"Don't Miss" Monday - Like a Flower in Bloom by Siri Mitchell
Charlotte Withersby has spent the better part of the past eight years adding to her maternal and paternal families' substantial legacy in the world of botany. The only problem is that everyone believes the work is her father's. After her mother's sudden death, then fourteen year-old Charlotte picked up not only her mother's work, but also bore the greater part of her father's work. Now, eight years later, Charlotte is quite happily ensconced in her role as her father's assistant. Or is she truly happy?
Charlotte's dear uncle, a retired Naval Admiral (whose distinguished career was an embarrassment to his academic family), has offered to sponsor her delayed "launch" into local polite society, and her father seems determined to see her happily settled, as well. When one of her father's correspondents, a rather botanically ignorant young man who has been living in New Zealand and sending plant specimens and letters for several years, shows up on their front doorstep, Charlotte finds herself being replaced. Charlotte is forced from her cozy world of ink pots and early morning rambles into the unfamiliar whirl of dinner parties and ballrooms. Can she convince her father that he still needs her? And are we truly products of our genetics, or can we change? Could a bluestocking ever become a bluebell?
Siri Mitchell outdid herself in this 2015 novel, which has become one of my favorites. She dove deep into the worlds of botany and societal norms in the 1850's in order to develop her cast of characters. Charlotte may be one of the most delightfully obtuse characters ever penned in Christian fiction. The cast of supporting characters are reminiscent of Jane Austen's beloved erstwhile suitors, bumbling fathers, sour dowagers, and faithful friends. I found myself laughing out loud at several points. (One in particular had to do with Charlotte's shocking protests of indignation that she was being set aside "...simply because I've got pistils! ... As if they're somehow considered less worthy than stamens!")
Don't miss this delightful novel! It's a treasure.