Good book that took me a bit to get into but when I did the story really opened up for me. It was a wonderful book about women and who we are. Family and how they can change us. Love and how it appears in our lives.

I struggled with this one. I expected to really love it as nature writing, science, history, feminism, travel, and poetry are my sweet spots. The first section set in India is written in first person. I usually appreciate brevity in writing, but the repetitive I’s became like gunshots sounding off in my brain. I initially wasn’t enjoying the storyline set in a modern day big city. It became much more engaging in the small village setting. Then the story shifts to Victorian times with an English woman traveling to India to find adventure instead of a husband. This was my favorite section. I love the naturalists. It was a bit repetitive in trying to be profound, however. For example, the main character pondered her future adventure three times when once would have been enough. Then just as I was settling into her story it switched to a historical figure, Goethe. Bless his heart, he was super boring. There was definitely some gorgeous nature writing in this one, but her thoughts on science, society, and history I would have rather read in an essay instead of forced into a narrative.

This book falls squarely into the category of “not for me.” It is so very much not for me that I’m not sure if I can even give it an honest rating. I wanted to read it based on the comparison to Cloud Cuckoo Land, which I very much enjoyed, but this feels more pretentious somehow than that book and really killed my enjoyment. I also felt no attachment to any of the characters and just overall had a miserable time reading this. There is an audience for it, I’m sure, it’s just not me.

I enjoyed this, and was a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did. It was fun to see botany and philosophy lightly included. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!