The Botanist’s Daughter by Kayte Nunn
LLBC Rating: 8/10
Book Synopsis: Two world’s colliding over one hundred years apart and continents away, the stories of Elizabeth and Anna reveal a secret that had been taken to the grave.
This book jumps between viewpoints and years. We learn about Anna, a horticulturist in 2017 Sydney, Australia grieving the loss of her grandmother, when a locked box is found in the wall during renovations. Her curiosity gets the better of her and Anna breaks open the box to find a mystery that she cannot quite let go of. Simultaneously, we follow Elizabeth, a young woman in 1887 Cornwall who wishes to see the world. A botany painter who vows to fulfill her father’s dying wish, Elizabeth travels the seas on a dangerous mission to find and bring back a flower said to hold great powers.
We loved this book and feel that it would be the perfect weekend read for anyone. Though Anna’s story gets off to a slow start, wanting to continue Elizabeth’s adventure makes you keep reading. However, as we unravel Anna’s story and the mystery in the box, The Botanist’s Daughter becomes increasingly difficult to put down.
OUTING:
As June’s theme was botany, we decided that a trip to the local strawberry fields would not be out of place. We arrived to the fields on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to hunt for the most beautiful and ripe strawberries we could find. Throughout our picking, we reminisced on berry picking when we were kids and vowed to do it more often as it had been a long time for everyone.
Once we were satisfied with our flat of berries, we weighed them at a heavy 14 pounds and headed back to headquarters (Mary and Quin’s house) to make some fresh jam and have a picnic style feast. We ate the strawberries with a fruit dip, on top of angel food cake with whipped cream, and of course in their freshest state, straight from the flat.
FINAL MEETING:
Beyond the recap of the book, each member presented their research topic at this month’s final meeting. We learned about topics such as pollination, medicinal plant use, fungi, and the Japanese practice of Ikenobō. These presentations were fascinating and opened our minds to the depth of the botanical world. Botanicals are not simply pretty flowers and how to take care of them. It is not just the study of where they come from and where they are going. It includes so many other worlds including medicine and art, all life on Earth and even a little death too.
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