A Botanical Daughter

Mexican Gothic meets The Lie Tree by way of Oscar Wilde and Mary Shelley in this delightfully witty horror debut. A captivating tale of two Victorian gentlemen hiding their relationship away in a botanical garden who embark on a Frankenstein-style experiment with unexpected consequences. It is an unusual thing,to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian Londonthey are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simonthis means long hours in the dark basement workshopworking his taxidermical art. GregorΓÇÖs business is exotic plants ΓÇô lucrativebut harmless enough. Until his latest acquisitiona strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant heΓÇÖs seeninspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from plant matter. Driven by the glory heΓÇÖll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievementGregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate. The experiment ΓÇô or Chloeas she is named ΓÇô outstrips even GregorΓÇÖs expectationsentangling their strange household. But as GregorΓÇÖs experiment flourisheshe wilts under the cost of keeping it hidden from jealous eyes. The mycelium grows apace in this sultry greenhouse. But who is cultivating whom? Told with wit and warmththis is an extraordinary tale of familyfungus and more than a dash of bloody revenge from an exciting new voice in queer horror.