical Fiction novel jam packed with atmosphere and originality. Told in multiple points of view, the story is set in New York City during the 1920s, the age of organized crime, speakeasies, jazz, glamour and gangsters. The setting is vivid and the plot drips with suspense. Not only is there murder but also snippets of romance. Talk about a beguiling story to become fully immersed in!
Sicilian immigrant Zia De Luca and her son live with her inlaws in Little Italy. She works as an assistant librarian at the Immigrants' Library in a peaceful calm environment. Murder has a way of changing things and she becomes part of The Orchid Hour. She and Lt. Frank Hudgins inveigle and investigate together. What a team! I really like the orchid and Sicily connections, tight suspense and atmosphere in particular. Do be sure to read the author's notes on her inspiration.
Looking for your next unique and enthralling read? This could very well be what you crave. A brilliant change from the ordinary.
My sincere thank you to Lume Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this fabulous book.
Sicilian immigrant Zia De Luca and her son live with her inlaws in Little Italy. She works as an assistant librarian at the Immigrants' Library in a peaceful calm environment. Murder has a way of changing things and she becomes part of The Orchid Hour. She and Lt. Frank Hudgins inveigle and investigate together. What a team! I really like the orchid and Sicily connections, tight suspense and atmosphere in particular. Do be sure to read the author's notes on her inspiration.
Looking for your next unique and enthralling read? This could very well be what you crave. A brilliant change from the ordinary.
My sincere thank you to Lume Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this fabulous book.
April 18, 2023
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Nancy Bilyeau – her Joanna Stafford Tudor Trilogy, her two Genevieve Planché thrillers set in the world of 18th century art, and Dreamland, her novel about a Coney Island theme park – so I couldn’t wait to start reading her new book, The Orchid Hour. The setting sounded intriguing: New York’s Little Italy during the 1920s, the era of prohibition, so I was anticipating another good read.
The novel opens in 1923 and introduces us to Audenzia de Luca, known as Zia, a young Sicilian woman whose husband was killed in the Great War. Zia is trying to build a new life for herself and her son and has started working at the Seward Park branch of the New York Public Library while also helping out in her in-laws’ cheese shop in Little Italy. At work one day, she is approached by a regular visitor to the library who asks if she could translate an Italian text into English for him. Zia agrees, but before she can begin the task, the man is found shot dead outside the library.
When a second murder follows the first, a sequence of events is set in motion that leads Zia to the doors of The Orchid Hour, an elegant nightclub that also operates as a speakeasy, selling illicit alcohol in defiance of prohibition. With the police investigation into the murders going nowhere, Zia decides to do whatever she can to uncover the truth. She believes The Orchid Hour holds the key to the mystery but when she discovers that her cousin Salvatore, to whom she is very close, is mixed up with the criminal underworld, she must find a way to bring the killer – or killers – to justice without endangering her own loved ones.
This is not my favourite of Nancy Bilyeau’s books, but with such a range of plots and settings, it’s inevitable that I’ll like some of them more than others and this was still a very enjoyable novel. It was interesting to read about Zia and her family and I found that I was learning a lot about the lives of Italian immigrants in 1920s New York, the way they were treated and the type of jobs open to them, as well as the constant threat of the Society of the Black Hand, who extorted protection money from their fellow Italians. The novel also explores other issues, such as attitudes towards prohibition and why the police would sometimes turn a blind eye, and the best conditions for growing delicate orchids. Bilyeau’s Author’s Note at the end of the book describes some of her research and sources and tells us which of the characters were fictional and which were based on real people.
I found the mystery element of the book slightly less successful, particularly as several chapters are written from the perspective of one of the gangsters, so we knew who was involved in at least one of the murders right from the beginning. Still, I enjoyed this book for the historical detail and because it immersed me in a world I previously knew very little about.
The novel opens in 1923 and introduces us to Audenzia de Luca, known as Zia, a young Sicilian woman whose husband was killed in the Great War. Zia is trying to build a new life for herself and her son and has started working at the Seward Park branch of the New York Public Library while also helping out in her in-laws’ cheese shop in Little Italy. At work one day, she is approached by a regular visitor to the library who asks if she could translate an Italian text into English for him. Zia agrees, but before she can begin the task, the man is found shot dead outside the library.
