What do you think?
Rate this book
The Physic Garden
Moving, poetic and quietly provocative' – The Independent. City life in the early nineteenth century was never short of poverty and pollution preyed on all but the lucky few, and ‘resurrection men’ prowled the streets to procure corpses for anatomists to experiment on. Life is improving, however, for young William Lang, who begins courting Jenny, a fine needlewoman, and forms an unlikely friendship with botanist Dr Thomas Brown while working in the physic garden for a leading professor of surgery.At first, William relishes the opportunity to extend his knowledge of plants and their healing properties while foraging in the countryside in the service of his new friend. The young couple’s relationship blossoms, until seeds of trouble threaten to grow out of control.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 2013
8 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Czerkawska
43 books41 followersI’m a novelist, historian and experienced professional playwright, living and working in Scotland.
I write warm, intelligent and grown-up stories - some historical, some contemporary and some a mixture of both. I have more than 100 hours of BBC radio drama to my name as well as many professional theatre productions.
My fiction and non-fiction was previously published by Saraband, now by Dyrock Publishing, and some of my plays by Nick Hern Books.
My fiction includes The Physic Garden, a Scottish historical novel about an early nineteenth century gardener, his love for weaver's daughter Jenny and his friendship with botanist Dr Thomas Brown. Set in Glasgow, this is a moving and engrossing story of friendship and betrayal.
The Jewel, published in May 2016 is a luscious historical novel, bringing to glorious life the dramatic years of Jean Armour and Robert Burns's courtship and their tempestuous, married life against a background simmering with political intrigue and turmoil. For Jean is a selection of poems, songs and letters written by the poet with Jean Armour in mind
The Curiosity Cabinet is set on the small fictional inner Hebridean island of Garve, and involves parallel stories, three hundred years apart. Henrietta Dalrymple is kidnapped and held on Garve by the fearsome laird, Manus McNeill, while in the present day, Alys returns to the island where she spent childhood holidays, and renews an old friendship. While Henrietta must decide who she can trust, Alys must earn the trust of the man she loves. But for both women, the tug of motherhood will finally influence their decisions.
The Posy Ring set on the same small fictional Hebridean island as the Curiosity Cabinet, is (almost) a sequel to that novel, now published by Dyrock Publishing.
My books, fiction and non-fiction, are available in paperback and as eBooks on Amazon.
I’ve held Creative Writing fellowships and residencies and spent four years as Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at the University of the West of Scotland. I enjoy giving readings and talks about all aspects of my work and love chatting to my readers so please don't be shy about contacting me.
I also collect and deal in antiques, mainly textiles, in my spare time - quite often they find their way into my fiction.
I write warm, intelligent and grown-up stories - some historical, some contemporary and some a mixture of both. I have more than 100 hours of BBC radio drama to my name as well as many professional theatre productions.
My fiction and non-fiction was previously published by Saraband, now by Dyrock Publishing, and some of my plays by Nick Hern Books.
My fiction includes The Physic Garden, a Scottish historical novel about an early nineteenth century gardener, his love for weaver's daughter Jenny and his friendship with botanist Dr Thomas Brown. Set in Glasgow, this is a moving and engrossing story of friendship and betrayal.
The Jewel, published in May 2016 is a luscious historical novel, bringing to glorious life the dramatic years of Jean Armour and Robert Burns's courtship and their tempestuous, married life against a background simmering with political intrigue and turmoil. For Jean is a selection of poems, songs and letters written by the poet with Jean Armour in mind
The Curiosity Cabinet is set on the small fictional inner Hebridean island of Garve, and involves parallel stories, three hundred years apart. Henrietta Dalrymple is kidnapped and held on Garve by the fearsome laird, Manus McNeill, while in the present day, Alys returns to the island where she spent childhood holidays, and renews an old friendship. While Henrietta must decide who she can trust, Alys must earn the trust of the man she loves. But for both women, the tug of motherhood will finally influence their decisions.
The Posy Ring set on the same small fictional Hebridean island as the Curiosity Cabinet, is (almost) a sequel to that novel, now published by Dyrock Publishing.
