Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants

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Imbue your Druids with dripping poison sap, your carefully whittled arrows with unspeakable banes, your potions with natural scourges. Some of these things I already knew, but even in the plants I read about that I thought I knew about, I learned unexpected things, whether it was mythology or historical usage or maybe a bit of both. Concealed and deliberate, it's a crime that requires advance planning and that for many centuries could go virtually undetected. There was a lot focus on the folklore surrounding herbs, which I had no idea about and I found these parts really interesting and educational. But I really enjoyed my time with this, the witchy vibes are immaculate and this really is just such a beautiful book!

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants

I found it incredibly interesting that "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" was actually mistranslated and should have been "poisoner.After this section of essays, which are engagingly written and full of great tidbits of info, the book moves onto its plant dictionary, looking at a wide array of plants known for their poisonous nature or their role in folklore. Each chapter contains a description of the plant - with line drawings, it’s botanical history and its mention in folklore. The various connections drawn between the plants and both history and myth were really engaging as well and had me laughing more times than I thought (I mean, it's just a bit funny to read about a guy terrified of being poisoned, so he eats tiny amounts of poisons every day of his life and then finds he's immune to poisons when he tries to kill himself by using-you guessed it- poison). Important information is given, and I used many of these bits of what I learned as I read to give me jumping-off points for further reading. All this is discussed, and more, in Botanical Curses and Poisons, the latest book by author/illustrator Fez Inkwright and a pretty direct followup to her charming 2019 publication Folk Magic and Healing.

Review: Botanical Curses and Poisons – A Cat, A Book, and A Review: Botanical Curses and Poisons – A Cat, A Book, and A

Are you after a non fiction book that's not dry and can weave the tales of Socrates, the Salem witch trials, and the 2018 Russian spy poisoning through a book of cool poisonous plants? That aside, I thought the narrator did a good job of keeping the right engaging and lighthearted tone throughout. Poison is a weapon that’s best wielded by the powerless against the powerful, making it popular for political intrigue and assassinations. I don’t know if you’re a plant person like I am, but if you are, I highly suggest giving this book a read. I love the way Inkwright ties all this together and makes it feel like a history, rather than an assortment of interesting but disparate facts.

It feels luxurious to hold, like a book of magic and secrets, and I love the creepy twist to the cover artwork with bones entwined amongst the plants. We still use Digitalis in certain heart conditions today, in fact it was one of the first drugs I had to learn the use of in my student nurse days. Thankfully in this beautiful book by Fez Inkwright, the knowledge of which plants to avoid has been brought bang up to date.