Nancy Bilyeau offers her readers an immersive experience into the milieu of 1923 New York City with the historical novel “The Orchid Hour”. Set within the insular Italian community called Little Italy, when Prohibition was fuelling organised crime and proliferation of speakeasies (a new word for me), the heroine in this captivating and a poignant tale is Zia De Luca, a young widow who suddenly gets thrust into the centre of a murder investigation. She lives with her son and in-laws above the cheese shop they own while working for a local branch of the New York Public Library.

One day deputy mayor Miles G. Watkins, a frequent library patron, approached Zia to help translate a play by well-known Sicilian author. Shortly after Zia agrees to do so, Watkins is gunned down on the library steps. She becomes the focus of the police investigation led by NYPD Lt. Frank Hudgins. After a second killing much closer to her home, Zia begins to suspect that the crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour.

When the police investigation nets the murder suspect, Zia knows that the NYPD got the wrong person and decides to do some sleuthing on her own. With the help of her cousin Sal who is close to her and part-owner of The Orchid Hour, she is offered a job to take care of some special orchids in the establishment. Once inside, she eavesdrops into conversations between the racketeers who own the speakeasy. Things start to get heady for Zia as she connects the dots between the murder victims and their killers. She falls in love with an employee there and becomes an assassination target herself.

Zia is running out of time but she knows she must do all it takes to bring the killers to justice before she becomes the third murder victim.

I find this novel to be a very compelling read for many reasons. First, it shines a fascinating spotlight on Prohibition, a socially troubling period in American history when the manufacture, storage, sale, possession and consumption of alcohol was banned. Speakeasies like The Orchid Hour proliferated as prohibition laws were not strictly enforced. Many of these were owned by organised crime syndicates which would do anything to protect their turf. Second, Bilyeau skillfully blends fictional characters with real-life characters and historical details into a narrative that immerses readers into the world of the Roaring 20s, glamorous, tantalising and yet dangerous. Third, the author ingeniously crafts a quiet, unassuming young female library assistant named Zia as the main character in this sinister plot of murder and intrigue, who later takes on a different persona in her quest for answers. Zia becomes charming, self-assertive, bold and possesses true grit and a dogged determination to seek the truth in a dangerous place. I love how this character develops over time. Fourth, Bilyeau’s use of multi-character viewpoints is an excellent literary technique of developing characters. This might seem disjointed and annoying in the narrative flow for some but it all makes sense towards the end. The result is a multi-layered suspenseful narrative of mystery, whodunit, romance and history at its best.

This is the first novel by Bilyeau that I’ve read but I’ll not stop at that as it has whetted my appetite for more of her oeuvre. My thanks to her for the enriching reading experience.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Nancy Bileau can write well researched and entertaining historical mysteries that mixes solid plot with a vivid and detailed historical background.
This one, the first in a new series, was entertaining and kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This historical story is very atmospheric , reading it made me feel like I was in New York in the early 20s.I loved the descriptions of the city, the people and the secret world of crime families. I was very intrigued by the author’s writing, the way Nancy Bilyeau showed how immigrants were treated and how a young immigrant Italian mother, who lost everyone and everything she loved, managed to become a confident and strong woman.
It is a captivating, dark story that I really enjoyed reading. If you like historical fiction stories you should definitely read this one, and most importantly don’t forget to read the Author’s Note!
Thank you NetGalley and Lume Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I am a fan of Nancy’s historical fiction novels and this time around The Orchid Hour takes her readers to the Jazz Age in New York City. Nancy has done her research in capturing the Roaring 20’s in NYC inclusive of organised crime and the secret world of the speakeasy as they all feature prominently in this book. Nancy brings to life the city capturing not only people caught up in events but also the overall mood of the city with all the hopes, dreams, fears and fancies of the era. If the 1920s decade captures your interest - prohibition, organised crime, post World War I life and the evolution of a New York culture - then this is certainly the book for you.

‘How can anyone triumph in New York without becoming cruel themselves?’

