I come from a line of plantswomen – my grandmother and mother were passionate gardeners. I’ve always loved plants; some of my earliest memories are pottering around with my grandmother in her greenhouse, and of her telling me the names of plants as we passed them. I also adore botanical illustration – the beauty, skill and precision of the drawings that are often better than photographs for identifying plants. I’m also fascinated by the medicinal properties of plants, and the fact that many of our modern medicines are based on them. From the first vision I had, I knew it would be a book about plants. Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? Do you have a strict schedule or write when inspiration strikes? Neither really. I think I probably see myself as someone who writes books that feature strong female protagonists who have to make difficult decisions, often when it comes to who they love, but in relation to other things as well. I do also like the notion that items from the past can resonate through the years and still have power today and am looking forward to exploring that further in future books. In Victorian England after her father's death, headstrong adventuress Elizabeth travels to Chile to find a rare and miraculous plant on his behalf. To do this she will face a sea voyage and unforeseen danger.

The Botanist’s Daughter is written in third person with two strong female protagonists living 130 years apart. There are parallels between the two women despite being born in vastly different times and places. We meet both after they have suffered a family bereavement that sets their lives on an unusual course of action. Both women are single, with married sisters. Finally, both have a strong connection with botany. Knygą pasirinkau skaityti dėl pavadinimo, nes pats kolekcionuoju augalus. (Daugiausia orchidėjas). Kadangi skyriai knygoje trumpučiai – negalėjau atsitraukti. Knyga mane įtraukė ir nepaleido. Ypatingai patiko Elizabetės istorijos dalis, nes istorija pasakojama 2017 ir 1887 metais. Knyga parašyta lengvu stiliumi ir lengvai skaitoma. Puikiai tinka praleisti laisvalaikiui.Two different journeys in two separate centuries. We accompany Elizabeth as she travels from Cornwall to Valparaiso, while she looks for this wondrous plant, and as she finds a new life. We accompany Anna as she travels to London and then to Cornwall in search of answers. Who was responsible for the watercolours, and how did they end up in her grandmother’s home? And, as we accompany these two women on their separate journeys, we see some of the best and worst of human nature on display. Anna is a landscape gardener in Sydney, Australia who has just inherited her deceased grandmother’s house. A box is found during renovations containing mysterious objects from the 19 th century. How it came to be there and what the link is to her grandmother sets Anna on a journey across the globe to Cornwall in England.

I really enjoyed this novel and it was generally an overall hit at this month’s Book Club. There were some people who really loved this book, myself included, and some who it just wasn’t for but that’s okay! I think a lot of this comes down to what you go into it expecting. In 2017 Anna is renovating her grandmother‘s home which has been left to her. During this renovation a hidden shelf in the wall is uncovered. A notebook and an intricately carved metal box are found hiding in this space. Inside the box is a sketchbook with stunning watercolours of plants, a photograph and a small bag of seeds. These set Anna, who owns a garden business, on a quest to find out more about all the items. The second story in the timelines is from 1886. Elizabeth determines to honour her father’s search for a rare, though highly poisonous plant. Along with her maid Daisy, she sets off on a sea voyage from Cornwall to Chile. There she finds love. But danger is also luring close by. Danger that is intrinsically linked to the search for the plant, because Elizabeth is not the only one after it. And some people it seems will stop at nothing to get what they want. Elizabeth is aware it is imperative the plant does into fall into the wrong hands. The Botanist's Daughter is an enthralling and luminous tale as two women, 140 years apart, but whose lives reveal many parallels, make journeys of discovery, finding adventure and unexpected romance along the way (while integral to the story, the romance element wasn't to my mind overpowering to the main mystery-discovery storyline, which suited me as I'm not a great afficionado of the pure romance genre). Kayte Nunn's prose is straightforward, strongly evocative of the settings and the emotional experience of her central characters, without becoming bogged down in excessive detail at any point, which makes for a relatively fast read. Her achievement in attributing distinct voices between the two main characters, while maintaining the momentum of the whole, is what makes this such a successful piece. Usually in dual-timeline narratives, which have become quite prevalent in recent years, I find myself substantially more engaged in one storyline than the other, but I'm happy to report that that wasn't the case here. Two incredibly likeable, headstrong heroines . . . watching them flourish is captivating. With these dynamic women at the helm, Kayte weaves a clever tale of plant treachery involving exotic and perilous encounters in Chile, plus lashings of gentle romance. Compelling storytelling' The Australian Women's Weekly It also ended on an unexpected cliffhanger(ish) moment. I won’t be returning for the obvious sequel.The Botanist’s Daughter is structured in the form of dual time frame narrative, weaving into and out of chapters situated in 1800’s Cornwall and Chile, along with Sydney in the year 2017. There is a rich sense of place that pervades The Botanist’s Daughter. I particularly enjoyed the Chile based scenes, as this is a locale I have not read about before. The transitions of time and place were handled with poise. I found that I was equally enamoured by the past and the present day storylines. Time slip narratives are often hard to pull off, but Kayte Nunn doesn’t shy away from the challenge of a dual narrative approach. What culminates is an engaging story, rooted firmly in both the past and the present, with illuminating connections. The best part of a year, but I was working as a freelance editor for some of that time, and finishing edits on my second book, so it was a little bit piecemeal. I particularly liked hearing about the rhodendron flower ~ one of my favourite flowers also from the Blue Mountains of Australia. In Victorian England, headstrong adventuress Elizabeth takes up her late father's quest for a rare, miraculous plant. She faces a perilous sea voyage, unforeseen dangers and treachery that threatens her entire family.

Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a copy of The Botanist’s Daughter for review. The Botanist’s Daughter is a time-slip narrative, or dual perspective if you prefer, where one character in the present day discovers a link to a person from the past and we become privy to two stories moving along within different eras. I absolutely loved this novel, both eras, both women, both journeys. It just hit the right note for me from the very beginning. The magic of finding a box with treasures from the past drew me in and held me captive. And the seeds! What a find, and how incredible that under Anna’s guiding green thumb, she got them to sprout after lying dormant for so long. It was this botanical aspect of the story that interested me the most. The quest for cuttings and seeds and the power of plants that stretches across the ages. More so though, the knowledge about the power of plants, because it’s one thing to have a plant that has useful properties, but it’s entirely another to understand its uses. Kayte tapped into this with intricate detail throughout this novel, highlighting how botanical art was also a source of information about the plants depicted, their origins and uses, the dangers and benefits. There was a lot more to this stream of art than pictures of pretty flowers. I loved The Botanist's Daughter. I was transported to the 1880s and Chile, to contemporary Sydney and Kew. A gripping, warm-hearted read' This is Australian author Kayte Nunn’s first historical novel. A love of botany inspired Nunn to write this multi-period novel set in Australia, England, and Chile.

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Once again it is time for another Book Club Wrap Up. I swear I’m going to get better at putting these up earlier! As I’m sure you are all aware by now I organise and host a monthly book club at my work, Harry Hartog Woden, and each month I wrap up how we felt about the book, what books we said we are currently loving and I interview the author. It is always interesting to see where an idea for a book first germinates. In The Botanist’s Daughter’s case, the author has a personal interest in botany and it truly does reflect through the passionate storytelling of Kayte Nunn. An afternoon spent in a favourite locale, Sydney’s botanical gardens and the connection the author made to a sundial, spurned on this story idea. A visit followed to Kew Gardens and The Botanist’s Daughter was born. It is a magnificent tale at that! It is the flowers, the gardens and the botany which will entice you as you weave your way through the stories. It is not based on real events, though I did read stories of plant hunters and to what ends some of them would go in their search for rare plants.