My books, fiction and non-fiction, are available in paperback and as eBooks on Amazon.
I’ve held Creative Writing fellowships and residencies and spent four years as Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at the University of the West of Scotland. I enjoy giving readings and talks about all aspects of my work and love chatting to my readers so please don't be shy about contacting me.
I also collect and deal in antiques, mainly textiles, in my spare time - quite often they find their way into my fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 25, 2013
As with all of Catherine Czerkawska's books, I read her new novel The Physic Garden at a stretch, so strong was the story and so authentic the voice of the first person narrator. And then I spent days dwelling on it, and more weeks thinking about it before I felt able to put my thoughts in order for a review.
The description of the book says it all about why that is. The pivotal tragedy is so poignant, so personal, and yet so thought-provoking that it is almost too much for this reader to bear. The novel is set in Scotland, at the turn of the 18-19th century. Its setting is the old college of Glasgow University and its Physic Garden, where William Lang, the narrator, is learning the craft of gardening from his father and the discipline of medical botany from his mentor, Thomas Brown. These two strike up a rare friendship, until betrayal tears it apart and changes the lives of them both for ever.
This novel has so much about it that means a lot to me. It is about research and curiosity and learning about the world. It is about a particular time and place - Scotland in the Enlightnement - when human knowledge was advancing so quickly, a time and place that fascinate me for all sorts of personal reasons. The discipline that engages both Thomas and William is that of medicine, and the passion to understand the working of the human body in order to bring health and combat disease. There is a softer side to this discipline - that of botany and the understanding of medicinal herbs and their uses; and the darker side, the study of anatomy, with all the implications of working with the body of someone who once was a living breathing human being. In ways that I won't elaborate for fear of spoiling, the novel explores this darker side, its human dilemmas and responsibilities, and its central tragedy goes to the heart of what we owe for our health, exactly to whom we owe it and how that comes about. The salient theme for me at the end was the price of knowledge. The decay of the Physic Garden in the shadow of the type foundry is symbolic of this too. Yet like the narrator-hero I could not wish for ignorance, and must face up to the price.
So how to respond to a novel that turns the heart over to the extent that The Physic Garden? I found reading it to be cathartic, as a true tragedy should be, in that it regulated my thinking about a matter of great importance. This is a novel about two male protagonists - it is a patriarchal age, and the narrator is authentically part and parcel of it. The female characters are more shadowy, as seen, as you would expect, through the male eyes of the narrator-hero. One of these men is a hero in the genuine tragic sense of a good man destroyed by his flaws and brought low by a fall from grace, who sought to do good in the public realm, but did not relate that to his private morality. The other hero, the narrator - well, it is as a man of his time that he is able to reflect in a measure of tranquility on the terrible blow that struck his life into two parts. He too has experienced his own sort of catharsis. I know that Catherine says that his voice would not be suppressed when she was writing this novel. This is undeniable, but something to come to terms with is his particular strength of character that carries him into a new life and a capacity to live down what has happened to him, until at the end of his life an unwelcome memory is revived.
And how to rate it? In this novel, Catherine Czerkawska gives fuller rein to the darker strain of suffering that can mark the lives of her characters, and this is not such a comfortable ride as The Curiosity Cabinet or Ice Dancing, even with their challenges. The depth of anguish in Bird of Passage comes closer. The Physic Garden has all the hallmarks of her narrative gift - the lyricism of the prose, the vivid description of nature, art and artefacts, the believable setting and characters. It was not heart-warming for me this time, but challenging, heart-stirring and thought-provoking, and as ever brilliantly realised.
The description of the book says it all about why that is. The pivotal tragedy is so poignant, so personal, and yet so thought-provoking that it is almost too much for this reader to bear. The novel is set in Scotland, at the turn of the 18-19th century. Its setting is the old college of Glasgow University and its Physic Garden, where William Lang, the narrator, is learning the craft of gardening from his father and the discipline of medical botany from his mentor, Thomas Brown. These two strike up a rare friendship, until betrayal tears it apart and changes the lives of them both for ever.
