Name: Bitter Orange
ISBN: 9781947793606

Claire Fuller

Bitter Orange

From the attic of a dilapidated English country house, she sees them -- Cara first: dark and beautiful, clinging to a marble fountain of Cupid, and Peter, an Apollo. It is 1969 and they are spending the summer in the rooms below hers, while Frances writes a report on the follies in the garden. But she is distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she discovers a peephole which gives her access to her neighbours' private lives. To Frances' surprise, Cara and Peter are keen to spend time with her. It is the first occasion that she has had anybody to call a friend, and before long they are spending every day together: eating lavish dinners, drinking bottle after bottle of wine, and smoking cigarettes till the ash piles up on the crumbling furniture. Frances is dazzled. But as the hot summer rolls lazily on, it becomes clear that not everything is right between Cara and Peter. The stories that Cara tells don't quite add up -- and as Frances becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the glamorous, hedonistic couple, the boundaries between truth and lies, right and wrong, begin to blur. Amid the decadence of that summer, a small crime brings on a bigger one: a crime so terrible that it will brand all their lives forever.

Ryan Mateyk

3.5 stars - The writing was excellent but I feel like the slow pacing was a drag while reading this. The character development and background was needed and so methodically planned but it led to nothing really happening the whole book, or when it did, it happened very slowly!

'A compulsive page-turner. Fuller creates an atmosphere of simmering menace with all the assurance of a latter-day Daphne du Maurier' The Times From the attic of a dilapidated English country house, she sees them - Cara first: dark and beautiful, clinging to a marble fountain of Cupid, and Peter, an Apollo. It is 1969 and they are spending the summer in the rooms below hers while Frances writes a report on the follies in the garden for the absent American owner. But she is distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she discovers a peephole which gives her access to her neighbours' private lives. To Frances' surprise, Cara and Peter are keen to spend time with her. It is the first occasion that she has had anybody to call a friend, and before long they are spending every day together: eating lavish dinners, drinking bottle after bottle of wine, and smoking cigarettes till the ash piles up on the crumbling furniture. Frances is dazzled. But as the hot summer rolls lazily on, it becomes clear that not everything is right between Cara and Peter. The stories that Cara tells don't quite add up - and as Frances becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the glamorous, hedonistic couple, the boundaries between truth and lies, right and wrong, begin to blur. Amid the decadence of that summer, a small crime brings on a bigger one: a crime so terrible that it will brand all their lives forever. 'An intoxicating, unsettling masterpiece' Kirkus 'Bewitching, otherworldly . . . full of dark foreboding. Claire Fuller is a dazzling storyteller' Scotsman 'It is rare for me to put down a novel and then immediately consider rereading it to see what cleverness I might have missed. This time, though, I am tempted' Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times

Laura Mauler

** spoiler alert **
           I don't love the format of "old person reflects back on the past, which is where the story actually takes place". It feels tired and doesn't add anything to the story. However, I can see that the author wanted to tease out the secret of Frances being in jail, slowly revealing it and then having it hanging over our heads during the final chapters of her time with Peter and Clara, rather than it being a big reveal in the ending chapters. I don't love that structure, but I understand why the choice was made and it didn't ruin the flow (as I had feared at first). 

The story itself was good, although it got off to a pretty slow start. Once Peter and Clara have some weirdness on them things finally get interesting. The best part of the book by far was the ending, where we learn that Frances murdered her mother. I was not at all expecting it, and it one-upped my little fantasy revenges on Frances's behalf; I was left thinking "Oh ok, you've got this one handled, holy shit." The ending definitely left a good final impression.

From the attic of Lyntons, a dilapidated English country mansion, Frances Jellico sees them--Cara first: dark and beautiful, then Peter: striking and serious. The couple is spending the summer of 1969 in the rooms below hers while Frances is researching the architecture in the surrounding gardens. But she's distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she finds a peephole that gives her access to her neighbors' private lives. To Frances' surprise, Cara and Peter are keen to get to know her. It is the first occasion she has had anybody to call a friend, and before long they are spending every day together: eating lavish dinners, drinking bottle after bottle of wine, and smoking cigarettes until the ash piles up on the crumbling furniture. Frances is dazzled. But as the hot summer rolls lazily on, it becomes clear that not everything is right between Cara and Peter. The stories that Cara tells don't quite add up, and as Frances becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the glamorous, hedonistic couple, the boundaries between truth and lies, right and wrong, begin to blur. Amid the decadence, a small crime brings on a bigger one: a crime so terrible that it will brand their lives forever.

