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

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Botanist and physician Robert Graham, the 6th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, attempts to wangle an invite to the big royal soiree and makes some questionable life choices as the plot progresses. 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. The Fair Botanists brings 1820s Edinburgh to life in glorious, meticulously researched detail. I loved watching these characters blossom, as the flowering or a rare plant has repercussions for them all. Sara Sheridan has created a captivating, utterly convincing world and a wonderfully heartwarming story. -- Elizabeth Lee

A charm of a book. A spirited tale of female empowerment set amongst the blossoms of enlightenment Edinburgh, it is suffused with the rich perfume of its historical era. Lively and generous-hearted, with an array of utterly engaging characters, this enchanting novel reads like a warm tonic for the soul -- Mary Paulson-Ellis 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." I’m sure you’ll love Elizabeth and Belle and their adventures. I hope they’ll stay with you, in Sara Sheridan’s words, “as an echo of our foremothers and the lives they might have lived, for history is endlessly complicated and full of secrets, and in my view is as much herstory as his one”. 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 . . .Atmospheric, absorbing and completely immersive - I lost myself in this brilliant book -- Rachael Lucas Sheridan describes The Fair Botanists as "a bit of a romp", adding she wasn't sure initially if the editor who commissioned it would like the finished book.

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. Initially Elizabeth comes across as quite a passive character, although the more I learned of her past experiences the more sympathy I felt towards her. I found her kindness towards her late husband’s cousin, the eccentric Lady Clementina, very touching. Unfortunately it doesn't produce many seeds, yet everyone seems to want a piece of the plant for their own.

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There seems to be a trend lately, at least in the eyes of a casual observer, for historical novels that shine a light on very niche, long-forgotten subject matter. Whether that’s true or not, The Fair Botanists, the latest in Sara Sheridan’s seriously impressive line-up of work, is exactly that sort of novel. Set in 1822, the story follows Elizabeth Graham, recently widowed, as she moves to Edinburgh to live with her late husband’s aunt. A seductive, sensory romp through Georgian Edinburgh. Hugely enjoyable. Highly recommended -- Ambrose Parry 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. Putting aside the fact that we didn’t need to know what Mhairi had for breakfast (or the manner in which her breakfast is served – this description goes on for a while), she is also currently not breaking her fast. That happened in the past, and thus should be past tense – a simple change from ‘has’ to ‘had’ would go a long way in making this passage feel less awkward to read. Maybe this is just my own preference, or maybe it’s an editing error, but this and other tense-awkward passages happen multiple times throughout the story.