This novel has so much about it that means a lot to me. It is about research and curiosity and learning about the world. It is about a particular time and place - Scotland in the Enlightnement - when human knowledge was advancing so quickly, a time and place that fascinate me for all sorts of personal reasons. The discipline that engages both Thomas and William is that of medicine, and the passion to understand the working of the human body in order to bring health and combat disease. There is a softer side to this discipline - that of botany and the understanding of medicinal herbs and their uses; and the darker side, the study of anatomy, with all the implications of working with the body of someone who once was a living breathing human being. In ways that I won't elaborate for fear of spoiling, the novel explores this darker side, its human dilemmas and responsibilities, and its central tragedy goes to the heart of what we owe for our health, exactly to whom we owe it and how that comes about. The salient theme for me at the end was the price of knowledge. The decay of the Physic Garden in the shadow of the type foundry is symbolic of this too. Yet like the narrator-hero I could not wish for ignorance, and must face up to the price.
So how to respond to a novel that turns the heart over to the extent that The Physic Garden? I found reading it to be cathartic, as a true tragedy should be, in that it regulated my thinking about a matter of great importance. This is a novel about two male protagonists - it is a patriarchal age, and the narrator is authentically part and parcel of it. The female characters are more shadowy, as seen, as you would expect, through the male eyes of the narrator-hero. One of these men is a hero in the genuine tragic sense of a good man destroyed by his flaws and brought low by a fall from grace, who sought to do good in the public realm, but did not relate that to his private morality. The other hero, the narrator - well, it is as a man of his time that he is able to reflect in a measure of tranquility on the terrible blow that struck his life into two parts. He too has experienced his own sort of catharsis. I know that Catherine says that his voice would not be suppressed when she was writing this novel. This is undeniable, but something to come to terms with is his particular strength of character that carries him into a new life and a capacity to live down what has happened to him, until at the end of his life an unwelcome memory is revived.
And how to rate it? In this novel, Catherine Czerkawska gives fuller rein to the darker strain of suffering that can mark the lives of her characters, and this is not such a comfortable ride as The Curiosity Cabinet or Ice Dancing, even with their challenges. The depth of anguish in Bird of Passage comes closer. The Physic Garden has all the hallmarks of her narrative gift - the lyricism of the prose, the vivid description of nature, art and artefacts, the believable setting and characters. It was not heart-warming for me this time, but challenging, heart-stirring and thought-provoking, and as ever brilliantly realised.
January 16, 2019
"After everything that happened, I put him from my mind and my heart, ruthlessly excising him, as one cuts out dead wood, so that the healthy tree may survive."
From the first pages of The Physic Garden, the shadow of grief and betrayal looms large. Catherine Czerkawska draws us into the heart of that betrayal and the pain it has caused, whilst simultaneously withholding its precise nature and full extent until the final pages. The truth, when it comes, is shattering – and all the more so for the lack of sensationalism with which it is presented. There are no real villains here, and no easy black and white moral judgements. Lyrical and beautifully observed, The Physic Garden encompasses both the ongoing cycle of social change and the subtle intricacies of human behaviour and relationships.
Set in Glasgow around the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the novel is narrated by William Lang, a gardener employed by Glasgow University. Lang's job is to tend the "Physic Garden", growing curative plants for the use of the Faculty's doctors. Medicine, a science that is still in its infancy, has not yet outgrown its roots in folk remedies; and this in turn is emblematic of the novel's theme of both the connection and the tension between old and new, between past, present and future. In many ways, Lang is reminiscent of a world that must once have seemed as stable and enduring as the turning of the seasons: a world of country folk, trying to make the most of their limited circumstances, following the only pattern of life they have ever known.
Yet the world is changing, and in a certain sense Lang seems to be located at the cusp of that change. His work as a gardener has changed little since the days when his father did the same job, and he still feels attuned to the old country ways: "It was auld wives who knew about plants and their health-giving properties." Through his association with the University, however, he comes into contact with the medical men who are attempting to study illnesses and their treatment through a scientific lens, and they in turn influence his perspective. Foremost amongst these influences is Thomas Brown, a doctor of botany with whom Lang strikes up a deep and abiding friendship.