Mae Erceg

This book was great for a lot of reasons:
Worldbuilding? A ton. You got worldbuilding inside the worldbuilding which I loved so much.
Tension and psychological intrigue? Check. Big check.
Paranormal aspects? 100% and they scared me reading this last night. 
A book you don’t want to put down? Yup. The changing narratives made it easy to say just one more chapter and each cliffhanger made it impossible to quit. 
A relatable but unreliable narrator who isn’t the perfect main character? Check. Frances made it easy to blend into the story without getting caught up in her life (while also making it interesting to hear about the few times she told you about it).

Reasons it wasn’t super great:
The worldbuilding could be obnoxious for some, especially seeing as some of it was hard to discern between fiction and fantasy. 
Some of the stories felt like filler but it does end up coming in handy if you’re choosing this as a book club pick. 
The lack of questions getting answered. 
The fact that our narrator IS unreliable. Can be frustrating


4/5 stars because this place sound wonderful and it was a fast, entertaining summer read. I’d recommend!

Lorraine

The narrator of this novel is Francis Jellico. She is telling the story from her death bed. It begins with her arrival at Lyntons, an English Country Estate in the summer of 1969. At the time, she is 39 years old and has spent a large amount of her adult life caring for her now deceased mother and because of this is socially awkward and without friends. She is there to assess the architecture of the estate for the buyer of the property and here she meets a couple, one of whom is also working for the buyer. 

It’s a dark, atmospheric story which is beautifully written, although none of the characters were very likeable. The house gave me gothic, haunted house feels which I loved. I wish I’d had the time to read in one go, as I think I would have been more immersed. It also seemed to suit the heatwave we are having at the moment. All in all, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from this author.

Frances Jellico is dying. A man who calls himself the vicar visits, hoping to extract a deathbed confession. He wants to know what really happened that fateful summer of 1969, when Frances - tasked with surveying a dilapidated country house - first set eyes on the glamorous bohemian couple, Cara and Peter. She recalls the relationship they forged through sweltering days, lavish dinners and elaborate lies, and the Judas hole through which she would spy on the couple.Were the signs there right from the beginning?Or was it impossible to avoid the crime that split their lives open like rotten fruit?

i believe a lot of the girls who say they long for "dark academia" actually hunger for the gothic and this would be a fantastic start for all of them.

'bitter orange' is deeply atmospheric so much so i nearly regret not having read it back in summer; it captures the languidness of the british countryside perfectly. the novel draws the reader into the world of the lyntons manor quickly and never lets go. and like all great examples of the genre, it lets the reader's mind unravels alongside those of the characters.

i believe a lot of the girls who say they long for "dark academia" actually hunger for the gothic and this would be a fantastic start for all of them.

'bitter orange' is deeply atmospheric so much so i nearly regret not having read it back in summer; it captures the languidness of the british countryside perfectly. the novel draws the reader into the world of the lyntons manor quickly and never lets go. and like all great examples of the genre, it lets the reader's mind unravels alongside those of the characters.

Cheri McElroy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was another brilliant, character-driven novel by Claire Fuller. Repressed 39-year old Fran is on her own for the first time ever in the summer of 1969, following her mother’s death. She takes a job at a crumbling estate, Lyntons, and meets Clare and Peter. The three live a life of excess that ends in tragedy. But what really happened?

Well-written and full of atmosphere, Bitter Orange explores childhood trauma, guilt, and the desire to do penance for our wrongs. I loved it.

Sara Holman

Jenna

I wish I had connected with this one better. It has things I usually like - a slowly unraveling mystery, a setting that functions almost like a character, and unreliable storytellers. Unfortunately I just couldn’t fully connect. Although the writing was lovely, I struggled to picture the house in my mind or to care about the characters. The friendship between the characters in the house didn’t make sense to me and didn’t feel real, and I felt bored reading this at times.

I do know of many people who really enjoyed this one, so don’t just take my word for it if this one sounds like something you’d like. Everyone has different tastes. If you have read this one, let me know what you thought!

Nadine 

Novel with a very strong sense of place, unreliable story-tellers and interesting characters with all kinds of psychological quirks

Jade Flynn

Read for my 'Acceptable' N.E.W.T in Defence Against the Dark Arts 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - A book that's black under the dust jacket. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. Probably the biggest reading surprise for me of the year. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did, I read it over the course of a day in a heatwave we had here in Britain and it made for the perfect matching atmospheres. Ominous, intriguing, ghostly. For fans of Sarah Waters and Daphne Du Maurier.

Bitter Orange

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