Review by Jezmina Von Thiele

Debut Novella Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens is a Genre-Defying Siren Song

This debut novella Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by Lynn Hutchinson Lee, a Canadian Romani artist turned writer in the last ten years, is a fresh surprise. What gripped me first was the premise: that water spirits, the revenants of women who have died or gravely suffered by the hands of men, populate the waters and plan their revenge. Orchid, the main character, who takes refuge in the fens from a town that would reject her if they knew the truth-- that she’s Romani-- takes comfort in the company of the water spirits, or the panni raklies as they’re called in Orchid’s variant of the Romani language. She recognizes some as girls she knew from when they were living, before they met their violent ends, always without justice. All the women of the town, from different cultural backgrounds, know about the water spirits too, and respect them and hope they get the justice they deserve, but they tell Orchid that while only men really need to fear them, the water spirits are not human and are not her friends, and will likely pull her into their schemes for revenge. Orchid feels she’s different, though, and more than that, she feels a connection with the panni raklies, and continues to visit them, often with offerings. Then, a proposed gold mine in the town threatens the destruction of the panni raklies’ habitat. Orchid and her love interest Jack, who the water spirits seem to like well-enough, are enmeshed with the kinds of men the water spirits exist to fight. 

Some reviewers have ventured to call Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens “eco folk horror,” and while that’s not inaccurate, this book defies genre at every turn. The short chapters are woven with the threads of folk tales, a love story, family drama, small town mystery, poetry snippets, dream sequences, fabricated ecological texts, text exchanges, and so on. This is not a thriller--the horror creeps in like a familiar toxin, but no less deadly. While so much is magical and folkloric, the danger is quite realistic. Reading Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens is like looking through a lens that allows you to see the intersections of ecological crisis, domestic violence, capitalism, and social oppression, and then see how both the spiritual world and the natural world respond. There is a fierce, knife-in-your-teeth kind of hope and resilience through it all, and it feels good to root for the “monsters,” who might casually make a call on a cell phone and then toss it back in the water. 

I was thrilled how this book presented a Romani character authentically as a Romani author would. Hutchinson Lee masterfully weaves the lore and cosmology of Romani culture with the fear of identity exposure, lack of resources, and prejudice, all wrapped up in the complicated and beautiful ties to family and tradition. Romani writers are dramatically underrepresented in literature globally, and familiar Roma characters in pop culture--Esmerlda, Heathcliff, Scarlet Witch, etc--are often drawn with stereotypes that reinforce centuries of prejudice, and they are rarely written by Roma themselves. Roma are a diasporic ethnic group originally from India circa the 10th century, likely displaced by war with the Ghaznavid Empire, and have been historically nomadic due to this displacement, 500 years of slavery in present-day Romania (concurrent with the trans-Atlantic slave trade), multiple genocides, forced deportations, and so on. Roma worldwide continue to face discrimination in housing, education, healthcare, and employment, and are statistically far more likely to be impoverished, trafficked, and imprisoned than our white counterparts. At the same time, Roma are rarely acknowledged, or included even in BIPOC activist efforts, so real representation like this is worth its weight in gold. 

Hutchinson Lee’s Origin’s of Desire in Orchid Fens is a rare creature breathing new life into the literary landscape, fresh and experimental with deep roots in a solid foundation. As far as I’m concerned, this is a canon-defining text for Romani literature as a whole. Romani literature, like Romani culture, is not a monolith, but deserves as much attention as any other literary tradition. This novella will make you look forward to her upcoming novel Nightshade (2026) and encourage you to explore more of this relatively untapped literature. 

You can listen to Hutchinson Lee’s thoughts on her novella, the Romani cannon, and more in this episode of Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture through interviews, hosted by me, Jezmina Von Thiele, and Paulina Stevens. 

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To buy Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by by Lynn Hutchinson Lee, please visit Stelliform Press.

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Jezmina Von Thiele (they/she) is a poet, writer, educator, podcaster, performer, and fortune teller. Their work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review Online, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere, sometimes under the name Jessica Reidy. They are the co-author, with Paulina Stevens, of Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, and co-host of Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture. They perform with The Poetry Brothel, Boston’s immersive literary cabaret. Jezmina reads tarot, palms, and tea leaves in their mixed Sinti Romani tradition, and teaches workshops on divination, spiritual wellness, and the creative arts in person and online in the New Hampshire seacoast.