The backdrop – a society undergoing profound and, in many ways, painful change – is always in evidence in the novel. Lang talks of his father, for example, who "like Canute... stood among his plants, head bowed before the onslaught of the incoming industrial tide." This is, after all, not only the era of the Industrial Revolution but also of the Scottish Enlightenment. The fermentation of ideas, and of industrial, social and scientific progress, is part of the fabric of the story. It is an exciting time – old standards are being held up to scrutiny, and new ideas explored – and yet, like all advances, this one is not without its problems and victims. One very obvious victim is the Physic Garden itself, which is slowly being destroyed by the industrialisation of Glasgow, despite Lang's desperate attempts to keep it alive. Other victims are the people who must, for good or for ill, live (and die) in this changing world.
This is not simply an abstract concern: it has profound, and tragic, implications for both Lang and Brown, and will eventually play a part in their estrangement. Both men take up slightly different stances in this struggle of ideas; both act with integrity, and have good reasons for their actions. Indeed, the saddest thing about their rift is that both protagonists are, essentially, good men. Brown is unaffected by snobbery, devoted to his work and ideals, and generous. Lang is compassionate, faithful to his loved ones, and devoted to the pursuit of knowledge in spite of his humble origins. Their friendship should have lasted for the remainder of their lives; but the betrayal, when it comes, is so shocking, so utterly shattering to friendship and trust, that it inevitably draws the two men apart. They are both crushed by what happens; and the reader cannot help but be crushed too.
The world has obviously changed immensely since the turn of the 19th century, but the questions raised by The Physic Garden remain as relevant as ever. The "incoming tide" of social, industrial and scientific change remains a constant, and continues to bring problems in its wake. Medical advances bring immense benefits, and yet the question of medical ethics is as vexed as ever. The occasional clashes between the drive for medical progress and the interests of the people who are supposed to be benefited by such progress are as problematic today as they ever were. Every innovation and new piece of knowledge comes at a price, and it is often ordinary people who end up paying. At what point do we say that the price is too high?
From the first pages of The Physic Garden, the shadow of grief and betrayal looms large. Catherine Czerkawska draws us into the heart of that betrayal and the pain it has caused, whilst simultaneously withholding its precise nature and full extent until the final pages. The truth, when it comes, is shattering – and all the more so for the lack of sensationalism with which it is presented. There are no real villains here, and no easy black and white moral judgements. Lyrical and beautifully observed, The Physic Garden encompasses both the ongoing cycle of social change and the subtle intricacies of human behaviour and relationships.
Set in Glasgow around the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the novel is narrated by William Lang, a gardener employed by Glasgow University. Lang's job is to tend the "Physic Garden", growing curative plants for the use of the Faculty's doctors. Medicine, a science that is still in its infancy, has not yet outgrown its roots in folk remedies; and this in turn is emblematic of the novel's theme of both the connection and the tension between old and new, between past, present and future. In many ways, Lang is reminiscent of a world that must once have seemed as stable and enduring as the turning of the seasons: a world of country folk, trying to make the most of their limited circumstances, following the only pattern of life they have ever known.
Yet the world is changing, and in a certain sense Lang seems to be located at the cusp of that change. His work as a gardener has changed little since the days when his father did the same job, and he still feels attuned to the old country ways: "It was auld wives who knew about plants and their health-giving properties." Through his association with the University, however, he comes into contact with the medical men who are attempting to study illnesses and their treatment through a scientific lens, and they in turn influence his perspective. Foremost amongst these influences is Thomas Brown, a doctor of botany with whom Lang strikes up a deep and abiding friendship.
The backdrop – a society undergoing profound and, in many ways, painful change – is always in evidence in the novel. Lang talks of his father, for example, who "like Canute... stood among his plants, head bowed before the onslaught of the incoming industrial tide." This is, after all, not only the era of the Industrial Revolution but also of the Scottish Enlightenment. The fermentation of ideas, and of industrial, social and scientific progress, is part of the fabric of the story. It is an exciting time – old standards are being held up to scrutiny, and new ideas explored – and yet, like all advances, this one is not without its problems and victims. One very obvious victim is the Physic Garden itself, which is slowly being destroyed by the industrialisation of Glasgow, despite Lang's desperate attempts to keep it alive. Other victims are the people who must, for good or for ill, live (and die) in this changing world.
