HOTHOUSE FLOWER

AND THE

NINE PLANTS OF DESIRE

a novel by Margot Berwin

"I have no idea what she was smoking when she cooked up this sultry, psychedelic summer soufflé of a read, to which Julia Roberts has already snapped up the film rights, butÂIÂll have some of that!" Elle Magazine

"Berwin delivers a bangup debut packed with adventure, betrayal, love and, naturally, rare plantsÂ.ItÂs a fun page-turner-escapist and wonderfully entertaining."

ÂPublishers Weekly, starred review and Pick of the Week

Margot BerwinÂs HOTHOUSE FLOWER AND THE NINE PLANTS OF DESIRE (Pantheon Books/June 16, 2009/$24.00) is the perfect summer read. This debut novel about plant magic, spiritual discovery abroad, and romantic fever in the jungles of Mexico, and at a laundromat and green market in lower Manhattan, is best described as Eat, Pray, Love meets The Orchid Thief.

Shortly after her divorce, advertising executive Lila Nova purchases her first plant, a bird of paradise, at Union SquareÂs greenmarket. The seller is David Exley, a rugged "countrysexual" who promises a paradise of his own in addition to the plant. Lila is immediately intrigued, but when David introduces her to the nine plants of desire, and after she meets Armand, who claims to own the nine plants, she finds herself on an adventure she never imagined taking. In the Yucatán, alone, hefting a backpack full of travel guides and expensive shampoo, Lila learns more than she ever wanted to know about the rain forestÂand about herself.

Plant mythology, shamans and charlatans, mysterious spirit animals, obsessed orchid lovers, large scorpions, and handsome HuicholsÂtheyÂre all here in this rollicking tale of mystery, adventure, and heat.

About the Author:

Margot Berwin lives in New York City with a killer collection of plants. Her stories have appeared on Nerve.com, in the New York Press, and in the anthology The Future of Misbehavior.

Margot Berwin Events

Friday, June 26ÂLos Angeles

7:00 pm -- VromanÂs event.. 695 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA