Book description
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.
Helen Dunmore has published eight novels with Penguin:
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 Eye; The Siege
, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award
and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002; and
Mourning Ruby
. She is also a poet, children's novelist and short-story writer.
