"Three white sisters return to their Caribbean island home to find their family living in poverty and mental anguish. Each sister responds to the family's plight in different ways - seeking change through romance or politics or money."
Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
Three white sisters return to their Caribbean island home to find their family living in poverty and mental anguish. Each sister responds to the family's plight in different ways - seeking change through romance or politics or money.
Intensely autobiographical, The Orchid House describes a colonial society in decay as seen through the (usually) loyal eyes of the sisters' childhood nurse, Lally: "Beauty and disease, beauty and sickness, beauty and horror: that was the island."
First published in 1953, it was filmed by Channel 4 in 1991 for a four-part series with Diana Quick, Frances Barber and Elizabeth Hurley.
This edition has a new and incisive introduction by the Dominican scholar Schuyler Esprit, which casts a fresh and contemporary eye on Allfrey's life and work.
The Orchid House features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Sharing Diverse Voices, General Fiction, Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories
The Orchid House is available in Paperback
The Orchid House was written by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and published by Papillote Press
£8.99