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

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So much of this book is just padding, giving us unnecessary information and an abundance of useless detail, as though the author was just trying to meet a wordcount.

Interesting social background and intrigue around George IVs famous visit to his northern and then very unionist capital, and the early days of the creation of the New Town. Princes Street Gardens are still being developed from the recently drained Nor Loch, the National Monument on Calton Hill is in the planning stage and the Botanic Garden is completing its move from its original site in Leith Walk to its current location at Inverleith. Mind that this review might be much more subjective than usual as I picked up The Fair Botanists during my vacation in Scotland and it echoes how much admiration I have for this country since my recent visit.It’s about an early female photographer – a fictional one but she is based on a real-life character. Some of these are fleeting, such as Lady Henrietta Liston who over afternoon tea with Belle and Elizabeth christens the three of them the fair botanists of the title. Inserting over a thousand women’s stories into our real life environment (both rural and urban) was an absolute honour – even if the monuments were mostly imaginary.

Elizabeth is a widow moving to Edinburgh to live with her husband’s family, and hoping for a better life. Lush, seductive and scandalous, this is a romantic tale of two intriguing women and their evolving friendship. Perhaps if we knew more it would tell us something about the character, but it doesn’t – we are instead left with this vague feeling of authorial smugness, as though Sheridan is showing off just how much she knows and we don’t. With a gorgeous eye for detail, vividly realised characters and a masterfully crafted plot set within the grounds of the Botanic Garden, she seamlessly weaves fiction with history to enchanting and fascinating results. Everything in this story is laid out in such painfully over-described lists that there is absolutely nothing to maintain suspense – by attempting to show us the point of view and thoughts of every single character there is nothing left for us as readers to puzzle through or chew on.The Fair Botanists" is, at its heart, a story of empowered women who make their own rules, at a time when such behaviour was not deemed seemly. Using the knowledge she possesses that others would not want made public, she determinedly pursues her aim of developing a scent that she hopes many will pay a fortune to possess. Sara Sheridan is passionate about writing women back into history and commemorating their achievements.