Audenzia (Zia) Luciana emigrates with her family from Italy to New York in the early 20th century. They brave the hostile neighbours until they move to the area known as 'Little Italy'. Zia meets Armando De Luca, they get married & have a son, Michael. Armando is killed in WWI alongside Zia's younger brother, & she also loses her parents to the 'flu epidemic so 1923 sees Zia living with her in-laws & working a quiet job at the local library. One day, a regular visitor to the library called Mr Watkins asks Zia to translate a play for him. Their small interaction sets off a chain reaction which completely changes Zia's life, bringing her back into contact with her cousin Salvatore Luciana who runs with a rougher crowd, & is involved with the opening of a speakeasy club named The Orchid Hour. When her father-in-law is shot & killed & all enquiries point to The Orchid Hour as the epicentre of what is going on, & when the police don't seem interested in investigating the killing, Zia manages to get a job at the club to carry out her own investigation.

New York in the 1920s? I am there for that! I'm a big fan of the whole flapper, speakeasy, Louise Brooks era. I really liked Zia, the main character, & seeing her develop from being a quiet woman older than her years & only interested in raising her son, to a more confident modern woman was wonderful. The book starts out at quite a slow pace, but once The Orchid Hour becomes involved, the story picks up. There's highlighting of the xenophobia that Italian-Americans faced in America in the 1920s, & the rise of organised crime via the subverting of Prohibition laws. I swear you can almost hear Humphrey Bogart giving a voice over as you read it. One of the best books I've read this year.

TWs: xenophobia, gun violence, murder.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Lume Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I thank NetGalley and Lume Books for providing me an Arc copy of this book, which I freely chose to review.
I discovered Nancy Bilyeau through Rosie’s Book Review Team (my thanks to Rosie and all the team members) a while back, and I’ve been an avid follower of her since, although I am aware I have plenty of back reading to catch up with, as this is only the third of her novels I read. And yes, it is as good as the other two.
Bilyeau is one of those authors who seems to have been born for a particular genre, historical fiction, and she has an uncanny ability to bring to life past eras, places, and people, and to seamlessly create a rich historical tapestry by combining real historical figures with fictional characters, at the same time pulling the readers into intriguing stories and making them inhabit a world and a time they might know little about.
In this case, the author introduces us to the New York of the early 1920s, the prohibition era, with Zia (Audenzia), a young Italian emigrant who arrived in New York with her family when she was very young, now a widow (her husband died during WWI), with a young son, and living in her in-laws apartment in Little Italy. She works in a public library, although things are about to change there (funding cuts and eugenics play a part in that), and her life gets thrown into turmoil due to events that, at least initially, seem to have little to do with her. Being now an orphan and a widow, from Sicily, (her late husband was from Naples and there are issues at play there), means that she follows pretty strict rules as to what she should do, what is proper, and how much freedom she is actually allowed. When two violent events strike —the second one directly affecting her life and her circumstances—, she decides to take things into her own hands, and her life is changed forever. This is also an adult coming-of-age story, as Zia has to make many changes to her life to follow her plan, which has a greater impact on her way of seeing things than she’d ever expected. The myth of Persephone and Hades is mentioned several times in the novel, and it seems particularly fitting to Zia’s life and to the novel as a whole. (And yes, although I remembered the story vaguely, I did check it in more detail as I was reading the novel, and it is fascinating).
The story is narrated mostly from Zia’s point of view, in the first person, and that helps readers feel closer to her, empathise with her, and understand how she feels, her doubts, her uncertainty, her hopes, and her strength and determination. She is very loyal to her family, and to her family duties, but the weight of tradition weighs heavy on her, and she soon realises that some members of her family have taken a dangerous path, although that doesn’t stop her from feeling quite close to them (him, in this case). We meet many other characters, some entirely fictional, while others are well-known historical figures, many from the underworld, and the author provides us with some other perspectives, as some of the chapters are narrated, in the third-person, from two other characters’ point of view: Frank, an NYPD detective whose family circumstances are quite difficult (his wife is in hospital, in a coma, suffering from a disease doctors seem to know little about, most probably encephalitis, and people who are familiar with the movie Awakenings or the book by Dr Oliver Sachs will get an idea of what it must have been like for the illness sufferers and their relatives), and Louis, a hoodlum looking for a way into the criminal organisations running things in New York (based on the real Louis Buchalter). This introduces us to other spheres and helps us understand the complexity of New York society at the time and the forces that influenced people, pulling them sometimes in directions they didn’t want to go (but not all were that reluctant either).
There is an initial chapter set in the 1960s, in New York. We meet an older Zia, and a new investigation into events from the past makes her remember what happened. We retrieved her in the 1960s at the end, and the trip down memory lane is one full of excitement, threats, revenge, crime, eugenics, prejudice, police and political corruption, bootleggers, drugs, but also new fashions, music (Charleston, jazz), the roaring twenties, prohibition, cars, modernity, new roles and social mobility, speakeasies, night-clubs, delicious foods, traditional Italian life, women with careers, the world of cinema, and, orchids. The author does not hammer us with her research, but she creates a vivid canvas where all our senses (even the smell) transport us to New York in the 1920s. She explains what fascinated her about the era in her author’s note, at the end of the book, and it is well worth a read, as she explains who the fictional and real characters are, and includes a reading list for those who might want to find more about the era and many of the topics discussed throughout the book, together with podcasts and TV series. She also mentions the real locations of the story, recommends some museums (and a library) for us to visit, and acknowledges the many people who have helped her create this fascinating world.
I don’t want to spoil the story by going into too much detail, but I particularly enjoyed the transformation Zia goes through, and how she becomes an independent woman, able to make her own decisions and even move out of her in-laws' home. She also finds love, but she does not become foolishly romantic or lose her sense of self, and she manages to lead a full life despite the odds. I loved her relationship with her relatives, particularly Sal, and her memories of her childhood and her passage to New York. I also enjoyed the information about the orchids (a plant that has always fascinated me), and the opportunity to peer into the lives and psyches of some characters whose alliances and morality were not straightforward. This is not a simple story with a happy ever after for all involved, as many bad things happen during it, but, all things considered, I thought the ending was perfect.
This is a novel I’d recommend to anybody interested in 1920s US history, especially concerning the prohibition era in New York, those who are fascinated by that historical period and the changes taking place in society at the time, and also anybody who appreciates a beautifully written story with a main female character who grows and develops, discovering new things about her surrounding, and especially about herself. She might lose some of her innocence in the process, but there is much to gain as well. Any fans of the author should read it, and for those who haven’t met her yet, this is a great opportunity to do so.

