Book Review: A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

 

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

by Kate Khavari

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley.

Saffron Everleigh, who has a name I absolutely LOVE, is a botanist at University College in London in 1923. At a party hosted by wealthy philanthropists for the college, the wife of one of the professors falls comatose after drinking apparently tainted champagne. When Saffron's beloved mentor Dr. Maxwell is arrested under suspicion of attempted murder, Saffron plunges headlong into an adventurous quest to find the would-be-murderer and clear her mentor's name.

I am a sucker for both beautiful book covers and stories set in England, and this book drew me in for both those reasons. Saffron's story coupled with the remnants of war tainting family and friends' lives and her own dauntless spirit in pushing boundaries in a male-dominated world that blocks off women of intelligence and ability all combine to create an interesting and fun read. Khavari has a wonderful sense of humor, even in moments that would otherwise be heavy, and yet this doesn't negatively impact the tension build-up. 

I especially enjoyed the scientific jargon and references, which all serve to showcase Saffron's ability despite the lecherous and dismissive men abounding at the college. And her lapses of logic, though a bit off-putting for a scientist, seem to highlight her youth, inexperience, and enthusiasm and willingness to learn from her mistakes.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and am curious if sequels are planned as it seems it might have been set up for them. I can see a place in YA readers' bookshelves for more Saffron Everleigh escapades, especially as she will be studying phytotoxicology.

Book Review: The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

One of my favorite elements of historical fiction is learning new things or rediscovering things I learned once upon a time and forgot.

Jenoff's The Lost Girls of Paris falls into this latter category. I had learned at one point in time about women who have time and again aided men during wars that threatened their freedoms and families, women who have often gone unnoticed and unsung for their sacrifices.

The separate stories of Grace and Eleanor are compelling in their shared defiance of social conventions restricting women to appropriate behaviors. These women in their own ways embody Eleanor Roosevelt's exhortation to "do things you think you cannot do." Eleanor's recruitment, training, and command of women as resistance supporters and facilitators in Nazi-occupied France should have been something she would not be able to do by social gender standards of her time. Women did not have a proper place in the war, except to keep the home fires burning and welcoming home the soldiers who were fortunate enough to return. Similarly, Grace should not have been able to investigate and probe Eleanor's death and ultimately the women under Eleanor's command because that job was within a man's realm of behavior. Both women uncover deception, treachery, less than ethical behavior--of men.

This story is also very much about Marie and the other women entrenched in Nazi-occupied France, women who risked everything including their lives to do more, to be more than their situation as women in a male-dominated culture allowed. Contradicting the restrictions and their perceived limitations, Marie and her sister telegraph operators become forces to be reckoned with, despite the Nazis despicable attitudes and behaviors.

I give The Lost Girls of Paris four stars out of five. I really enjoyed the story and Jenoff's interweaving of two story lines. This is a narrative strategy I'm particularly fond of. I strongly recommend this novel for lovers of strong female characters who are not afraid to break the rules and historical fiction devotees. I am glad to add this book to my cache of World War II stories.