Thank you to Steven Cooper at Hodder books for my invitation to the tour and for this stunning copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.

The story focuses on two women from very different backgrounds. Elizabeth Rocheid, a widow who has come to Iverlieith House to stay with elderly Lady Clementina a relative of her deceased husband’s cousin. When she arrives there she soon meets William McNab the head gardener and becomes interested in the botanical plants he tends and agrees to sketch them. As she previously worked for Sir Joseph Banks sketching at Kew.

Then there is Belle Brodie, part of the Brodie family but also a very expensive courtesan. She is very aware of her worth to the men she sleeps with but it looking for a way out for the future.

This book picked me up and dropped me in Edinburgh in the 1800s, it was so beautifully written that I felt like I was there with Elizabeth and Belle as the begin their unlikely friendship with a shared love of botany.

In Edinburgh, a plant that is housed in a greenhouse in the new botanical is attracting a lot of attention the Agave americana which only flowers once in every one hundred years. The King is about the visit Scotland and Johann Von Streitz is working with Sir Walter Scott to organise the visit.

This is such a detailed and engrossing story. I couldn’t stop reading it. I loved the strong women at the centre of the story and how they are trying to be part of a man’s world on their own terms. Plus the references to the Romantic artists of the time made the book all the more fascinating.

The writing is so beautiful that I wanted to savour every word of this exquisite book. You can visualise the greenhouses and their contents. Historical fiction at it’s absolute best !

Thank you for sharing this wonderful story.

5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A completely captivating and compelling tale of botanical leanings. The stories of Elizabeth and Belle are woven artfully against the background of Edinburgh’s botanical garden and the flowering of an exceptional plant. The book is a fantastic read. I found myself immersed and greatly entertained by the antics within. Highly recommended!

Thank you Netgalley

This was a blooming treat of a read! Full of history, strong female characters and a wonderful gardening backdrop, it had everything you want from a story and it just sweeps you along and transports you back in time with ease!

Set in 1822, amidst the backdrop of the botanic gardens of Edinburgh, you are following the characters involved with the set up and the general buzz of the town with the forthcoming visit of King George IV. But what gets more buzz than a royal visitor, is the flowering of a rare plant and the impact that has on different people for different reasons are followed in the story - some with more devious plans than others!!

Belle and Elizabeth are the main female characters and they are very different but both share a love for botany. As their paths cross you sense the secrets they're both holding back but understand that they respect one another for being such independent souls.

I loved the frenetic energy of this book! There's so much going on with the various characters and their scheming and plotting!! You really get a great sense of the time period and the expectation that fills the air with the impending royal arrival, alongside that of the rare flower set to bloom, and you find yourself totally immersed in the drama and conflicting characters! Loved it!

Very very enjoyable…

I do tend to lean towards books set in this era, and this one doesn’t disappoint. There’s a very strong female “cast”, and surprisingly the males also are rather feminist as well.

I really loved all of the characters, I really feel like I got to know them so well.

Just wonderful!

My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

We are pulled into a historical world of mystery. with more than a hint of aromatherapy. plants, theft and Blackmail. Gripping novel which I throughly enjoyed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately for me I did struggle with this book. I'm not sure if I just need to pick it up again when I'm more in the mood for it but it did feel very heavy on the history and research. There were too many characters and despite having a character list at the beginning I still felt overwhelmed by it.

This is the perfect kind of historical fiction – a fascinating story, expertly researched and told with imagination and flair: in the words of the author ‘a time machine that takes a reader back to where they come from’. In hearing Elizabeth’s and Belle’s stories, I learnt so much about the history of Georgian Edinburgh, becoming fully immersed in its intrigues and injustices, whilst really falling for these two strong female leads trying to make their way in a society determined to keep women in their place. Such a joy of a novel, I’ll be adding more of Sara Sheridan’s books to my TBR pile as soon as I can.

‘The Fair Botanists’ by Sara Sheridan is the standout novel of the year for me. It’s the wonderful story of two women and the connections they make in Edinburgh in the early 1800s. Elizabeth is a widow moving to Edinburgh to live with her husband’s family, and hoping for a better life. Her interest in botany and especially illustration, brings her into contact with those working at the new botanical gardens. The imminent flowering of a special tree has the city fascinated, as has the expected visit of the King. Belle has a secret identity and a plan for the future. She knows her present career will be short lived, so is using her interest in botany to ensure her comfort later. These two very different women find a common bond, forming a friendship that defies society’s expectations .

Elizabeth and Belle’s stories weave in and out with those of other prominent and not so prominent members of Edinburgh society. It is this that captured my attention and did not let go until the last page. Sara Sheridan builds each layer, and connects each strand, with beautifully written descriptive pose. It’s a story of life, of friendship and of love. Highly recommended.

I was given this ARC to review.

Interesting, fascinating and wonderful tale of botany, 18th century Scotland and all the gossip and intrigue that goes on in high and low society.

Ooh i really enjoyed this book. Every now and again a book comes along that you know instantly that you’ll enjoy and this allows you to just relax into the book to go wherever it takes you This book was one of those books as I thought this was a truly wonderful read. It was thoroughly absorbing and almost magical at times which I enjoyed tremendously.