In case you need any further recommendations, these are the author’s words on how and why she became interested in the subject of this novel:
My idea for this historical novel grew from my fascination with Jazz Age New York, a place and time filled with both the exquisite and the ugly. It’s almost as if one can’t exist without the other.
Her novel shows the precarious balance between the two, and how difficult it was not to stray too far into the dark side.

The Orchid Hour bring about one word to describe - Vintage!

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book.

You step right into, what feel you vintage, classic, and pure historical. It's rare historical fiction is done so well, where you feel like you are watching a feel good movie, straight out of a world similar to great Gatsby. The vibes had be immersed!

It’s 1963 and Audenzia ‘Zia’ De Luca is remembering New York in the Roaring Twenties, a period of gangsters, prohibition and an underworld of speakeasies where anything goes. It’s 1923 and Zia De Luca is a young widow who works in a public library and lives in Little Italy over a cheese shop. Her life is full of rules, she may live in New York but she is Sicilian and as a woman her freedom is limited. This was such an evocative and powerful read - I do find this era quite fascinating and this author has described it so well. Told from multiple POV’s and multiple timelines which can sometimes make it hard to follow but definitely not in this case.

Briefly, after loosing her job at the public library she finds that a library regular who she has become friendly with has been murdered outside the library. And then another murder closer to home shocks her into action. Using her family connections she changes her appearance and gets a job at speakeasy The Orchid Hour believing someone there was involved in both murders.