This is not simply an abstract concern: it has profound, and tragic, implications for both Lang and Brown, and will eventually play a part in their estrangement. Both men take up slightly different stances in this struggle of ideas; both act with integrity, and have good reasons for their actions. Indeed, the saddest thing about their rift is that both protagonists are, essentially, good men. Brown is unaffected by snobbery, devoted to his work and ideals, and generous. Lang is compassionate, faithful to his loved ones, and devoted to the pursuit of knowledge in spite of his humble origins. Their friendship should have lasted for the remainder of their lives; but the betrayal, when it comes, is so shocking, so utterly shattering to friendship and trust, that it inevitably draws the two men apart. They are both crushed by what happens; and the reader cannot help but be crushed too.
The world has obviously changed immensely since the turn of the 19th century, but the questions raised by The Physic Garden remain as relevant as ever. The "incoming tide" of social, industrial and scientific change remains a constant, and continues to bring problems in its wake. Medical advances bring immense benefits, and yet the question of medical ethics is as vexed as ever. The occasional clashes between the drive for medical progress and the interests of the people who are supposed to be benefited by such progress are as problematic today as they ever were. Every innovation and new piece of knowledge comes at a price, and it is often ordinary people who end up paying. At what point do we say that the price is too high?
June 5, 2013
This is a delicious casserole, a slow-cooking story stew, reducing gradually and becoming enriched with years, with lives, with observation, as a garden grows and adds layers of stalks, seeds and harvest, the cycles of life and death rolling with the seasons. But this doesn't mean that not much happens. This book is an old man's reflection on his life, but his life is lived at a time of great change, change which has had its effect on all of us. It's partly about the fascinating history of medicine, the gradual movement from ancient herbal knowledge shared by wise women and men in cottages, to physic gardens of healing herbs owned by men of science, to the eventual switch from applied folklore based on 'it's always worked, don't know why but it does' to the new voyage of discovery into human anatomy, how the body works, why certain medicines work, as modern medicine came into being, with so many gains, yes and some losses too. But this is history as it should be, how events change the lives of ordinary people, how hard it is to adapt as the world changes around you, and yet how the basic qualities that matter still stand. It's also about class, and education; how that education was the privilege of the rich, and how it divided people of equal ability but unequal wealth. It's about friendship, and love, and betrayal. About family, and how biology was destiny not only for women, but men too. Catherine Czerkawska gets into the minds and bodies of our past, as the characters literally get into the minds and bodies of their fellow humans, and deal with what they learn.
May 31, 2015
I liked the premise of this, ad it had the added bonus of being set in Glasgow University (my alma mater) so it was of personal interest. The Uni was originally located in the east end of the city, not far from the Cathedral. This story was set just before the move to Gilmorehill in the West End, at a time when the city and the university were caught up in the Scottish Enlightenment, and all the challenges of industrialisation. From this perspective, as I've said, it was fascinating - lots of history, lots of ambiance. But...
I have to say, without the history, I don't think the story would have held me. It's narrated in the first person, and the narrator, for me, became quite irritating. There were lots of 'oh, if only I had done this or though this, then this wouldn't have happened' followed by a total change of subject. Suspense-wise, this works a couple of times, but for me it was a device used far too often, and instead of thinking oh, what next, I thought oh, not again, I'm afraid. And apart from anything else, save for the very unbelievable coincidence right at the end, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen
My other grip about this story was that it wasn't actually about a Physic Garden. It was about the gardener, and the garden itself was pretty much side-lined. It wasn't that I craved lots of stories about physics plants, but I did feel a bit misled.
I am sorry to say this didn't hold me, though nor did I stop reading. I do wonder if it would perhaps have made a better play?
I have to say, without the history, I don't think the story would have held me. It's narrated in the first person, and the narrator, for me, became quite irritating. There were lots of 'oh, if only I had done this or though this, then this wouldn't have happened' followed by a total change of subject. Suspense-wise, this works a couple of times, but for me it was a device used far too often, and instead of thinking oh, what next, I thought oh, not again, I'm afraid. And apart from anything else, save for the very unbelievable coincidence right at the end, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen
My other grip about this story was that it wasn't actually about a Physic Garden. It was about the gardener, and the garden itself was pretty much side-lined. It wasn't that I craved lots of stories about physics plants, but I did feel a bit misled.
I am sorry to say this didn't hold me, though nor did I stop reading. I do wonder if it would perhaps have made a better play?
August 27, 2014
I enjoyed this book but upon finishing it there was something of a 'so what?' feel to it. It gave a lot of historical colour to a period with which I am largely familiar and a place with which I am almost wholly unfamiliar but regarding the lives of the main characters I found it hard to care.
June 2, 2022
Unusual historical novel, set in Glasgow University, the story is about the life and relationships of the main character. The writing style is an imitation of the era in which it is set. This means a lot of (well written) descriptive prose which seems a bit superfluous to a modern reader and makes the story a bit slow.
Enjoyed the historical setting and botany though!
Enjoyed the historical setting and botany though!
February 11, 2022
excellent story
Excellent knowledge of historic plant culture and writing about plants. Good point about factory pollution damaging plants. Overarching theme of a complex friendship is coherent and not over worked. Thank you!
Excellent knowledge of historic plant culture and writing about plants. Good point about factory pollution damaging plants. Overarching theme of a complex friendship is coherent and not over worked. Thank you!
July 27, 2025
historical fiction with factual base. lots of well drawn characters and description of how hard life was in early 1800s. A twist at the end. Enjoyed
November 17, 2014
This is a very unusual and well researched book. The narrator, William Lang is a gardener living and working for a city university in the early nineteen hundreds. From page one the reader knows there has been a betrayal. The tale is woven through rich historical detail and told by a narrator whose consistent voice fits perfectly with the time.
The story is rich in language and history so the reading for me was slow because I wanted to take in all the information but it meant I was in suspense longer.
The story is rich in language and history so the reading for me was slow because I wanted to take in all the information but it meant I was in suspense longer.
February 17, 2016
Good gracious, what to say... it took me an eternity to read this novel. Not that it's that boring, though I fell asleep quite a number of times reading it. Actually the descriptions throughout 29 chapters out of 36 are sublimely soft, picturesque, precious for someone who is not in demand of a plot. I am. So by the time something finally happened, I grew tired of the characters. Even worse, because of the endless teasing this famous betrayal became way too predictable, way too early. For me it was a deception, which of course doesn't mean the novel is a failure.
June 2, 2014
This was a "Bolero" of a book. It moved along at a steady pace, and built up to an emotional ending. You may enjoy this historical fiction with hopes, fears, dreams, & loves ~ lost found and realized.
November 6, 2014
Set in Glasgow University grounds
April 15, 2017
Told in retrospect by the older version of the main character, the setting in 19th century Glasgow was interesting and well imagined. The story seemed to be inevitably tragic, which almost made me give up half way, but it was well thought out and put together.
April 28, 2017
I loathe writing reviews that are highly critical, but I did not enjoy this book at all. I am getting tired of publisher-hype. There are so many writers seeking readership that when something like this is pushed to the fore I am almost en-angered. I found the writing stilted, the characters weakly portrayed and the narrative lacking drive and engagement. Apart from some of the research, which even then I found flatly described, there was nothing in this book worth commending. The little nod towards the politics of class has some worth, hence the extra star. I cannot understand why this book was written. It falls wholly into the trap of 'telling', not 'showing' and the story, such as it is, is utterly turgid as a result. It should have been better, it could have been better. I longed to feel the bitter cold of a garden in winter, the ache of bones, the relentless fear of losing everything - plants, family, home and livelihood. Most of all I longed to feel the ache of love and betrayal. Instead, the dull, repetitive voice of the narrator, (yes - I got it the first, second, third and fourth times - the type foundry, the type foundry, the type foundry, the type foundry) kills any emotional impact that this small story, with its hyperbolically contrived denouement, has to offer. A great film-maker might create something with it, but as a text it fails.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews