By Lauren Bell
A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Potions strays from the typical genre of books that I read, but I was enticed by the elegant cover art and the way the title rolls off the tongue enough to select it. Khavari’s novel is written in feminist undertones and follows Saffron Everleigh, a young research assistant, as she navigates London’s high society and the old boy’s club at the university where she studies botany.
The plot begins with Saffron attending a faculty party as a last-minute invite. Surrounded by faceless old men, Saffron’s self-conscious voice becomes evident as she looks for an ally in the crowd. Like the classic Clue trope, the party is interrupted when a professor’s wife collapses due to poisoning—an attempted murder. Saffron later learns her mentor is the prime suspect, and she decides to take matters into her own hands to find the culprit, providing her with the opportunity to play Nancy Drew with Alexander Ashton, another dashing young researcher at the university. Khavari tries to build suspense by adding an upcoming research expedition to the Amazon that would provide the guilty party with a perfect escape, but it isn’t really felt until Saffron’s own research and credibility is put into jeopardy. However, I found the ending very neat, coming as close to a “happy” ending as one could expect.
As I mentioned previously, this is not the type of novel I usually read, which is perhaps why I am a bit harsh in my critique. I found I grew bored of the novel’s slow-burning suspense and the classic “will they/won’t they” storyline between Saffron and Alexander. I was also disappointed with the lack of plants and flowers and felt it was a missed opportunity to add more depth to Saffron’s passions. Regardless, just because it wasn’t to my taste does not mean it will be the same for others, and I’d expect readers of Kate Morton would likely enjoy A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Potions as it shares many similarities to Morton’s work such as the setting of post-war London aspects of its high society.