Although this is fiction there are a lot of real people in the book particularly famous gangsters like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and J Edgar Hoover, future FBI director - there is more information in the author notes you should read. I loved this book, the way it was written, the plot, the setting my only small gripe is the end where so much is explained in such a short chapter which made it feel a bit rushed. However, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining read and the historical information about corruption and prohibition very detailed and interesting.

Really good historical fiction with loads of historical details and an interesting plot. I absolutely loved the first half of this but found I was less engaged with the second but even so, it’s full of good characters and the twenties in New York with speakeasies and Little Italy and the aftermath of the war makes for a cracking read.

“It can’t get any darker than midnight.”

It’s 1963 and Zia de Luca is remembering her short stint working for one of New York’s most prestigious nightclubs in the 1920s: The Orchid Hour. Zia looked after the beautiful flowers decorating the club, and helped with the food. But she wasn’t there just to work…

While working at the library, one of her patrons is murdered in front of her. Unbeknownst to Zia, the man was the city’s deputy mayor and had worked hard to enforce Prohibition. Before his death, he had feverishly asked Zia – a widowed Italian immigrant – to translate an Italian play for him. Now, Zia is drawn into a murder investigation and into the murky underworld of speakeasies and nightclubs where alcohol and drugs run freely.

Determined to find information the police don’t seem to be able to, Zia asks her cousin Salvatore, a shadowy bootlegger, for a job at The Orchid Hour, where she hopes to uncover why the deputy mayor was killed, and why her own life and those of her family appear to be in danger.

The 1920s or Jazz Age is probably my favourite decade. I adored the shadowy gild and glamour and excess and murkiness of it, so when this book came up on NetGalley I requested it in a heartbeat. I really enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the time and place in this book. Zia is a plucky main character, who doesn’t take no for an answer, which I admire. I do feel like the author could have delved even deeper into the shady underworld of bootlegging and made the book even darker. The romantic element felt a bit rushed to me – I would have preferred a little more build-up, an explanation for why two characters felt so attracted to one another. I also wanted the ending to be teased out a bit more: a lot happens in the last chapter or so without much explanation.

That said, this is a really entertaining and enchanting novel that will appeal to anyone who loves the 1920s as much as I do.

A slow story that never really went anywhere. Set in 1920’s New York, it grapples with what it means to be a Sicilian immigrant. Basic premise is girl loses job at library, witnesses the aftermath of a couple of shootings and starts to work for speakeasy nightclub in an attempt to find out Whodunnit?
Disjointed story, no suspense, little romance.
Writing is good, story is poor.

Surprised I stuck it out to the end.

librarian, immigrants, translators, ESL, widow, relatives, historical-novel, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, suspense, mafia, racketeering, NYC, NYPL, murder-investigation, NYPD, secrets, lies, thriller, intolerance, bullying, botany, 1920s, cultural-assimilation, cultural-differences, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, politics, politicians, Brooklyn, paparazzi*****

Enter the world of Little Italy in NYC of the early 1920s complete with warts and all. People with strong beliefs and wills, people who want only to make others subservient, people with overwhelming greed, and those who mostly want to right wrongs. Follow Audenzia (Zia) De Luca through these challenging and changing times while learning a lot of how things were a hundred years ago in this particular arena. This is an entrancing story once you get past all of the scene setting basics.
I requested and received an EARC from Lume Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is a very enjoyable read. Zia is a librarian turned New York flapper in the 1920s. She is from an Italian immigrant family and learns the hard way just how difficult it can be for a young woman to try and navigate life in a crime-ridden and violent city. This novel oozes both the glamour and the horror of the Jazz Age, with gangsters, night clubs and political intrigue in the Big Apple.

