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Botánicos: A novel
Garwell Sorrentino was a legendary tropical botanist with the Cincinnati Botanical Garden, and arguably the world’s expert on the rain forests of southeastern Peru. Twenty-five years ago, he was believed lost when an ultra-light craft that he was piloting alone above the unbroken forests of the Río Madre De Dios watershed caught fire and crashed. No trace of Sorrentino was ever found. His last graduate student and best friend, Anton Kovac, was fired in disgrace from his botanist position at the Garden five years after Sorrentino’s disappearance. Kevin Hobart, the Garden’s director, and both his and Sorrentino’s former boss, contacts Kovac out of the blue, with rumors that his friend is alive. Anton and Garwell’s widow, Nell, travel to southeastern Peru, in search of Sorrentino. Ultimately, the adventure is transformative for both of them.
The novel is at once a love story, a tale of friendship and the bonds that tie us together. It includes moments of magical realism, intimacy and mystery, all against the backdrop of the Amazon forest.
The novel is at once a love story, a tale of friendship and the bonds that tie us together. It includes moments of magical realism, intimacy and mystery, all against the backdrop of the Amazon forest.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 20, 2023
"Nerdection Must Read"
The plot of this book seemed so specific that I had to do some research on Mr. Meerow’s career because I wanted to know more about his experience in the field. And it turns out that he worked as a botanist for more than forty years in the United States, and it shows in this book.
Botánicos could very well be Meerow’s love letter to his profession while also adding a lot of his personal preferences in stories, which is something that makes the book all the more enjoyable. There are a lot of little details about the world of botanism in this book that can only be explored and shown by a person who has worked in the field and has a deep understanding of how things work in that profession.
That is something I enjoyed greatly about this book: the attention to detail and the commitment to the craft. They say that writers should write about what they know, and Mr. Meerow did that in spades. And the best part, at least from my perspective, is the fact that it doesn’t detract from the main plot but rather adds an element of realism to the story, and that is always a good thing.
Another element that I found quite enjoyable with this book was how it explores certain parts of the world and offers people the joy of discovery. Something that is often missing in fiction that isn’t fantasy-related is the wonder of exploring and how that can have an impact on people’s minds, which is something that this book does quite well.
The dialogue is also quite fluid and sounds very natural, which is a point a lot of writers tend to struggle with. Meerow, on the other hand, seems to have a solid grasp of how people talk, and I’m sure that his several decades as a botanist added an element of verisimilitude to his dialogue, making it a lot better.
There are a lot of positive things in this book and I have to say that I had a great time reading it. In many ways, it offers something different because of the setting and the profession surrounding it, while retaining elements of classic fiction that make it feel pretty much at home with a lot of people. This, in return, makes the entire experience of reading the book feel a lot more exciting and joyous, which is, of course, the goal of any writer out there.
Perhaps my only complaint about the book is that it can be a bit short at times considering the kind of story that is trying to tell. I feel that perhaps a few more pages and chapters would have helped to explore some passages of the book a lot better, but the general feeling is quite positive, and it says a lot about Alan Meerow as a writer that he managed to achieve such a good book with almost no experience in fiction.
A work that is definitely worth your time.
The plot of this book seemed so specific that I had to do some research on Mr. Meerow’s career because I wanted to know more about his experience in the field. And it turns out that he worked as a botanist for more than forty years in the United States, and it shows in this book.
Botánicos could very well be Meerow’s love letter to his profession while also adding a lot of his personal preferences in stories, which is something that makes the book all the more enjoyable. There are a lot of little details about the world of botanism in this book that can only be explored and shown by a person who has worked in the field and has a deep understanding of how things work in that profession.
That is something I enjoyed greatly about this book: the attention to detail and the commitment to the craft. They say that writers should write about what they know, and Mr. Meerow did that in spades. And the best part, at least from my perspective, is the fact that it doesn’t detract from the main plot but rather adds an element of realism to the story, and that is always a good thing.
Another element that I found quite enjoyable with this book was how it explores certain parts of the world and offers people the joy of discovery. Something that is often missing in fiction that isn’t fantasy-related is the wonder of exploring and how that can have an impact on people’s minds, which is something that this book does quite well.
The dialogue is also quite fluid and sounds very natural, which is a point a lot of writers tend to struggle with. Meerow, on the other hand, seems to have a solid grasp of how people talk, and I’m sure that his several decades as a botanist added an element of verisimilitude to his dialogue, making it a lot better.
There are a lot of positive things in this book and I have to say that I had a great time reading it. In many ways, it offers something different because of the setting and the profession surrounding it, while retaining elements of classic fiction that make it feel pretty much at home with a lot of people. This, in return, makes the entire experience of reading the book feel a lot more exciting and joyous, which is, of course, the goal of any writer out there.
Perhaps my only complaint about the book is that it can be a bit short at times considering the kind of story that is trying to tell. I feel that perhaps a few more pages and chapters would have helped to explore some passages of the book a lot better, but the general feeling is quite positive, and it says a lot about Alan Meerow as a writer that he managed to achieve such a good book with almost no experience in fiction.
A work that is definitely worth your time.
November 3, 2025
Botánicos hooked me from page one, Meerow’s rainforest setting in southeastern Peru is so vivid I could almost hear the insects and feel the humid air. The botanist mystery at the heart of the story gave it layers I loved.
November 3, 2025
I didn’t expect to be so moved by a story of a botanist’s disappearance, friendship and love. Anton Kovac’s journey into the jungle is both dangerous and strangely beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews