Live Event - Sara Sheridan: The Fair Botanists Book Launch

Tickets £5-£16.99

This is a limited capacity, in-person event.

Location: Morningside United Church, 15 Chamberlain Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4DH

Join us in celebrating the launch of Sara Sheridan's lush, Edinburgh-set historical novel, The Fair Botanists, set in 1822 around the moving of the Botanic Gardens from Bellevue to its current location in Inverleith. As the plants settle in their new home, one in particular – the rare Agave Americana – is poised to flower for the first time in decades. 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.

About The Book

Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?

 It’s the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV’s impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower – an event that only occurs once every few decades.  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. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which borders the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant’s impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation.  Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But 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.