I saw a reel on Instagram from the author talking about this book, and I was immediately sold. Frankenstein? Queer? Messy, messy characters? Sign me up! And this absolutely delivers on all fronts.
The beginning of A Botanical Daughter is a little slow, but it perfectly sets the scene of Grimfern, an estate inside a greenhouse outside the closest village, and the three main characters – Gregor, botanist and lord of Grimfern; Simon, taxidermist and romantic partner to Gregor; and Jenny, local village girl whose lover, Constance, recently died and it was ruled a suicide. Jenny is the purest of these characters, and when she gets a job as a housekeeper at Grimfern she quickly learns how odd Simon and Gregor truly are. Gregor has recently gotten a new fungal specimen from Sumatra, and it arrived in a box with an orchid. When Gregor tried to open the box, the mycelium would close the lid again, to protect the orchid from light. Seeing this phenomenon Gregor was overtaken with the idea of creating consciousness and “personhood” in a plant. With the surgical skill of Simon and the body of Constance, Gregor builds a substrate fit for the mycelium to grow and learn, along with a plethora of other plant life, all with the goal of showing the Royal Horticultural Society that he never should have been shunned or disgraced for his fungal bouquet several years prior. As CHLOE gains consciousness and becomes an individual, things spiral in unforeseen and uncontrollable ways for the Grimfern household.
This really is so much a Frankenstein spin, with a scientist trying to create a perfect specimen and then being horrified that it has its own personality and wishes and desires, and won’t just be controlled by its maker. This didn’t feel like a horror to me, but it does feel very much like the classic horror genre (a la Frankenstein, Dracula, Portrait of Dorian Gray) where it’s a deterioration of pride and hubris. I really loved the exploration of interpersonal dynamics and the ways Simon, Gregor, and Jenny (and CHLOE) improve and worsen each other.
This is also strangely romantic in so many ways. Simon and Gregor aren’t exactly a healthy model, but the love they have for one another is so obvious in so many ways. I also really loved Jenny and CHLOE’s relationship development. There is so much sweetness and humor and joy twisted in with horrible events and choices being made.
This absolutely hit a sweet spot for me in very messy characters, lots of “accidental” murder, and the consequences of trying to play god and creator. Frankenstein is one of my favorite classics, so seeing this iteration done so well is such a delight, and definitely a book I will be recommending!
