Overview

A unique collection of contemporary short stories exploring our deep attachment to flowers and plants and the meanings they hold. From tokens of love to neolithic burial gifts, bridal bouquets to seasonal wreaths, healing potions to artistic masterpieces, flowers and plants have a multitude of meanings and a long and complex relationship with all our lives. They are the stuff of myth, of gods' metamorphoses and the emblems of kings and saints. They brighten our homes and bring joy to our senses, delight us in gardens and countryside, convey our emotions, symbolise new birth and human mortality, and yet are often overlooked as an inspiration for writers of fiction. This collection of contemporary fiction by new, emerging and experienced writers celebrates the world of flowers and plants and the meanings they hold, in twelve intriguing and surprising new short stories. AUTHOR: Born in New Zealand, into a family of florists, Emma Timpany studied botany for two years as part of her undergraduate degree before graduating with a degree in anthropology. She worked as a florist in New Zealand and London, and, after moving to Cornwall, ran a small flower growing business for five years. Emma's short stories have won three awards including The Society of Authors' Tom-Gallon Trust Award. Her books include The Lost of Syros, longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2016, and Travelling in the Dark, winner of the Hall and Woodhouse DLF Prize 2019. She co-edited Cornish Short Stories which was shortlisted for a Holyer an Gof Award 2019. She teaches creative writing, mentors emerging writers and works as a ghostwriter for a private autobiography company. 4 b/w illustrations

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9781803993096

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Reviews

These short stories - about all manner of green and growing things - are tender, lyrical, and compelling. Whether real or imagined, familiar or exotic, delicate or potent, the plants and flowers depicted offer insightful meditations into the ways that the lives of plants can become entwined with our own. -- Becky Tipper * writer and reviews editor at The Short Story *

These short stories - about all manner of green and growing things - are tender, lyrical, and compelling. Whether real or imagined, familiar or exotic, delicate or potent, the plants and flowers depicted offer insightful meditations into the ways that the lives of plants can become entwined with our own. -- Becky Tipper * writer and reviews editor at The Short Story * The stories are all so very different, some of them being quite compelling and tender featuring an interesting variety of voices and nationalities with a wide range of characters and settings -- Advolly Richmond * Garden writer, historian, and a television presenter, who regularly appears on BBC Gardener's World * A lovely collection of short stories with plants front and centre. If you’re a gardener or plant lover, then this is a book for you. -- Leif Bersweden * Author of Where the Wildflowers Grow and Botanist * This is the first time I have read a fiction collection entirely around the botanical, and editor Emma Timpany has done an impressive job of selecting a range of moving, absorbing, and sometimes surprising stories. * Hortus Journal *

These short stories - about all manner of green and growing things - are tender, lyrical, and compelling. Whether real or imagined, familiar or exotic, delicate or potent, the plants and flowers depicted offer insightful meditations into the ways that the lives of plants can become entwined with our own. -- Becky Tipper * writer and reviews editor at The Short Story * The stories are all so very different, some of them being quite compelling and tender featuring an interesting variety of voices and nationalities with a wide range of characters and settings -- Advolly Richmond * Garden writer, historian, and a television presenter, who regularly appears on BBC Gardener's World *

These short stories - about all manner of green and growing things - are tender, lyrical, and compelling. Whether real or imagined, familiar or exotic, delicate or potent, the plants and flowers depicted offer insightful meditations into the ways that the lives of plants can become entwined with our own. -- Becky Tipper * writer and reviews editor at The Short Story * The stories are all so very different, some of them being quite compelling and tender featuring an interesting variety of voices and nationalities with a wide range of characters and settings -- Advolly Richmond * Garden writer, historian, and a television presenter, who regularly appears on BBC Gardener's World * A lovely collection of short stories with plants front and centre. If you’re a gardener or plant lover, then this is a book for you. -- Leif Bersweden * Author of Where the Wildflowers Grow and Botanist *

Author Information

Born in New Zealand, into a family of florists, EMMA TIMPANY studied botany for two years as part of her undergraduate degree before graduating with a degree in anthropology. She worked as a florist in New Zealand and London, and, after moving to Cornwall, ran a small flower-growing business for five years. Emma’s short stories have won three awards including The Society of Authors’ Tom-Gallon Trust Award. Her books include The Lost of Syros, longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2016, and Travelling in the Dark, winner of the Hall and Woodhouse DLF Prize 2019. She co-edited Cornish Short Stories which was shortlisted for a Holyer an Gof Award 2019. She teaches creative writing, mentors emerging writers and works as a ghostwriter for a private autobiography company. Alongside Felicity Notley she organises the Falmouth-based wiriting group Telltales, which showcases and inspires new writers.

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