I sank into my reading chair and began this book...hours later I realized I was still sitting and reading. It was just that good.

After years of heartache, Eloise is looking for something new. She finds a job offer that sounds perfect. Gardening at a french chateau. Completely off the grid and no children. Her idea of perfection.

The gardens give Eloise the peace she needs, although as the book continues there are dark and magical portions that for me, just added to the books allure.

A well done work.

The Alchemy of Flowers promises you Paradise, and you are indeed getting a taste of it, but the kind of Paradise that might punish you for eating the Apple that was not meant to be eaten.
The sole rules of Paradise are that there are no children allowed and that you should not be out at certain hours. But why?
I liked the story and the writing, imagining being surrounded by flowers and a peaceful atmosphere with people like-minded.
I regretted the fact that there was a supranatural touch implied (with the main character earing flowers), that was never turned into something purposeful for the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

This was a strange one for me to review, I was drawn to the mystery / fantasy vibes from the blurb and the overall feel was far more lit fic / magical realism than I expected. It’s also very character driven, the plot is slow going for much of the story.

The FMC is on a healing journey when she moves to Paris and much of the story is about her pathway, the relationships with her new found family and the burgeoning relationship with one of the men who works there, though it’s not altogether clear whether it will go anywhere so I hesitate to call him the MMC, his role is definitely more of a supporting character. The characters are lovely but i do feel like the FMC almost has a bit of insta-love with all of them, she just shows up and they are immediately all best friends? I guess given the circumstances where it’s really just the four of them, it’s not that odd, but still.
It’s not a long read and if you’re looking for something more introspective, it would tick that box but for me I was a little bored. Also the conclusion felt a little disjointed to me, I still am not sure whether the ending was magical or not. It was fine, just not a love for me.

The Alchemy of Flowers is absolutely phenomenally written! From the moment I read the blurb, I knew I would love it, and I did.

This is a story of pain, infertility and child loss, lost love, and despair. It's also a story of learning to live again, climb out of your despair, and trust love. Healing by facing your struggles and finding the beauty in life, friendships, and new love.

The entire story has an air of mystery that captivated me from the start and kept me wondering what would happen next. The beauty of paradise seeped from the pages and transported me to the gardens...

I will be following along on Laura's author journey and can not wait to see what's next!

Exhausted by fruitless attempts to make a family, Eloise takes the chance of a lifetime to answer an ad in a French gardening magazine. To fly away from her life in the States and tend to both her shattered heart and the flowers of Paradise.

Eloise is definitely broken. She has struggled to find a balance after she is unable to conceive. So, this French gardening post is exactly what she needs…until it is not.

Eloise is a fascinating character. She can hear the flowers talking to her. This helps her on more than one occasion because she is not one to just accept things as they are. When she starts to ask questions at her new job, it does not sit well with “the management”. And trust me, she starts to uncover some amazing issues.

This novel has some very pretty prose. It is atmospheric and I could just picture the chateau and the gardens. Very picturesque! I also enjoyed the mystery surrounding this chateau and the strange rules.

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, sounded like a native of France. She did a great job!

Need a novel with beautiful prose…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel for a honest review.

This magical realism debut novel is a bit odd, a bit sweet and a lot complex while also being very simple...confused yet? Yeah, me too...but in a good way.

The star of the show is an ancient walled garden (Jardins du Paradis) in the South of France...a mysterious castle and grounds which is where our middle-aged American heroine Eloise finds herself in a new gardening position. The job comes with three rules: no gossiping, stay indoors during the dusk hour and absolutely no children allowed on the premises.

Eloise is struggling with a past filled with pain, loss and hopelessness and applies for the position of a gardener who must "grow flowers from one's merde"...merde being the French swear word for sh*t. She finds herself literally locked up in a garden paradise, living in a dreamy multi-level treehouse (complete with a lovely outhouse built by the handyman Raphael) and doing what she loves most...talking with and caring for flowers. She lives and works with three other caretakers all of which are also seeking to heal and recover from various life traumas. The healing power of the garden begins to be challenged by an overwhelming sense of unease following certain discoveries and unexplained secrets on the grounds and the abrupt, abrasive behavior of the owner. The question then becomes, is this a paradise or just a seductive illusion?

The writing in this book is simply beautiful...the vivid imagery, the sense of place and time...all so very well done...Resau captured the ambiance and feel of an ancient walled garden so irresistibly. The characters are all complex and compelling, warm and accepting. But I think as the denouement nears it just went off the track a little for me, and in full disclosure that could be because I haven't read much magical realism as a genre. I felt like the pace was off in places, slow and meandering sometimes, full speed and sharp sometimes (especially during the denouement). As an aside, I also wanted to mention that there are some painful and dark issues covered here so reader be aware.

However, the pacing and a bit of "off tracking" can be overlooked by me in the face of the beauty of the words and the heartbreaking but ultimately triumphant cast of characters.