I’m a big fan of Nancy Bilyeau’s historical fiction. Her writing here is just as evocative of the times about which it was written: the jazz age New York. Zia, the main character is a young widowed woman living with her son and in laws. Through the book the reader watches her challenged by political and gangster shenanigans. While I did enjoy the story, I found I didn’t particularly connect with Zia and generally found this one of the author’s less compelling efforts. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This book captivated me from the start, I cant wait for it to be released so I can buy it for friends and family to read! I adored the historical setting and the use of the 20's. it all felt so well researched and the scene setting was incredible I felt like I was actually there. the mystery side was just as captivating! this is the perfect book to read when you're snuggled up inside with a blanket and a cup of tea as its raining outside. the vibes of this book are irresistible and the writing style fits the plot so well. it was also well paced, steady and then fast as and when it needed. overall I honestly have no complaints and I'm so excited to give this book as a gift.

Set in 1920s corrupt New York City, a young widow unwittingly gets caught up murder and organized crime.

"The Orchid Hour" by Nancy Bilyeau started off full of Roaring 20s / New York atmosphere. I enjoyed the introduction to Zia and her family, and the reason that she needed a new job (let go at the library). However, when she joined the club (as attendant to the orchids) it all fell a bit flat for me.

A complicated, dual timeline, multiple point of view novel and a sheer joy to read. Set in Prohibition New York City, the rich prose brings the characters and history here to vivid life. I love this author’s other books: Dreamland, The Blue, Fugitive Colors. I haven’t read the trilogy set in Henry Tudor’s England but it’s on my list. Dreamland is one of my favorites of all time.
Audenzia De Luca, widowed by World War I, and her son, live with her husband’s family and works in the bakery they own. She also works in a library, though most of her co-workers look down on her because she is an Italian immigrant from Sicily and her husband’s family from Naples. Even in Italian families, the Sicilians are looked down on. (My own family was the same way—this story resonated so much while I was reading about those family dinners and conversations, very acutely drawn.) When an odd character takes in interest in Zia, her co-worker makes sure everyone knows she is stepping out of line here. But the strange man only wants an English translation of an Italian play from her. He’ll pay her, and the money is badly needed. When he’s gunned down in front of the library, Zia loses her position due to austerity measures at the library and evil gossip.
From there, the story unfolds into solving the mystery of the strange man’s death and all who were involved, from gangsters to politicians. Zia needs to find out the truth and obtains a position at the Orchid Hour, where the high-power deals are made. She’ll find the truth, but it will cost her almost everything.
Highly recommended historical mystery, rich with detail, impeccable pacing, and hard to put down.

I love books where the protagonist is passionate about what they do and love the detailed family background in book. The beginning is profound. I liked that even after the loss of loved ones in War, the FMC focuses on her work and her extraordinary skill like speaking and writing more than one language certainly intrigued me. As the story unfolds, it becomes gripping, tragic, and mysterious.

Set in New York, 1923. It has Multiple POV. Frank and Zia, both of their stories are poignant and touching. Zia works in a public library and after that works in her in-laws shop. While she also has a son and she has lost her husband and one of her brother in war. When someone gets murdered outside the library, the rumours begin to spread and then second tragedy strikes. And somehow both of them seems to be connected with The Orchid Hour. While Frank Hudgins is a lieutenant and he is investigating about the murders. Will the investigators get to the bottom of the mystery? And the police investigation kept me at the edge of my seat. The book deals with crimes,politics, wealth and power.

Setting and Tropes:
•1920s New York
•Greenwich Village
•Italian American FMC
•Multiple POV
•First Person
•Homicide Investigation

Thank you Netgalley, Author and Publisher.

A captivating novel set in Jazz Age New York City. The Orchid Hour is a story of boot-legged liquor, flowers that smell sweetest at night, gangsters and swells, and a society ready to let loose after the ravages of war and epidemic disease, It is a tale that begins in a cheese shop in Little Italy and twists its way through the winding streets of Greenwich Village into the world of speakeasies, Tammany Hall, and a new kind of criminal empire that is taking root in America. It is Zia's story, the young Italian widow whose life is torn apart by murder and who takes it upon herself to seek answers and justice. This is an atmospheric novel that pulls the reader into the past and holds us there. It is a smoky read shot in black and white. I would have given it 5 stars but for the ending which lets go of the noirish quality that is so delicious in the rest of the book. Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lume Books for the opportunity to read The Orchid Hour in exchange for an honest review.