When Elizabeth crosses paths with Belle in the weeks leading up to the plants flowering they strike up an unlikely friendship whilst the city itself is gripped by the frenzy surrounding the King’s visit being organised by envoy Johann von Streitz. Not to mention that earlier in the book it was mentioned that Clementina dressed somewhat out of fashion – if she was dressing significantly earlier than 1820 then her stays may very well have been front-laced, which would make them even easier to do up. The agave americana plant, which only flowers every few decades, is a new edition to the botanical gardens, and is set to flower.

When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband’s aunt Clementina, she’s determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. Good historical fiction allows you to make that connection on a visceral level – it’s a time machine. I am struggling to say which genre this is, not a mystery or a romance, too light hearted to be literary fiction so I am leaving it at historical fiction.

La historia se cuenta principalmente desde dos puntos de vista de mujeres cuyo interés por la botánica (aunque desde diferentes disciplinas), las hace compartir acontecimientos. As a result, although The Fair Botanists had some fascinating elements, the book didn’t quite capture my imagination in the way I’d hoped. Established in 2009, Tippermuir seeks to add to the cultural life of Scotland by publishing interesting and worthy books in English and Scots. 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.

A really beautiful historical novel set in 1800s Edinburgh filled with intrigue and romance, featuring cameos from Sir Walter Scott and George VI. The story of a family’s tragic undoing and efforts to rebuild what’s been lost, The Poisonwood Bible is an epic novel full of suspense. 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!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.