Maybe I do need to read more magical realism...hmmm.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus / Harper Muse for providing the free early arc of The Alchemy of Flowers for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I both listened and read this novel and I really enjoyed Cassandra Campbell's narration, especially because I don't speak French and don't always know how to pronounce French words. :) At times the story felt a little sappy or melodramatic, but I did like it overall and the characters were fun to get to know. The setting was vivid and incredibly detailed. I could easily picture myself in a medieval garden estate in Provence, and would love to smell such a place! I also enjoyed the sumptuous descriptions of food, tea blends, and aromatic lotions. The Gardens of Paradise were as important a character as Eloise and her friends. There was plenty of emotion, healing, drama, and a hint of magic in this book, and it was an overall enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Muse/Harper Collins, and Harper Muse Audiobooks for an advanced copy of this book.

Unique, mysterious, and also hopeful - The Alchemy of Flowers has been one of my favorite reads of the summer. If you love French culture, I highly recommend this book. Heavy on the them of infertility and miscarriage, so please keep that in mind if that is a trigger for you.

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Opinions expressed are my own. This book was released today, 07/29/25.

There's something to be said for finding an oasis to the noise and the horror spinning itself round and round the news ticker tape. The Alchemy of Flowers, the adult debut from Laura Resau, is exactly that, providing a place of quiet and healing within its gates for both its characters and readers.

Eloise has left her whole life in the U.S. behind for a strange job offer in France. It's true that "gardener" on a large estate isn't a strange job, but the requirements for the job, and the rules she'll be expected to follow once she's in the estate's locked gates, make it just bizarre enough that she feels like it could heal her broken heart. There, among the paradisiacal flowers, trees, and waterways, she meets the bubbly Mina, the thoughtful Bao, and the impossibly handsome Rafael, all with their own responsibilities within the garden. After running from years of infertility, multiple pregnancy loss, and the breakup of her marriage, Eloise is sure this is the place to finally find her footing again.

Of course, nothing can be that simple. Eloise starts noticing small footprints in the mud by the river, and has a sense that she's being watched through the trees. Is it the three ghostly figures that tread through the gardens each dusk, or just snippets of dreams made manifest from whatever enchantment binds the estate? The more Eloise tries to understand these strange phenomena, the more danger she finds herself of being thrust out, or worse. 

The Alchemy of Flowers is steeped so strongly with enchantment that it left my own world feeling a little more shimmery each time I closed the book. Resau's descriptions are lush, making the scent of jasmine or lavender, the feel of a refreshing stream, or the taste of Mina's cooking almost come off the page (or, in my case, my phone screen). From the book description, you know Eloise gets a little more than just healing out of this arrangement, and from Rafael's introduction on the page you know he's Eloise's unintentional love interest, but Resau manages to keep this eventual pairing feeling sweet, not cheesy. Perhaps most importantly, it's wonderful seeing Eloise heal, and seeing the positive effect every difficult ounce of her own healing has on the fellow heartbroken around her. In that way, Alchemy was everything I could have asked for in our strange time.

All that healing and good vibes could make a book flounder under its own sweetness, but the mystery of whether Eloise and the gang is as alone in the garden as they're supposed to be gives a more pressing undercurrent to the story. Just like a rose, the beauty of the garden holds a sharp underside. The danger Eloise flirts with much more intentionally than she does Rafael brings a welcome shadow, and secures the stakes of how much she has to lose if she's wrong, or if she has lost her mind in this lovely new life of hers. How much the others know, too, brings a sense of doubt to the tender community ties forming between them, even as they all do grow closer and begin resembling less a group of coworkers and more a family of misfits and brokenhearted.

The end of Alchemy brings the preservation of this new little found family a battle of wills, and, eventually, more literal blows. The threat that seems a disembodied shadow is much more corporeal in a way that feels like it has figuratively stepped out of the enchanted garden we've spent so many pages enjoying. I knew a showdown was coming between the rule-maker and our main characters, but I expected something slower, something subtler and maybe more metaphorical than the fight and blood that came instead. While it isn't a bad sequence of events that leads to the eventual ending, it's also one that doesn't feel like it belongs to the slow and quiet nature of the rest of the book. It feels like a flower that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the bouquet.

The rest of that bouquet, though, is pretty enough to distract from its odd little part, altogether becoming something soft and happy and perfect for plunging into while swaying in a hammock on some late-summer day.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

real rating: 4.75/5

This read was an absolute emotional rollercoaster. Eloise's story is haunting, beautiful, and inspirational. The pain that each of the characters is able to overcome, and their found family make this novel incredibly compelling.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, there were times where terminology felt repetitive to the point that it would take me out of the story, as well as the pacing sometimes feeling a little sluggish.

I loved the fantasy and Goddess aspects throughout, as well as the overall looming feeling of something sinister happening in Paradise. It was a beautiful juxtaposition to the beauty of the gardens and Eloise's flower whispering.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the arc :)

An emotional and enchanting story of healing, friendship and found family, with a romantic sub-plot.

The writing was immersive, and I enjoyed the unique magical realism elements as well as the country garden setting in the South of France.

This would make a great book club read.

I was fortunate to access the audiobook and the digital book. I really enjoyed the narration by Cassandra Campbell and found myself immersed in the story, as I could listen and follow along with the digital book.

With thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for an advanced reading and listening copy of this captivating story, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for providing the ARC.

