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

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦 by Sara Sheridan. Thank you to Steven Cooper at Hodder Books for sending me a copy of this gorgeous historical fiction book, and for having me along on the tour 🌿🌻🌺

Ta. But naw.” Mhairi has broken her fast with a bowl of porridge, a dollop of cream and two glasses of milk.’ But you’ll also be intrigued by less famous real-life characters like William McNab and Robert Graham, whose well-documented stories have been interwoven with the fictional lives of many of the characters, obtaining an interesting, multi-layered, lively picture. The book itself centres around a rare plant that flowers only once in its life – and let’s just say that many of the characters have their own needs and vested interests when it comes to flowers, seeds and the like! They are quite differently strong," says Sheridan. "Elizabeth could have just shut the door at Inverleith House and never gone out, but the gardens provided an outlet for her. She had experience with botanical illustration and that was something a lot of women got involved with.There are many other characters, both real and fictional, who play parts in this story centering around the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE) and the environs of Georgian Edinburgh. The detail Sara Sheridan the author provides of this period through her description of people, places and life in a capital city of wealth and poverty is superb. This lends itself to making the story of Belle and Elizabeth believable, fun, enjoyable and a little risque (in its 18th century setting). 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?

Sheridan published Where Are The Women? in 2019, bringing together more than 1,200 stories of Scottish women from history whose achievements had been overlooked or forgotten. Some of that research carried into The Fair Botanists. They had an amazing collection," says Sheridan. "McNab moved thousands upon thousands of plants – it was phenomenal. This was the heyday of botanical exploration around the world that we were coming into with the expansion of the British Empire. 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.

Elizabeth Rocheid, meanwhile, is an English widow who has been taken in by her late husband’s family and brought to Edinburgh to look after an ageing relative, Lady Clementina. She accepts their invitation because she has nowhere else to go, but feels like an impostor among them as her marriage to their late cousin was not a happy one, and she is pleased to be free of him. Elizabeth is talented botanical illustrator and offers her services to James McNab who is overseeing the garden, which is next door to the Rocheid estate. When she goes to the lending library for a book, and is informed that Miss Brodie currently has it, the two women meet and form a fast friendship. As I am fond of Scotland, the 19th century, historical fiction and - why not? - flowers and perfumes, how could I not enjoy Sara Sheridan’s latest novel?

You have an excellent question, and allow me to answer it for you: No. No, they are not, not in any capacity. Even beyond the style struggles, the prose problems, and the tense troubles, the story itself is utterly, entirely unforgettable, with as much hold on the reader as a gentle breeze. Less, even. At least a breeze will still stir your hair. In Great King Street Mr Graham’s man enters the bedroom and wakes the master. The Graham’s keep separate rooms, with the lady housed in larger accommodation to the rear where a mahogany four-poster is upholstered in sky-blue, fringed damask. Mr Graham sleeps in his dressing room on a single bed with a window to the street. He visits Mrs Graham once a month for they have been married for many years and he does not like to impose. This arrangement is of his choosing and is entirely acceptable to him.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. The characters in The Fair Botanists are brilliant, especially the characters of Belle and Elizabeth.