What do you think?
Rate this book
A Brontë Botany: Flora in the Classic Novels of the Brontë Sisters
The first-ever botanical guide to the Brontës—discover the heather, roses, and trees that shape
Jane Eyre
,
Wuthering Heights
, and more, with 60 enchanting natural-history illustrations.
The Brontë novels are famous for their gothic atmospheres and untamed landscapes—but the plants that root these stories are just as vivid as their characters. A Brontë Botany is the first-ever botanical guide to the works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë .
Guiding readers from the wild heather of the Yorkshire moors to the cultivated roses of manor-house gardens, Victorian-literature scholar Amy King reveals how flora functions as a living, symbolic force of emotion and fate.
The first botanical companion to the Brontë sA fresh lens on Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and more60 full-color natural-history illustrations by Tugce OkayA smart, display-worthy gift for readers and plant lovers
Wander the moors and gardens of the Brontë s—and rediscover the novels through their flowers.
The Brontë novels are famous for their gothic atmospheres and untamed landscapes—but the plants that root these stories are just as vivid as their characters. A Brontë Botany is the first-ever botanical guide to the works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë .
Guiding readers from the wild heather of the Yorkshire moors to the cultivated roses of manor-house gardens, Victorian-literature scholar Amy King reveals how flora functions as a living, symbolic force of emotion and fate.
The first botanical companion to the Brontë sA fresh lens on Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and more60 full-color natural-history illustrations by Tugce OkayA smart, display-worthy gift for readers and plant lovers
Wander the moors and gardens of the Brontë s—and rediscover the novels through their flowers.
- GenresNonfictionScienceHistory
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 13, 2026
About the author
Amy King
69 books638 followersAmy King is the recipient of the 2015 Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) Award. Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize winner. She’s co-editor of the anthology Big Energy Poets: Ecopoetry Thinks Climate Change and the anthology series, Bettering American Poetry. King is a professor of creative writing at SUNY Nassau Community College.
King has also taught poetry workshops at such places as the San Francisco State University Poetry Center and the Summer Writing Program @ Naropa University.
Her poems have been nominated for numerous Pushcart Prizes, she was a Lambda Literary finalist, and she was the recipient of a MacArthur Scholarship for Poetry. Amy founded and curated, from 2006, the Brooklyn-based reading series, The Stain of Poetry, until 2010. Readings, reviews and more @ www.AmyKing.org .
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 14, 2026
I am absolutely in awe of this gorgeous botany book!
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧:
💖 Glorious hardcover edition with gold foil accents
💚 The most stunning artwork! 60 full-color, natural history illustrations—moody, detailed, and eye-catching
🖤 Helpful Brontë timeline at the beginning of the book
💖 Cleverly organized by book including: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Shirley, Villette, The Professor, and Poetry
💚 Reading the excerpts from each novel in which the botanical was mentioned (heavenly!)
🖤 A list of plants and sources for additional list of reading material
A must-have edition for any plant-lover and devotee of the Brontë sisters! (My favorite sister is Anne, though I do love Jane Eyre by Charlotte ❤️) This is now one of the most beautiful books in my small library!
Many heartfelt thanks to Andrews McMeel and Sabrina Dax for sending an advanced copy of this beautiful book (along with many goodies!) in exchange for an honest review.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧:
💖 Glorious hardcover edition with gold foil accents
💚 The most stunning artwork! 60 full-color, natural history illustrations—moody, detailed, and eye-catching
🖤 Helpful Brontë timeline at the beginning of the book
💖 Cleverly organized by book including: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Shirley, Villette, The Professor, and Poetry
💚 Reading the excerpts from each novel in which the botanical was mentioned (heavenly!)
🖤 A list of plants and sources for additional list of reading material
A must-have edition for any plant-lover and devotee of the Brontë sisters! (My favorite sister is Anne, though I do love Jane Eyre by Charlotte ❤️) This is now one of the most beautiful books in my small library!
Many heartfelt thanks to Andrews McMeel and Sabrina Dax for sending an advanced copy of this beautiful book (along with many goodies!) in exchange for an honest review.
October 20, 2026
This book is a gorgeous, perfectly produced volume. Please watch the reel to see a sample of the artwork, the organization (chapter reflect individual works) and even part of the timeline of their lives. The only thing that could make this book more beautiful would be stenciled edges.
I sat down and read immediately. Not only was I fascinated by the author's examination of the role of plants in the novels and how they are used to enhance the mood and story, but it provoked my desire to read these books yet again.
This is a book that will stay on my permanent shelves right alongside my copies of the sisters' novels.
Thank you @sabrina_dax_pr @abrontebotany @andrewsmcmeel @betweenstarsandsoil for the BEAUTIFUL #gifted copy of A Brontë Botany: Flora in the Classic Novels of the Brontë Sisters.
I sat down and read immediately. Not only was I fascinated by the author's examination of the role of plants in the novels and how they are used to enhance the mood and story, but it provoked my desire to read these books yet again.
