Book Synopsis:
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 . . .
My Review:
The Fair Botanists is a fascinating, absorbing book which I really enjoyed.
The story is told mainly from the point of view of the two main characters Belle and Elizabeth but occasionally from other secondary characters too. I loved Belle and Elizabeth so really liked following them throughout the book. It was sad to see how precarious a women’s position was at that time and how much they had to rely on men to get by. Out of the two of them my favourite character was Belle who seemed a very strong, clever lady who has managed to come up with an ingenious way to make money. Elizabeth annoyed me a little bit as she seemed quite selfish at times and I didn’t like the way she treats Belle when Belle’s secret is revealed to her.
The author does a great job of bring Edinburgh to life and I loved following the characters around the city, soaking in all the little little details about what life was like back then. The moving of the Botanical gardens was an actual historical event, so it was fascinating to learn more about how it was achieved. The moving of the trees must have been amazing to watch and I enjoyed looking up pictures of this on the internet to see it for myself.
The book has a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading. Even in the slower moments I was so absorbed in the story that I loved just hanging out with the characters and seeing what they were getting up to.
The ending was brilliant and I liked how everything ends up for all the characters. I read this for the historical fiction book club I’m part of and I’d highly recommend it as a book club read as I feel there is be lots to discuss.
About The Author:
“History is a treasure chest of stories. I love them.”
Sara Sheridan works in a wide range of media and genres but mostly historical and especially the stories of women. She loves exploring where our culture comes from. In 2018 she remapped Scotland according to women’s history. Tipped in Company and GQ magazines, she was nominated for a Young Achiever Award. She has received a Scottish Library Award and has been shortlisted for the Saltire Book Prize and the Wilbur Smith Prize. Her work was included in the David Hume Institute’s Summer Reading list 2019. She has sat on the committee for the Society of Authors in Scotland (where she lives) and on the board of ’26’ the campaign for the importance of words. She took part in 3 ’26 Treasures’ exhibitions at the V&A, London, The National Museum of Scotland and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. She occasionally blogs for the Guardian about her writing life, the Huffington Post about her activism as a writer and a feminist and puts her hand up to being a ‘twitter evangelist’. From time to time she appears on radio, and has reported for BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent from both Tallin and Sharjah. Sara is a member of the Society of Authors and the Historical Writers Association. A self-confessed ‘word nerd’ her favourite book is ‘Water Music’ by TC Boyle. In 2016 she cofounded feminist perfume brand, REEK: artefacts from the project are now held at the National Museums of Scotland and the Glasgow Women’s Library.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
So glad you enjoyed this one. I really enjoyed the Edinburgh setting, particularly places I know but were just being built or developed.
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