Orchid House

Julia Morrison is still grieving the death of her grandfather when she finds out she’s the “family representative” for Hacienda Esperanza, the estate he left behind in the Philippines when he went into exile. On arriving there from San Francisco, Julia finds a mansion replete with kin who tell her legends of her Spanish ancestors, while her grandfather’s cryptic notes lead her to seek out an orchid, discovered by an aunt several generations ago, that purportedly can work miracles. Over the course of settling her grandfather’s affairs, Julia finds out she can’t own the Hacienda outright, but the more she sees of the country and of her handsome young lawyer, the more she contemplates staying on. Julia’s naïveté and attachment to the estate at times prove overly sweet, but her wide-eyed perspective is tempered by depictions of the life of those outside the gates: Emman, a boy growing up outside the mansion who takes it upon himself to protect the American woman, and Manalo, a Communist freedom fighter hoping to place control of the mansion in Filipino hands. The latest swirling romance from Martinusen (Eventide ) draws tension from the setting, which includes a smoky threat from a nearby volcano, and from a nicely turned plot. (Feb.)