BR: The Greenhouse (Susan Hillmore)

Amazon Link: The Greenhouse

...moving and poetic...The Greenhouse should be read for the beauty of its descriptions, its original vision, and its complete lack of vulgarity, rare in a contemporary novel.--The Literary Review

Written in omniscient point of view, this novella spans a woman’s life and just beyond, until the thing she most cherished is destroyed.

Vanessa is born into a well to do family, ostracized by her father due to a birth defect that crippled one leg, she hides (and is hidden) from society until, eventually, she is left alone as her family dies or moves away. The greenhouse, a stately, gothic structure, is the focus of her devotion, the reason for her life. She tends the plants within as though they are her children, and would die to protect them. When an intruder comes onto the grounds, stalks her and eventually rapes her, Vanessa secludes herself in the house and the greenhouse aches for the loss.

From the rape, a child is born – a boy with dark eyes and hair like his father, similarities that the greenhouse notices and fears. The child grows, competing for his mother’s attention and often-times failing. Vanessa loves her son, adores him, but parents him badly, giving him free roam, leniency beyond acceptable levels, and turning a blind eye when he misbehaves – she focuses the attention he needs on the greenhouse, and the boy notices. Soon, he is beyond her control and her beloved greenhouse becomes the focus of his rage.

The ending is far from cheery, downright maudlin actually. None of the characters achieve respite from their respective traumas, and the greenhouse, the focus of the novel and the main protagonist, meets a grim end.

But, the story is well written, and as reviewed it is moving and poetic. I read it for that reason alone, and it was worth it.

Rating: *** ½ out of five stars.