The Fair Botanists: Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?

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Enough plot (but not too much), interesting characters, a good mix of the real history and fun diversions.

Writing this story felt very playful – and I included some real-life figures like William McNab (and his family), Sir Walter Scott, Robert Graham who was a professor at the University as well as Regius Keeper of the Garden…. A glorious and jaunty journey through 1820s Edinburgh, I fell in love with this book, its feisty women and luscious plants from the very first page. Nothing keeps you turning the pages (except perhaps for a morbid curiosity of if it’s possible for the book to get even blander). Again, I know that's not necessarily true to the era, so maybe I'm being unfair - but I find the more I like a book the more I am enjoying the characters, the more harshly I judge them. Very interesting in terms of the history of the Botanic gardens and most interesting for readers who know or who have visited Edinburgh.The book itself centres around a rare plant that flowers only once in its life – and let’s just say that many of the characters have their own needs and vested interests when it comes to flowers, seeds and the like! Set in Edinburgh during the reign of King George IV, the book is a brilliant evocation of what it was to be a woman in this Enlightenment city. The agave americana plant, which only flowers every few decades, is a new edition to the botanical gardens, and is set to flower.

The theme of the rare (at the time) plant which flowers only once, and what ultimately happens to it, is cleverly done, showing Belle to be a woman who is truly in control of her own life. Es muy reconfortante encontrar una novela histórica con mujeres fuertes y que no roza el panfletismo barato. Women familiar with discussions around the sciences and the arts, women who, though they lived in a world ruled by men, were aware of the power of their own intellect. In BookTrail terms, the wonderful thing is that you can pretty much go to Edinburgh today and you barely have to squint to see the scenes and buildings that Sara recreates here. I thought this made fascinating reading as did the section at the end where the author gives more details as to her characters.They've both faced adversity in their lives, yet they are able to use their circumstances to the best of their ability, and to overcome the difficult situations they've found themselves in. Set against some real historical events, and featuring important figures of the time, such as Sir Walter Scott, it’s a really fascinating read,which had me cheering on the female protagonists and some of the men who support them. The Fair Botanists transports the reader to 19th century Edinburgh, a city divided into rich and poor areas, and undergoing rapid development with new housing springing up on land formerly given over to farming. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation.