Margins
The Alchemy of Flowers book cover
The Alchemy of Flowers
2025
First Published
3.65
Average Rating
352
Number of Pages

A woman takes a job at a secretive French garden to avoid reminders of children; there she meets a mysterious girl needing help. This debut adult novel blends the charm of The Secret Garden and magic realism of Where the Forest Meets the Stars. "Here lie the bones of those who broke the rules . . ." There are many rules those who wish to live and work behind the mysterious walled gardens of Le Château du Paradis must follow. One must not gossip. One must not leave their room during dusk. And most importantly for the newest gardener, Eloise Bourne, children are forbidden. Although she's locked inside the castle grounds and subjected to strange rules, Eloise's new home enchants her with otherworldly lodging and magical flowers. Best of all, her co-workers—who are also retreating from the world—spark her to heal both body and soul. And she feels surprisingly drawn to the intriguing handyman, Raphaël. But when she starts glimpsing a mysterious child in the trees, she reels. Is this a human girl? Or a woodsprite? Is it her imagination, or is this place truly enchanted? As the summer unfolds, Eloise begins to fear the child is in danger. It's not until she breaks the rules and risks her heart that Paradise becomes a prison. Eloise must unearth the gardens' secrets, fight for her newfound family, and ultimately, claim a second chance at happiness.

Avg Rating
3.65
Number of Ratings
124
5 STARS
23%
4 STARS
36%
3 STARS
27%
2 STARS
13%
1 STARS
2%
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Author

Laura Resau
Laura Resau
Author · 11 books
I'm the author of the young adult novels The Queen of Water (with Maria Virginia Farinango), Red Glass, What the Moon Saw, The Indigo Notebook, The Ruby Notebook, The Jade Notebook, and the middle-grade novels Star in the Forest, The Lightning Queen, and Tree of Dreams. My picture book collaboration with Patricia Gualinga, Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest, was released in Summer, 2023. My YA sci-fi novel, Virch, will be released in Spring 2024. I grew up in Maryland, then moved around for ten years (as student, ESL teacher, and anthropologist), making my home in New Orleans; Aix-en-Provence, France; Oaxaca, Mexico; Tucson; and now, Fort Collins, Colorado, where I'm staying put for a while. I live here happily with my husband and son and beagle and husky. Most days, you'll find me drinking tea and writing novels in a little silver trailer in my driveway. I love camping in the mountains, and I travel whenever I find an excuse.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
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