Firstly I loved the two main characters, who I enjoyed spending time with throughout the book. Bella was my definite favourite though. I absolutely loved her attitude to life and her independent, firey personality especially during a time when women weren’t expected to behave like that. She’s someone I think I’d like to have known in real life as I think she’d be great fun to hang out with. Elizabeth is a very different character, especially at the beginning, she’s more demure then Bella and less worldly but it was so nice to watch their friendship develop.

The author has included some real life historical figures into the story which I thought was very clever. It was interesting to learn more about them, especially as I didn’t know much about some of them. It gave me a little thrill to see how they were woven into the story. The historical details in this book were superb too and I found it fascinating to see how different things were in Scotland, with woman enjoying more freedom then woman in England which I hadn’t realised before.

Overall I loved this book and was sad when it ended which is always a sign of a great read. The mystery side of the book was well done and helped make sure I kept turning the pages, while the wonderful characters made the story very memorable. I have kept thinking about this story long after I’ve finished reading it and will definitely be recommending it to others.

Huge thanks to Stevie Cooper for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I’ll be putting on my keep forever shelf.

The Fair Botanists is a captivating and intoxicating historical epic set in 1822 Edinburgh. The story surrounds the pomp and intrigue in Scotland’s Enlightenment City centred around the Royal Botanic Garden in the run-up to the visit of King George IV. In the spring and summer of 1822, the citizens of Edinburgh – and some amazed visitors – were assailed by an extraordinary spectacle, passing through the north of the city; the sight of parades of full-grown trees, mounted in barrels on slow-moving horse-drawn carts, being moved with extraordinary care from one location – the old Botanical Garden in Leith Walk – to another, the garden’s new home on the slopes below Inverleith House. It’s around this extraordinary moment in Edinburgh history – and the historic visit of George IV to the city later that summer, which led to what became known as the “Daft Days” of runaway royalist enthusiasm. Georgian Edinburgh’s botanical circles are gripped by the high excitement of the imminent blooming of the exotic and incredibly rare Agave Americana plant – an event which only occurs once in several decades – in the Botanic Garden Glasshouse. Observing this unfolding spectacle is newly widowed Elizabeth Rocheid who arrives in the city to live with her late husband’s aunt and start to build a new solitary life. She meets the enigmatic Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation.

The two women bond over their shared interest in botany, although Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest in the garden secret from her new friend. Yet as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don’t last long in this Enlightenment city, and when they are revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences. Around this, a rich cast of characters assemble, each with their own personal motive for wanting to be close to this once-in-a-lifetime flower. And when the flower is stolen, secrets will be revealed in pursuit of the truth. What is the secret behind Belle’s fascination with the flowering Agave? This is a riveting, alluring and spellbinding historical novel packed with entertaining scandal and intrigue. 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. It's lush and evocative with rich descriptions and an even richer atmosphere that creates a stunning time capsule into 1822 Edinburgh. A seductive and sensual romp that intrigues with every page and reflects the hearty and exciting decade that drew the Enlightenment to a close with all its rambunctious pleasures and intellectual vigour. A truly dazzling, unique read peopled with wonderfully painted female characters that leaves you lost in a hazy dream world. Highly recommended.

The thought of a peek into early nineteenth century Edinburgh appealed to me. I like a novel where location is as big a character as the people and Edinburgh really lends itself to that. In the last year or so I’ve read a few stories set there but I think this is the first from the Georgian era. It’s a hive of activity, with the New Town recently completed and new buildings springing up everywhere. The setting is a sweet spot of being long enough ago to feel romantically historic but recent enough that many of the buildings are still there today.
In the first three chapters we’re introduced to three very different but interesting women: courtesan Belle, new widow Elizabeth and the redoubtable Lady Clementina. The characters, real and imagined, are interesting enough in themselves to sustain a novel without much plot but there is so much else going on! I ate it up. The caper surrounding the flowering of the botanical garden’s century plant and who will have its seeds is comedy gold. The high-stakes farce reminded me of Deborah Moggach’s Tulip Fever. It was excruciating (in a good way) at times.
Of course the story deals with relationships and desires but conversation after conversation knocks the Bechdel test into a cocked hat. How refreshing. I hadn’t read any of Sara Sheridan’s previous books or even heard of her. Looking on her website at the list of books she’s written, I must have had my head under a stone – there are loads! I look forward to reading more.

The Fair Botanists transports the reader to 19th century Edinburgh, a city divided into rich and poor areas, and undergoing rapid development with new housing springing up in land formerly given over to farming.

Of the main protagonists, Belle Brodie was my favourite character. Independent minded and ambitious, she is prepared to pursue a life of pleasure without concern for social conventions. Using the knowledge she possesses that others would not want made public allows her to pursue her aim of developing a scent with quite remarkable powers.

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 Clementina, very touching.

Alongside the fictional characters there are references to, or appearances by real life figures. Some of these are fleeting, such as Lady Liston who over afternoon tea with Belle and Elizabeth christens the three of them the fair botanists of the title. Famous author, Sir Walter Scott, has more of the spotlight entrusted as he was in reality with organizing the itinerary for the King's visit to Edinburgh. The author's detailed Historical Note explains more about the mix between fictional and real characters, and the background to their inclusion in the story.

