The Poison Diaries
Sixteen-year-old Jessamine lives an isolated existence with her apothecary father in 18th-century Northumberland, tending the medicine gardens and learning which plants can cure and which can kill. Her father’s greatest dream is to recover the wealth of botanical knowledge lost when England’s monasteries were dissolved. When a mysterious boy called Weed comes to the cottage and shows a strange understanding of plants and their uses, Jessamine welcomes him as a friend and romantic interest – but her father sees him as a tool who must be made to surrender his secrets at any cost.
Commissioned by the Duchess of Northumberland as a companion novel to the modern-day Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle, this book had great potential. Maryrose Wood’s writing is lyrical, and the details of apothecary healing are well researched. Unfortunately, what begins as an intriguing historical novel quickly spirals into a confusing whirlpool of half-developed fantasy elements. Weed’s supernatural powers remain unexplained, and the climactic battle with the villainous “Prince of Poisons” – an antagonist without apparent motive – leaves the reader dazed and confused. The engaging narrative ultimately fades into unconvincing allegory, and the characters see their fates dealt out in seemingly arbitrary fashion. The writing was beautiful, the plot a disappointment. This author is capable of better.
