House of Orphans

by HelenDunmore (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.36

  Finland in the 1900s: revolution is wafting in on the cold winds from Russia, but in the provincial backwoods, life for the widowed country doctor Thomas Esklund continues, quiet, settled and sedate. Then he hires a new young housekeeper from the local orphanage. Eeva - assured, unpredictable and independent, utterly mysterious and unlike any servant Thomas has ever met, ruffles the feathers of his nosy neighbours. Their question is - could Thomas just possibly be falling in love with her? But Eeva yearns for an escape from service and a return to her childhood home in Helsinki - and with Thomas's help she will make that break and return to her first love as well as the happy dangers of life with her politicised comrades. Until a crisis forces her to rethink her plans and call for Thomas's help again..... House of Orphans is a spellbinding story of love and loneliness, of the differences between change and revolution, and of the terrorism that lurks everywhere in times of change, even in our private midst.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.36

  Not known

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $3.36

  Set in Finland in the year 1901: Eeva, the young orphaned daughter of a revolutionary, is sent from the orphanage to work as housekeeper for Thomas, a widowed country doctor. Her challenging, independent, enigmatic presence disturbs Thomas as much as it fascinates him. Their relationship will shatter all the certainties of his life. Meanwhile, Eeva is drawn back to Helsinki, to the comrades of her childhood, and in particular to Lauri, the son of her father's friend. It is a world full of danger. For this is Finland in political ferment - the power of the Russian Empire over its subject peoples is growing more oppressive, but resistance to the Tsar's rule is growing too, both in Finland and in Russia. Some call such resistance terrorism; others call it a fight for freedom. Just as Helen Dunmore's The Siege is a novel about how huge public events bear down on private lives, so House of Orphans , while a spellbinding story of love and loneliness is also about the tension between reform and revolution, and a country emerging into Independence.

• New

  Paperback
  2007

  $12.69

  House of Orphans is bestselling author Helen Dunmore's ninth novel. 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. Vivid and exciting...Dunmore creates a beautiful sense of stillness ...she conveys a passion for Finland's icy landscape . (Observer). Part love story, part tragedy...Dunmore on dazzling form. Everyone should read her work . (Independent on Sunday). Outstanding, a sheer pleasure to read. Dunmore is a remarkable storyteller . (Daily Mail). Helen Dunmore is the author of twelve novels: Zennor in Darkness, which won the McKitterick Prize; Burning Bright; A Spell of Winter, which won the Orange Prize; Talking to the Dead; Your Blue-Eyed Boy; With Your Crooked Heart; The Siege, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002; Mourning Ruby; House of Orphans; Counting the Stars; The Betrayal, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010, and The Greatcoat. She is also a poet, children's novelist and short-story writer.