Book Synopsis:
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.
The Fair Botanist is published in ebook and hardback on the 5th August 2021. You can pre-order your copy using the links below.
My Review:
Ooh i really enjoyed this book. Every now and again a book comes along that you know instantly that you’ll enjoy and this allows you to just relax into the book to go wherever it takes you This book was one of those books as I thought this was a truly wonderful read. It was thoroughly absorbing and almost magical at times which I enjoyed tremendously.
Firstly I loved the two main characters, who I enjoyed spending time with throughout the book. Bella was my definite favourite though. I absolutely loved her attitude to life and her independent, firey personality especially during a time when women weren’t expected to behave like that. She’s someone I think I’d like to have known in real life as I think she’d be great fun to hang out with. Elizabeth is a very different character, especially at the beginning, she’s more demure then Bella and less worldly but it was so nice to watch their friendship develop.
The author has included some real life historical figures into the story which I thought was very clever. It was interesting to learn more about them, especially as I didn’t know much about some of them. It gave me a little thrill to see how they were woven into the story. The historical details in this book were superb too and I found it fascinating to see how different things were in Scotland, with woman enjoying more freedom then woman in England which I hadn’t realised before.
Overall I loved this book and was sad when it ended which is always a sign of a great read. The mystery side of the book was well done and helped make sure I kept turning the pages, while the wonderful characters made the story very memorable. I have kept thinking about this story long after I’ve finished reading it and will definitely be recommending it to others.
Huge thanks to Stevie Cooper for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I’ll be putting on my keep forever shelf.
About The Author:
Sara Sheridan is an Edinburgh-based writer of over 20 books including cosy crime noir mysteries set in 1950s Britain and historical novels based on the real-life stories of late Georgian and early Victorian explorers. She has also written non-fiction, as well as books for children.
Sara has been named one of the Saltire Society’s 365 most influential Scottish women, past and present.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I’m reading this at the moment and unfortunately I’m not as enthusiastic about it as you. I agree with you that Belle is a great character. I actually wish there was more of her. Perhaps a few too many characters and subplots for me. However, really glad to hear you loved it.
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