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

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I love when you smell, touch and clearly see in your inward eye – quoting one of my favourite Romantic poets, Wordsworth - what the words narrate and describe. Well, it practically means I love when a story is very well written. I appreciate even more when I can recognize research, accuracy and respect behind the good story-telling. You find all that in The Fair Botanists.

The plot was nonexistent. Well, not completely nonexistent I suppose, but the whole plot seemed to be about this centennial plant that was about to flower and everyone trying to barter for the limited amount of seeds it would produce when it did flower. That was all I could find that would constitute a plot in the third of the book I managed to read. Enchanting and absorbing . . . [I enjoyed it] because it's about women and women's lives, people I know and talk to, and am -- Anstey Harris Both are fascinated by the imminent blooming of the century plant; the Agave Americana, which blooms only once before it dies. The women become instant friends, but Belle’s secretive habits and real identity and Elizabeth’s longing to know more set them on a collision course. Will their friendship survive? The only chance he has to save himself and prove worthy of Maria is to unmask the gang and break free from their clutches, but will it be enough? On Starlit Seas is a breathless tale of adventure, love and chocolate set at the height of the British Empire.

But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city. And when revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences . . . Sheridan has penned more than 20 books including cosy crime noir set in 1950s Britain (her popular Mirabelle Bevan Mystery series) and historical novels based on the real-life stories of late Georgian and early Victorian explorers.

The novel centres on two markedly different women. Elizabeth Rocheid is newly widowed and has arrived in Edinburgh from London to live with her late husband's aunt at Inverleith House, while Isabel "Belle" Brodie is carving a living as the city's most upmarket courtesan. Lively and generous-hearted, with an array of utterly engaging characters, this enchanting novel reads like a warm tonic for the soul' Mary Paulson-EllisWhen she’s there, she becomes involved in the work of William McNab, the gardener in charge of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, who is also caring for a North American aloe plant that is due to seed for the first time in a century. She also meets Belle, a woman who has her own interest in the aloe, and Johann, a young German man helping to organise the impending visit to the city by King George IV. With spirits high in the city, Elizabeth realises that some of the people interested in the blooming of the rare plant have more than scientific interest on their minds.

All these British ships going off to different places very often had a doctor who was also a botanist or zoologist. They would collect plants and seeds, then donate them to the herbariums." There are three very strong women in this story. Elizabeth, who is newly widowed (and somewhat relieved to be), who has come to Edinburgh to make a new life dependent upon a relative. Clementina is her dead husband's aunt, an outlandish (I love that word) woman who her nephew wishes to keep hidden away, outspoken and overtly political. And then there's Belle, a sex worker of noble birth who uses her profession to fund her ambition to make a love potion. Each become bound together by a rare agave that is about to flower for the first and only time in thirty years, in the newly-formed Botanic Gardens - at least the location is new. I came across this in my local library. I was intrigued that the subject matter, although historical fiction, was set in 1822 and encompassed botany, mystery, women [as central characters] and real characters from history, especially those local to the Edinburgh area. Some of the best botanical illustrators were women. You see this right through the Georgian era and into the Victorian era. There were quite a few around Edinburgh within those hundred years."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. We meet Elizabeth, newly widowed and sent to live with her late husband’s aunt; the excellently named Clementina. Elizabeth hasn’t had a particularly happy marriage and this move promises to open up new experiences. Not least among these is the chance to sketch the flower of a Century plant, a slightly mad American Agave, which flowers only once every thirty years. With royal characters, love stories, courtesans who make potions, literary figures and a plant that only flowers once every century, it’s safe to say that I was left wanting more from this book. If you like beautiful language and slow, relaxing books with beautiful botanical details, however, then perhaps this may suit you better. I absolutely loved The Fair Botanists. Set in 19th century Edinburgh when the New Town is being built, the city is preparing for a Royal visit from King George IV, and botanists are getting excited about the imminent flowering of the Agave Americana. This plant is known as the century plant and flowers only once every few decades. It's much sought after by many for varied reasons and many of the characters in this book have reason to want to get a hold of its valuable flowers and seeds. I really enjoyed the convergence of all of these storylines, and the ramifications of what happens to the flower. The pace was slow but deliciously told, the characters were really interesting and believable, I particularly enjoyed the Edinburgh setting which I could visualise so clearly.