Published 5th August 2021 by Hodder and Stoughton.
From the cover of the book:
Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?It's the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event that only occurs once every few decades.
When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which borders the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant's impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation.
Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city . . .
And when they are revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences.
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Edinburgh, 1822: In a bustling city of enlightenment, rife with expansive building schemes fuelled by the success of the grand Georgian new town, rumours abound of an imminent visit to the city by King George IV and his court to see what has been happening in the northern reaches of his realm, and to partake in a few jolly revels with the locals - but this is not the only thing making hearts beat faster than usual. In the newly established site of the Botanic Garden something momentous is about to happen for all interested in the delights of botany. The Agave Americana is about to sing its swan song by coming into flower - something that only happens once every few decades.
Newly arrived in Edinburgh, widow Elizabeth Rocheid has come to reside with her late husband's great-aunt Clementina for a fresh start. Her first view of the city streets is a miraculous one as her arrival is held up by a procession of mature trees being carried to the new Botanic Garden on the back of horse-drawn carts, and it inspires a fascination with the horticultural venture that borders the grounds of her new home. Elizabeth offers her services to the Garden as an artist, ready to record the impending blooms of the rare plant, and she soon becomes on good terms with the head gardener William McNab and his family.
Elizabeth also finds friendship with another young woman passionately interested in the rare blooms of the Agave Americana, Belle Brodie, who hopes to leave her life behind as a high-class courtesan by making her fortune from exotic perfumes with entrancing properties - the flowers from this rare beast might be just the thing she needs to make her finest elixir. She is going to have to be canny about getting what she wants, as there are more than a few interested parties hoping for seeds from the rare plant for their own ends - fortunately Belle is well versed in keeping her secrets close and playing a game or two. But, can she keep her true profession and her plans under wraps from her new friend Elizabeth?
The Fair Botanists is a wonderfully engaging and immersive story that weaves fact and fiction together to pull you into a vividly described setting of an era of great excitement, innovation and advancement. Do a bit of research into the time of the Edinburgh Enlightenment and you will be presented with a string of names associated with the dawning of the ideas and accomplishments - and they will be almost entirely male. However, Sara Sheridan throws new light on this fascinating time by presenting us with a host of fabulous women waving the banner for the fair sex, and they all desire independence in their own way. Although the story centres on two very different women who form a close and unlikely bond in Elizabeth and Belle, each helping the other to achieve their potential, all the women Sheridan writes about in these pages are fierce and beautifully drawn, carrying a story that contrasts their determination with the acts of folly exhibited by most of their male counterparts. These are the glorious players set to frolic on a stage that mixes a deliciously complex array of threads tying the goings on in the Botanic Garden to those in the city at large, and there is plenty to keep you occupied.
There is so much to delight in this book, with descriptions of sights, sounds and smells that take you right to the heart of the Georgian city; great characters; perfectly paced, threads of intrigue and romance, that sometimes border of the burlesque; and a vein of subtle humour that keeps the whole piece light-hearted, despite the steel core of a stirring feminist tale.
This is a novel that is an absolute joy to read and one which will entertain anyone who loves a good historical fiction yarn with strong female characters. I cannot believe I have not read any of Sara Sheridan's books before - an omission which I am going to put right by exploring her whole back catalogue in short order - because this is an absolute corker!
The Fair Botanists is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for sending me a hardcover edition of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Sara has been named one of the Saltire Society's 365 most influential Scottish women, past and present.
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