Orchid Lovell is a young Romany woman haunted by a fear of being found out. Her family has been chased out of town before. After settling in a seemingly idyllic northern mining town that she soon understands as rife with unseen cruelty, Orchid finds solace in a lush orchid fen where she doesn't fear the town's judgement. Amid the green beauty of the fen, Orchid meets her beloved Jack, and marries him in a secret blackfly-infested ceremony.

But the town's waters don't only harbor life. In the nearby creek, dead girls take revenge on the men who murdered them, luring them into murky waters. Despite the unyielding nature of the water spirits, one man evades their violence. After a devastating attack linked to the expansion of the mine, Orchid's fate is entwined with the panni raklies' ruthless justice.

Written in over 100 dreamy mini-chapters, this novella explores the tenuous reality of the Romany diaspora living in troubled times on troubled lands.

"The prose is sensuous and lyrical, saturated with earthy, evocative enchantment ... In the powerful and intimate novel Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens, a bold, loving heroine confronts racism, sexism, and classism." - Foreword Reviews

"Lynn Hutchinson Lee invites the reader into a ritual of memory crucial to our heritage and Romani identity." - Frances Roberts Reilly, author of Parramisha: A Romani Poetry Collection and Contributor to Critical Romani Studies Journal, Central European University

"Lynn Hutchinson Lee's novella leads us through a decadently aromatic world: notes of orchids, chanterelle mushrooms and plush moss; sterilized and burned bedsheets abound. Just out of frame, girls long-dead slip past us, organza-like. A dizzying and beautiful debut, Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens explores life as a Romany woman in Canada, and the flowers that refuse to die amidst the decaying world of capitalism." - Daisuke Shen, author of Vague Predictions & Prophecies (Clash Books) and Funeral (Kernpunkt Press)