This book is immersive storytelling at its finest. The characters are engaging and dynamic, the plot is unique and woven together effortlessly, the prose is descriptive and evocative weaving a tale that is utterly enchanting, emotional, and atmospheric. You will be transported to a lush world of love and loss, healing and acceptance.

The magical realism of this book gives it an almost ethereal quality, enough to make it seem otherworldly, but not enough to force the reader to suspend belief, landing themselves in a place where magic is real, but only in a subtle, quiet way that doesn't take away from the story. Eloise's character is one that all women can empathize with. Her character arc is something that many women will find familiar, even if it is a bit heartbreaking. Her journey is transformative and, ultimately, healing. Resau's writing has a way of pulling you into this world and somehow making Eloise's journey feel extremely personal.

This book is lush, poignant, and utterly not to be missed.

such a beautifully written story. i felt like i was taen from this world and put into this story. a definite recommend

thanks netgalley and publisher

all thoughts are my own

This story had a little bit of everything - magic, romance, heartache, friendship - in an incredible setting that captivated the senses as well as the imagination. I loved Eloise’s journey from profound loss to a chance to heal in the French countryside, and it had me wanting to find a Paradise of my own. Resau knows how to bring readers deep into a world of her own creation and this dark tale with a mysterious caretaker, a young girl who appears at will, and an intriguing handyman had me reading into the late hours of the night.

Alchemy of Flowers is one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve read in a while. It’s atmospheric, emotionally rich, and quietly magical. Laura Resau’s adult debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Addison Allen or anyone who loves stories with touches of magic and healing, nature, and second chances.

The character development is what I loved most. Eloise is a woman who’s been broken by loss, but her transformation throughout the story feels so genuine and earned. The side characters are also wonderfully layered and bring both warmth and mystery to the narrative.

There’s a touch of magical realism that makes the story feel dreamlike without ever going over the top. Whispering flowers, mysterious glimpses of a child, and the secrets behind the garden walls create a slow-building sense of wonder and suspense.

The setting is absolutely stunning, an old French garden estate that feels totally removed from the modern world. Resau’s descriptions are so vivid that I felt like I was there, breathing in the flowers and listening for magic in the wind.

This book is tender, enchanting, and quietly powerful. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a novel that’s both comforting and mysterious.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh. I wanted to like this one. I really did. As someone who actively left home in Denver to chase a dream in Europe after a divorce this sounded amazing. However… the minor little things include an absurd amount of time spent on food descriptions, flower explanations, and goddess summaries, which all just felt like too much layered like it was on top of so little plot. The book could have been half the length and not lost much. However my biggest problem is that it’s SO focused not just on family (as I expected from the summary) but childbirth. Pregnancy. Infertility treatments. Bearing children. As someone who does not nor has ever wanted children I really wish I had known this would be a book in which the FMC believes that producing offspring is the only natural way that women’s bodies work, because then I could have avoided it.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Why can’t you leave the garden? Why will you be cursed if you do? Is there something mystical lurking, something evil? Or is it really just a rouse to keep people talking. Eloise takes a job there after setting fire to her old life only to be brought to the place and life that she was meant to be.

This book is reminiscent of Kate Morton, Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman where the power of healing, women and nature is at the center.

This book wasn't the fantasy book I was expecting. It was about loss, healing and found family. I enjoyed the descriptions of the gardens and how the flowers helped with healing. I like that Eloise could hear what the flowers said. The pacing of the book was too slow for me. The book wasn't bad, but it wasn't really for me.

This story is grounded in reality with magical elements mixed in. The story is told from Eloise's perspective so the reader learns about the garden as she does. The reader gets stories from Eloise's life before the garden to understand why she would choose to live in such a secluded place. The garden and the characters really came to life for me while reading. I went in knowing very little about the book and it think that helped me enjoy the book more.

Impressively Written Work Of Fiction That Comes To Life/ARC

Layer upon layer of storytelling at its finest. Unique and original in its main plot, with all of it interwoven in a beautifully and animated manner.

One of the themes Resau touches upon, I can profoundly identify with, a heartbreaking aspect that many women suffer from, physically and emotionally, most in quiet seclusion from everyone around them. As if it’s a shameful aspect of our personality, that needs to be kept hidden, our of fear how others perceive us as women.

As I mentioned in my opening review, there are so many layers interwoven together, but they flow so smoothly, you don’t ever get the feeling like you’re wanting to get back to another part Resau left off on.

The characters in this novel are fairly limited. You don’t have a slew to keep track of, which in my opinion, makes this an even better experience. Unfortunately, without providing spoilers, I can’t even describe the relationships taking place between the 5 main people lthroughout the book.

What I can tell you, is you must read this! Don’t miss out on the world Resau has so graphically created on these pages, and the in-depth characters that spring to life, in this bizarre ancient walled Jardin du Paris, along with the bizarre rules that dictate anyone working and living on the premises.

The ending will blow your mind!!

This is due for release on July 29, 2025, so keep an eye out for it.
Note: I received early access from NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Muse, of this manuscript, and have at my own discretion and opinion, chosen to post this review.