Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this fascinating book about the dark side of plants! This tour is organised by Random Things Tours.
The book is published by Liminal 11, a mind, body, spirit publisher (email: Hello@liminal11.com).
With thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
From the Publisher:
Discover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and malignant properties of toxic plants.
‘If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison’, it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.’
– Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Poisonings are among the most memorable deaths in history, from the Roman Empire to the Medieval era and beyond. Concealed and deliberate, it’s a crime that must be planned in advance. And yet there is a fine line between healing and poisoning – Paracelsus argued that only the dosage matters!
In ‘Botanical Curses and Poisons’, illustrator, author, and folklorist Fez Inkwright returns to archives to uncover the fascinating folklore, lurid histories, and untold stories behind deadly plants, witching herbs and fungi.
Filled with beautiful illustrations, this treasury of folklore is packed with insight, lore, and the revealed mysteries of everyday flora.
‘Botanical Curses and Poisons’ is printed in hardcover with metallic foiling, a ribbon bookmark, black-and-white illustrations on nearly every page, and a wealth of folklore history and poetry about the deadly plants within!
From the creator of ‘Folk Magic and Healing’ (2019).
My Review:
I should begin by stating my credentials in the worlds of botany, healing and…er…poisoning. Zero. I have no experience at all, can kill any houseplant and would struggle to identify any greenery at any time. This is not my specialist area, but regular readers of the blog will know I’m a huge crime fiction fan and kind of fascinated with Queen Agatha’s poisoning expertise!
So I’m coming to this book as a complete beginner, albeit one with a bit of a morbid curiosity.
Firstly, I should say that this is a gorgeous book. It’s a beautiful hardback with foil detailing on the cover, beautiful endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. It is also packed with fabulous black and white illustrations so that even the most beginnery beginner in the world of plants (i.e. me) can see what is being talked about. So far, so gorgeous…
The text itself is arranged (around the lovely illustrations) so that it introduces the history of poisoning, witches and the fine line between curing and killing, before turning into an A to Z of Plants. Lots of the sections are introduced with snippets of poems, literature and ancient wisdom on the plants, something I loved as it rooted the material more in ‘my world’ of books and writers.
I found this book absolutely fascinating from the first word. In particular, it was really intriguing to think about the world of botanical poisons as within the female domain – I really liked the way that Inkwright drew out the connections between herbalism and witchcraft, although the tragedy of this is also indicated in the descriptions of the historical persecution of witches. The explanation of witches’ ability to fly in the ‘Witching Herbs’ section is also intriguing and called up images of Terry Pratchett’s famous witch, Granny Weatherwax, lying with her sign ‘I ate’nt dead’ while her mind is elsewhere.
The book is absolutely packed with information about each of the plants; it covers not only the usages and known facts, but also lots of information about the history and symbolism of each.
For example, the section on ‘Apple’ explores all the cultural associations, from Eve and the the Garden of Eden to Ancient Greek mythology, folklore around blood-marked apples, the Gaelic festival of the dead and enchanted apples being possessed by demons. And that is just one entry!
I was absolutely captivated and found myself taking notes during sections that would help with my day job (English teacher – some of those literary allusions and symbols suddenly clicked into place for me!)
It’s all so interesting that it’s hard to pick highlights. I found myself sharing information with my son on Mandrakes (he’s a huge Harry Potter fan!) and I was particularly fascinated by the Poppy entry – as someone who loves historical fiction set in the Victorian era, the information about opium and morphine was definitely of interest. Poor Alice Blunden though, buried alive twice after imbibing too much poppy tea!
Another entry that I found particularly engrossing was about Violets – I knew of their associations with death (something I always kind of ignored as I personally love this flower!) but I didn’t really know why. Well, I do now – and I had my mind blown by the connections with the purple used as half-mourning colours in the Victorian period (again, my personal obsession surfaces!) So many connections that I didn’t fully understand or just hadn’t made…
I honestly could go on and on picking out interesting sections and stories, but I instead suggest that you buy this fabulous book for yourself. It would also make a brilliant gift for any gardener, or anyone interested in folklore, herbalism or just how plants have taken on symbolic status in literature and culture.
This is one book that you will not regret buying and I can guarantee that you – like me – will return to its pages again and again.
About the Author
Fez Inkwright is an illustrator, author and folklorist. Her greatest passions are botany, nature, primitive religions, and folklore, which flavour most of her work. For the past eight years she has produced work for children’s books, hand-drawn maps and tattoo design and now spends her time indulging in conservation work and writing. She lives in Bristol with two cats and several hundred bees.
