Rinette Leslie of Granmuir has the ancient gift of divining the future in flowers, but her gift cannot prepare her for the turmoil that comes when the dying queen regent entrusts her with a casket full of Scotland's darkest secrets. On the very day she means to deliver it to newly crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, Rinette's husband is brutally assassinated.

Devastated, Rinette demands justice before she will surrender the casket, but she is surrounded by ruthless men who will do anything to possess it. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust-and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.

Review

she has to leave her home at Granmuir and say good-bye to her childhood love, Alexander Gordon. Her foster mother, and aunt by marriage, Mary of Guise, queen regent of Scotland, brings her to her castle in Edinburgh. Now, three years later, the Queen is dying and has an important request for Rinette: hide a silver casket and keep it safe until the Queen’s daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, can return home from France to claim it. The Queen warns Rinette that the box holds many secrets, including prophesies from the great Nostradamus, and that others will try to steal it. Rinette agrees to take the box, but has no idea the type of danger she is putting herself and her loved ones in by accepting responsibility for this box of secrets.

The Flower Reader is a complex historical novel set in Tudor, Scotland. I was at first intimated by the four-page cast of characters list, both fictional and real people from history. However, from the first chapter, I saw this would be an entertaining and very “readable” book. When Rinette accepts the box from the Queen, that is just the beginning of her adventures and she undergoes unspeakable tragedies to keep her promise to deliver it to Mary, Queen of Scots.

The book is filled with interesting characters. The main character, Rinette, can read the future from flowers and sees flowers and their associated personality traits when she looks at someone. For example, she sees a peony when she looks at Mary, Queen of Scots – glorious, but fragile. Even though the book takes place in 1560, Rinette is a character to which modern readers can relate. She tries to do the right things for the Queen and for her family, but her choices don’t always work out the way she intends. She experiences danger and duplicity throughout the book, and the reader is kept guessing right along with Rinette about who can be trusted.

Alexander is Rinette’s first love and their story is interesting, even though the adult Alexander does not live up to Rinette’s childhood memories of him. However, another man, Nicolas de Clerac, the French secretary to Mary of Guise and then Mary, Queen of Scots, seems to be on Rinette’s side. Nico is flamboyant, clever, and not entirely trustworthy, but keeps showing up whenever Rinette needs him. Their story is suspenseful and is my favorite part of the book. Mary, Queen of Scots, also plays a huge role in this story and she shows many different facets to her personality which is very entertaining.

In her efforts to protect the silver casket and her family, Rinette gets mixed up with an evil man, Rannoch Hamilton. While the scenes between Rinette and Hamilton are not graphic, the descriptions leave no doubt about the violence of what is occurring, which could be disturbing to some readers. I hated the fact that her involvement with this man was set up by her sometime friend, Mary, Queen of Scots, and that there was nothing Rinette or anyone that cared about her, could do anything about the situation. Many parts of the book were upsetting to read. While I would have preferred more romance and less tragedy, there are some very touching scenes such as Nico staying by Rinette bedside when she is very ill. I also admire Rinette’s resilience and loyalty to her family. While she experiences much suffering, I love that she ultimately finds the strength to put her past behind her and take a chance on a happy life.

The Flower Reader is a well-researched, well-written historical novel. There are excellent extras at the end including an author’s note regarding the history of the story, an interview with the author, and discussion questions for the book. While there is much darkness, there is hope at the end that Rinette will have the happiness she deserves.

Reviewed by Christine K.

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