This is a book that will stay on my permanent shelves right alongside my copies of the sisters' novels.
Thank you @sabrina_dax_pr @abrontebotany @andrewsmcmeel @betweenstarsandsoil for the BEAUTIFUL #gifted copy of A Brontë Botany: Flora in the Classic Novels of the Brontë Sisters.
October 15, 2026
A Brontë History - Flora in the Classic Novels of the Brontë Sisters
By Amy M. King
Illustrated by Tuğçe Okay
📖 This book is a lush, floral feast for the eyes! It’s a visually beautiful way to understand the significance of the flora that we probably glossed over as unimportant backdrop info. Coupled w Okay’s stunning illustrations, King’s book opened my eyes to how intentional the Brontë sisters were in describing their settings & their choice of flowers, trees, & other greens.
—
❣️Here are some fun facts I learned about my favorite book from each sister:
🌿Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: Did you know the book starts & ends w ferns—at her childhood home & again in the final chapter when she visits a woodland house named “Ferndean” (aka ferny dell)? I also never noticed the significance Jane placed in her superstition linking ferns to fairies! And if you’ve read Jane Eyre, then you know Jane has a vivid, whimsical imagination.
(The book also touches on Charlotte’s other works: Shirley, Villette, & The Professor.)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: A fir tree tap-tap-taps at Lockwood’s window & penetrates his dreams, manifesting into the ghost of Catherine Linton! King discusses how the UK has only 3 native conifer species: the yew, juniper, & the Scots pine. She opines that the fir is a Scots pine based on its height & growth pattern in such strong “wuthering” weather.
(There is also a ch. dedicated to Emily’s poetry.)
🌹The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë: This book employs “floriography,” or the language of flowers. Anne’s mention of flowers is apparent throughout the book, but I never knew that she referenced these petals as a way for Helen $ Gilbert, who are prohibited by social convention from speaking openly of their feelings, to communicate in part through plants!
(There is a ch. on Anne’s Agnes Grey.)
By Amy M. King
Illustrated by Tuğçe Okay
📖 This book is a lush, floral feast for the eyes! It’s a visually beautiful way to understand the significance of the flora that we probably glossed over as unimportant backdrop info. Coupled w Okay’s stunning illustrations, King’s book opened my eyes to how intentional the Brontë sisters were in describing their settings & their choice of flowers, trees, & other greens.
—
❣️Here are some fun facts I learned about my favorite book from each sister:
🌿Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: Did you know the book starts & ends w ferns—at her childhood home & again in the final chapter when she visits a woodland house named “Ferndean” (aka ferny dell)? I also never noticed the significance Jane placed in her superstition linking ferns to fairies! And if you’ve read Jane Eyre, then you know Jane has a vivid, whimsical imagination.
(The book also touches on Charlotte’s other works: Shirley, Villette, & The Professor.)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: A fir tree tap-tap-taps at Lockwood’s window & penetrates his dreams, manifesting into the ghost of Catherine Linton! King discusses how the UK has only 3 native conifer species: the yew, juniper, & the Scots pine. She opines that the fir is a Scots pine based on its height & growth pattern in such strong “wuthering” weather.
(There is also a ch. dedicated to Emily’s poetry.)
🌹The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë: This book employs “floriography,” or the language of flowers. Anne’s mention of flowers is apparent throughout the book, but I never knew that she referenced these petals as a way for Helen $ Gilbert, who are prohibited by social convention from speaking openly of their feelings, to communicate in part through plants!
(There is a ch. on Anne’s Agnes Grey.)
October 21, 2026
A Brontë Botany by Amy King (@abrontebotany), illustrated by Tuğçe Okay (@betweenstarsandsoil), published by Andrews McMeel (@andrewsmcmeel).
This book is the ultimate gift for fans of the Brontë sisters, Victorian literature, the language of flowers, or 19th-century history and cultural customs! It is a breathtaking compendium bound like a classic art book, featuring floral illustrations that look as though they could have stepped straight out of a notebook kept by Charlotte, Emily, or Anne themselves.
What I loved most is how the book is organized by novel rather than structured like a dry dictionary or encyclopedia. By grouping plants around the narrative flow of each story, King pulls you into the setting and uncovers a hidden world of meaning that lived naturally in the minds of the authors and their original 19th-century readers. It restores a historical lens that has become cloudy, if not forgotten.
I have loved Jane Eyre since high school, re-reading it every 8 to 10 years to see how my own priorities have shifted through my annotations. Yet with King as my guide, I discovered layers I had completely overlooked! To me, the cabinetry and wall paneling in the infamous "Red Room" were just made of wood—despite Brontë explicitly naming it mahogany.
I never connected that mahogany was deeply tied to the colonization of the West Indies, carrying immediate cultural associations with forced servitude, imperial exploitation, and the destruction of natural landscapes for sugar plantations. Brontë’s choice of wood wasn't just decorative; it was a deliberate thematic anchor for Jane’s suffocating punishment!
