THE NATURALISTS
A botanical novel
Diane Smith
'This delightful and intriguing novel features Alex Bartram, high-spirited 19th century botanist, who is accepted on a field study to Yellowstone National Park because its leader has mistakenly assumed she is a man...'
Ms London
'Smith has captured the spirit of an era'
Daily Telegraph
'A gently comic tale combining science and wilderness adventure.'
Scotland on Sunday
'A beautifully written and highly original novel'
Larry McMurtry
Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award
A spectacular natural backdrop, a pioneering botanist and a cast of eccentric, endearing characters converge in a unique novel about observation and independence.
It is the spring of 1898. Alex Bartram, a high-spirited medical student with a passion for botany has secured a place on a Smithsonian-sponsored field study to Yellowstone National Park. The only problem is that Alex is a woman, joining an all-male team rather wary of the female of the species.
Thrown together in an awe-inspiring but capricious environment, the members of the group struggle to relate to each other on both a personal and professional level. From these very human dilemmas emerge clashing concepts of science, nature and economics. A death, a fire, a snowstorm and academic double-dealing force them to rethink their perceptions of themselves and each other.
Grounded in academic life but naive in the ways of the world, Alex begins to realise that humans are as singular and orchids and as unpredictable as geysers
Diane Smith
is a writer specialising in science and the environment. This is her first novel. She lives in Montans, in a small town north of Yellowstone National Park, with her daughter.