The poet William Blake wrote, "To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in your hand, and eternity in an hour." His lines are an apt epigraph to Lou Mason's novel, The Orchid: Second Story of the Botherhopping. While the novel follows the time-traveling and magical adventures of its characters, The Orchid seems to have a special alchemy of its own. Mason's writing bends time and space, finding the quiet, meaningful moments in even the chaos of transformation. Not just a fantasy, or even mystical novel, The Orchid delicately explores the fine threads that bind us together as human beings. "The song of the orchid was telepathic revelation to those who had the patience to wait, everything in its own time." Mason encourages the same patience in the reader, slowly unwinding her story of friendship and our reluctant engagement with the unknown. With sparkling dialog and a real talent for detail, The Orchid is a fine read for a slow, rainy Saturday afternoon.