When a second murder follows the first, a sequence of events is set in motion that leads Zia to the doors of The Orchid Hour, an elegant nightclub that also operates as a speakeasy, selling illicit alcohol in defiance of prohibition. With the police investigation into the murders going nowhere, Zia decides to do whatever she can to uncover the truth. She believes The Orchid Hour holds the key to the mystery but when she discovers that her cousin Salvatore, to whom she is very close, is mixed up with the criminal underworld, she must find a way to bring the killer – or killers – to justice without endangering her own loved ones.
This is not my favourite of Nancy Bilyeau’s books, but with such a range of plots and settings, it’s inevitable that I’ll like some of them more than others and this was still a very enjoyable novel. It was interesting to read about Zia and her family and I found that I was learning a lot about the lives of Italian immigrants in 1920s New York, the way they were treated and the type of jobs open to them, as well as the constant threat of the Society of the Black Hand, who extorted protection money from their fellow Italians. The novel also explores other issues, such as attitudes towards prohibition and why the police would sometimes turn a blind eye, and the best conditions for growing delicate orchids. Bilyeau’s Author’s Note at the end of the book describes some of her research and sources and tells us which of the characters were fictional and which were based on real people.
I found the mystery element of the book slightly less successful, particularly as several chapters are written from the perspective of one of the gangsters, so we knew who was involved in at least one of the murders right from the beginning. Still, I enjoyed this book for the historical detail and because it immersed me in a world I previously knew very little about.
April 18, 2023
This book is, I think, loosely based on fact. How much, I’m not exactly sure. You don’t learn this until late on in the novel and I’m not going to explain why. If you know more than I do about 1920s New York, it might be obvious to you, but the anti-immigrant and prejudice shown to Italians and others is a little harrowing to read.
How much this played into the events is anyone’s guess, but I believe it was substantially. People do things at a survival level sometimes…….
The story is told in flashbacks from 1963 to 1923 and is shown from a variety of perspectives. That of widowed Zia de Luca, her cousin Salvatore, a police officer and organised criminals. All in all, this was totally fascinating and even though it was slower paced than I typically like, the detail was riveting enough to keep me hooked.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, this has been one of my favourite reads in quite a while.
How much this played into the events is anyone’s guess, but I believe it was substantially. People do things at a survival level sometimes…….
The story is told in flashbacks from 1963 to 1923 and is shown from a variety of perspectives. That of widowed Zia de Luca, her cousin Salvatore, a police officer and organised criminals. All in all, this was totally fascinating and even though it was slower paced than I typically like, the detail was riveting enough to keep me hooked.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, this has been one of my favourite reads in quite a while.
August 9, 2023
This historical story is very atmospheric , reading it made me feel like I was in New York in the early 20s.I loved the descriptions of the city, the people and the secret world of crime families. I was very intrigued by the author’s writing, the way Nancy Bilyeau showed how immigrants were treated and how a young immigrant Italian mother, who lost everyone and everything she loved, managed to become a confident and strong woman.
It is a captivating, dark story that I really enjoyed reading. If you like historical fiction stories you should definitely read this one, and most importantly don’t forget to read the Author’s Note!
Thank you NetGalley and Lume Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.
It is a captivating, dark story that I really enjoyed reading. If you like historical fiction stories you should definitely read this one, and most importantly don’t forget to read the Author’s Note!
Thank you NetGalley and Lume Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.
March 25, 2023
It felt like a lot of build up to get us yo the orchid hour, setting the scene giving back stories, all the details of why and what.
I'm not complaining, I breezed through this book. It was an easy read , the words flowed right off the pages.
An interesting slice of American history, and how the Italian were treated when they immigrated.
The family dynamics in the Italian family were also interesting to me.
Seems like I'm saying I found the book interesting.
I'm not complaining, I breezed through this book. It was an easy read , the words flowed right off the pages.
An interesting slice of American history, and how the Italian were treated when they immigrated.
The family dynamics in the Italian family were also interesting to me.
Seems like I'm saying I found the book interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews