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

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I found her kindness towards her late husband’s cousin, the eccentric Lady Clementina, very touching. This was a huge process, managed by William McNab, the Head Gardener of the day, who developed new botanical methods to move the larger plants. I thought this made fascinating reading as did the section at the end where the author gives more details as to her characters.

In addition to this dire lack of characterization, the plot (such as there is one), is spread far too thinly across the characters, and there wasn’t very much of it to begin with. Most of them have common interests but are all incredibly unique in their own ways with wonderful personalities which enable connections to be made – some more intimate than others! Belle was my favourite and I admired her determination to live life on her own terms regardless of what anyone else thought. They've both faced adversity in their lives, yet they are able to use their circumstances to the best of their ability, and to overcome the difficult situations they've found themselves in. Sara Sheridan builds each layer, and connects each strand, with beautifully written descriptive pose.

Belle is the original loose woman; living alone, entertaining men, and in charge not only of her own destiny, but of her own bank account too. Again, I know that's not necessarily true to the era, so maybe I'm being unfair - but I find the more I like a book the more I am enjoying the characters, the more harshly I judge them. Writing this story felt very playful – and I included some real-life figures like William McNab (and his family), Sir Walter Scott, Robert Graham who was a professor at the University as well as Regius Keeper of the Garden…. They are brought together by way of the flowering of a rare aloe plant in the city's Botanical Garden, but their respective interests in it differ hugely. 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.

Set in Edinburgh, this novel tells us the story of two women and their unlikely friendship over their mutual interest in plants. You can’t understand where you are or make good decisions about where you’re going if you can’t see where you’ve come from. The setting, the brilliantly drawn cast of passionate characters and the vivid descriptions of the burgeoning plants and flowers will stay with me for a very long time. There is absolutely no conceivable way that it would take 20 minutes for Clementina to don her stays, and even if we interpret this passage to mean ‘dressing her fully’ as opposed to just ‘putting on her stays,’ 20 minutes is still an absurd length of time to don what was a day-to-day outfit, even if we grant it the panniers that a late 1700s gown would have had. Set against the lush backdrop of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, Sheridan has created a vibrant, vivid world to disappear into.

You are rooting for the women's various ambitions, even when you question their approaches - Belle's in particular. It soon becomes clear that much of the mounting interest in the resituated gardens stems from the fervour around the imminent blooming of the prize Agave americana plant and not all of that concern is entirely altruistic. The agave americana plant, which only flowers every few decades, is a new edition to the botanical gardens, and is set to flower.

It’s not an uncommon story though looking at that case, it seems more like a ‘rhohypnol’ episode than the grand plan that Belle undertakes. I particularly enjoyed the copious references to women throughout history and Sheridan's expert melding of fact with fiction. Good historical fiction allows you to make that connection on a visceral level – it’s a time machine. I've only heard it once, about 20 years ago, when the speaker was being very disparaging (insulting, in fact) about something I had done. It’s about an early female photographer – a fictional one but she is based on a real-life character.Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.