Jeanette Lynes

The Apothecary's Garden Jeanette Lynes

An enchanting and spirited story about the language of flowers and the supernatural power of love

Belleville, 1860: Lavender Fitch is a twenty-eight-year-old spinster whose station in life is greatly diminished after the death of her father, the local apothecary. Her only inheritance is the family house and its extensive gardens. To make ends meet, Lavender resorts to selling flowers at the local market.

One day, a glamorous couple step off the train at the railway station. The lady is famed spirit medium Allegra Trout, who has arrived for a public show of her skills. With her striking beauty and otherworldly charms, Allegra casts a spell over Belleville from the moment she arrives. Her handsome but disfigured assistant, Robert, singles out Lavender as he makes his way through the crowded station. To her surprise, he buys her entire cart of flowers.

The arrival of the legendary medium is well-timed. Lavender has been searching for a secret cache of money and can make use of Allegras powers to contact her dead mother for clues to its location. As the Trouts remain in town, preparing an encore presentation of their mystical extravaganza, Robert and Lavender begin to grow close.

While the towns anticipation for Allegras final show begins to mount, so do Lavenders questions. Will the spirits make contact with the living, or is Allegra a fraud? Is Robert really Allegras brother, or is something else going on? Will Robert and Lavenders relationship continue to blossom, or will it collapse under the weight of deception? Will Lavender find the money left by her mother, or will she be forced from her home and her beloved garden?