House of Orphans

Description

Finland, 1902, and the Russian Empire enforces a brutal policy to destroy Finland's freedom and force its people into submission. Eeva, orphaned daughter of a failed revolutionary, also battles to find her independence and identity. Destitute when her father dies, she is sent away to a country orphanage, and then employed as servant to a widowed doctor, Thomas Eklund. Slowly, Thomas falls in love with Eeva ... but she has committed herself long ago to a boy from her childhood, Lauri, who is now caught up in Helsinki's turmoil of resistance to Russian rule. Set in dangerous, unfamiliar times which strangely echo our own, the story reveals how terrorism lies hidden within ordinary life, as rulers struggle to hold on to power. House of Orphans is a rich, brilliant story of love, history and change.

Helen Dunmore is the author of fourteen novels. Her first, Zennor in Darkness, explored the events which led to D H Lawrence's expulsion from Cornwall (on suspicion of spying) during the First World War. It won the McKitterick Prize. Her third novel, A Spell of Winter, won the inaugural Orange Prize, now the Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Siege, set during the Siege of Leningrad, was described by Antony Beevor as 'a world-class novel' and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel of the Year and the Orange Prize. She has also written a ghost story, The Greatcoat, under the Hammer imprint. She is fascinated by the Cold War era, which was also the era of her childhood, and is the setting for Exposure, and by the secrets, betrayals, loves, lies and loyalties which make up the period's intimate history. Helen Dunmore's work has been translated into more than thirty languages and she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Outstanding, a sheer pleasure to read. Dunmore is a remarkable storyteller * Daily Mail * Part love story, part tragedy . . . Dunmore on dazzling form. Everyone should read her work * Independent on Sunday * Every character is richly drawn and makes for compelling reading ... top-quality fiction * Daily Express * Richly ambitious . . . there isn't a dull page. A remarkable achievement * Scotsman * Extraordinary . . . combines a luminous delicacy of observation with raw emotional power to haunting effect * Sunday Telegraph * Vivid and exciting . . . Dunmore creates a beautiful sense of stillness . . . she conveys a passion for Finland's icy landscape * Observer * Beautifully written . . . a story about us all * Evening Standard *