The book is clearly the product of extensive research but, at times, it felt as if the author wanted to cram in everything, with multiple storylines and an extensive cast of characters. As a result, although The Fair Botanists had some fascinating elements, for some reason the book didn't quite capture my imagination in the way I'd hoped.

The huge trees are transplanted to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinborough in 1822 and life for so many

is changed too.. There is plotting and intrigue as seeds become the focus of both the wealthy and the poor..

A wonderful read, full of believable characters, each with their own secrets and dreams,

We are pulled into a historical world of mystery. with more than a hint of aromatherapy. plants, theft and

blackmail. I loved this atmospheric tale. .

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 is 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.

When she is 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.

The subject matter is, therefore, rather niche; how many people would seek out a novel which centres, for the most part, on the blooming of a rare plant in 1822 Edinburgh? But that of course is the strength of this sort of story, especially in the hands of an author as confident and experienced as Sheridan. It isn’t really about the plant at all. We are drawn into a world that we feel as though we should know something about, and perhaps we do know a little – but there is so much more to be discovered in Regency Edinburgh, and so much more to love.

As a historical narrative, The Fair Botanists is interesting in that half of the characters are taken directly from history, and half are fictional. Sheridan is so good at winding together these personas that until you reach the author’s note at the end, you won’t even know for the most part who was real and who was not. Some are obvious – for example, Sir Walter Scott the famous author is a commanding presence on the page – but few will have heard of William McNab, or Lady Liston and their contributions to history. It can be tricky to use real historical people well, but Sheridan grants them all such a rich inner life that they come alive just as much as those she created.

And those she created are, for the most part, just wonderful. The omniscient narrator, who dips in and out of the minds of many characters – reminiscent of narrators from novels of the Regency era – means that we get to know many characters from the inside out. Elizabeth is a compelling lead, and Belle is a riot, from start to finish. Johann is a dashing hero, easily the equal of any Jane Austen hero and I’d even say surpassing some of them with his gentle, kind ways. If you come to The Fair Botanists for the history, or for the names that you recognise, you should be aware that you will come away having fallen completely in love with Elizabeth, Belle and Johann.

I read The Fair Botanists over a few days of very variable weather, from bright summer sunshine to rain to storms and back, and I have to say that nature really did conspire to do me a favour with that combination. Hearing the tapping of rain on the window, followed by the gentle warmth of the sun, set a wonderful atmosphere for this book, taking place over a summer just as changeable. Following the many likeable characters through the streets of Edinburgh feels at times like a sensual and romantic hazy dream.

Scotland, 1822. The Fair Botanists centres around the relocation of the Edinburgh botanical gardens from Leith Walk to their current location at Inverleigh. A rare plant within the gardens, Agave Americana, looks set to flower for the first time in thirty years – coinciding with a visit to the city from King George IV.

I was a good way through this book before I began to enjoy it – due, I suspect, to a mismatch between the writing style and my preferences. I tend to struggle to engage with books written in the present tense, third person, and The Fair Botanists was no exception.

That said, the strength of the story and characterisation ultimately won me over. Gardening is not an interest of mine, but the plot here intrigued me. The story is predominantly told by two characters - Elizabeth, newly widowed following a mentally and physically abusive marriage and Belle, a high end courtesan, determined to forge her independence within patriarchal Georgian society. I find myself gravitating of late towards fiction featuring strong female characters and found The Fair Botanists to be an embarrassment of riches in this regard. Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received The Fair Botanists as an ARC from NetGalley, and I’d like to thank them and the author.
Goodness, how I enjoyed this book. There’s something about the evocative way Sheridan writes of perfumes and plants that brings them to life with utter conviction. Interesting and original characters who I cared about, a different and yet instantly convincing setting, with passions, conflicts, secrets, friendships, intrigue. This is the sort of book I will buy several times over to give to my friends.

I started reading this book with a serious book hangover but it didn’t last long as this book turned out to be the very best cure. I can’t explain enough how much I loved this book, other than to say if you enjoy historical fiction or just good fiction then you’ll love this too.

The writing of this story and the characters instantly endeared themselves to me. The story is smart, funny, and charming. It is a historical novel full of heart. I really did love all the characters, this doesn’t mean they’re all lovely though! But they are all so very good. This story is an incredibly well crafted tale that weaves together a whole host of characters including historical characters, events, and multiple misunderstandings in to one very good story.

In a time before it was truly acceptable for women to be part of male dominated professions this novel follows a newly widowed Elizabeth as she enters the world of botany and Belle who follows the oldest profession in the world and also creates love potions and scents. The story centres around a particular flowering aloe plant, with a little sauce, some intrigue and mystery it makes for a delightful novel.

As a keen gardener and a native of Edinburgh,I was instantly hooked by this story of the creation of the Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith ,set in 1822 when the city was preparing for the visit of George IV.There is so much period detail ,with a cast of characters from fictional to real people, and the detailed notes at the end give a lot of extra information.
Highly recommended-I couldn’t put it down!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.