And that is just one plant from one book! A magnificent, eye-opening read for any literary lover.
[Audio & Sensory Note:]
This book is the ultimate gift for fans of the Brontë sisters, Victorian literature, the language of flowers, or 19th-century history and cultural customs! It is a breathtaking compendium bound like a classic art book, featuring floral illustrations that look as though they could have stepped straight out of a notebook kept by Charlotte, Emily, or Anne themselves.
What I loved most is how the book is organized by novel rather than structured like a dry dictionary or encyclopedia. By grouping plants around the narrative flow of each story, King pulls you into the setting and uncovers a hidden world of meaning that lived naturally in the minds of the authors and their original 19th-century readers. It restores a historical lens that has become cloudy, if not forgotten.
I have loved Jane Eyre since high school, re-reading it every 8 to 10 years to see how my own priorities have shifted through my annotations. Yet with King as my guide, I discovered layers I had completely overlooked! To me, the cabinetry and wall paneling in the infamous "Red Room" were just made of wood—despite Brontë explicitly naming it mahogany.
I never connected that mahogany was deeply tied to the colonization of the West Indies, carrying immediate cultural associations with forced servitude, imperial exploitation, and the destruction of natural landscapes for sugar plantations. Brontë’s choice of wood wasn't just decorative; it was a deliberate thematic anchor for Jane’s suffocating punishment!
And that is just one plant from one book! A magnificent, eye-opening read for any literary lover.
[Audio & Sensory Note:]
October 14, 2026
This lovingly illustrated book focuses on the flora in the classic novels of the Brontë sisters. It focuses on each of their seven novels as well as poetry by Emily Brontë.
I really liked reading some more about the (short) lives of the Brontë siblings. It is intriguing that setting, including the surrounding plant life, has played a big role in the novels and poetry. You can tell when reading how well researched this book is.
I particularly liked reading about Heather and Heath in the Wuthering Heights chapter, a scenery I can imagine well as Shetland‘s hills are covered in blooming heather in late summer. I also particularly liked Daisy in The Professor chapter and the sea pinks or pink thrifts in Jane Eyre.
I must confess that I’ve never actually read any of the Brontë sisters‘ work yet. Not having grown up in the UK, I suppose I wasn’t exposed to it like most people will have been in school (making an assumption). A Brontë Botany has definitely given me an appetite to pick up one of these novels, now just to decide which one!?
This is a book that lovers of any of the Brontë sisters‘ writing will love.
I really liked reading some more about the (short) lives of the Brontë siblings. It is intriguing that setting, including the surrounding plant life, has played a big role in the novels and poetry. You can tell when reading how well researched this book is.
I particularly liked reading about Heather and Heath in the Wuthering Heights chapter, a scenery I can imagine well as Shetland‘s hills are covered in blooming heather in late summer. I also particularly liked Daisy in The Professor chapter and the sea pinks or pink thrifts in Jane Eyre.
I must confess that I’ve never actually read any of the Brontë sisters‘ work yet. Not having grown up in the UK, I suppose I wasn’t exposed to it like most people will have been in school (making an assumption). A Brontë Botany has definitely given me an appetite to pick up one of these novels, now just to decide which one!?
This is a book that lovers of any of the Brontë sisters‘ writing will love.
October 18, 2026
I am in awe of the stunning book A Brontë Botany by Amy King, illustrated by Tuğçe Okay, and published by Andrews McMeel. Truly my pictures do not do justice to the stunning cover, beautiful text, and illustrated pages of the book.
Each chapter shares the botanical connections from a different Brontë sisters' work. The chapter starts with short summary of how nature interacts with the sisters' book or poems. I was fascinated with the history of the flora in England, the botanical references the Brontë sisters make in their books, and learning more about what the fora symbolize in the text. The gorgeous illustrations enhanced my reading experience and were a joy to see.
I very highly recommend Brontë Botany by Amy King, illustrated by Tuğçe Okay. Besides being an amazing book to own this would make a wonderful gift for anyone who enjoys the Brontë sisters' work, loves botany, or wants to expand their knowledge of Victorian plants. I will enjoy this book for many years.
I was gifted a copy and not required to write a positive review.
Each chapter shares the botanical connections from a different Brontë sisters' work. The chapter starts with short summary of how nature interacts with the sisters' book or poems. I was fascinated with the history of the flora in England, the botanical references the Brontë sisters make in their books, and learning more about what the fora symbolize in the text. The gorgeous illustrations enhanced my reading experience and were a joy to see.
I very highly recommend Brontë Botany by Amy King, illustrated by Tuğçe Okay. Besides being an amazing book to own this would make a wonderful gift for anyone who enjoys the Brontë sisters' work, loves botany, or wants to expand their knowledge of Victorian plants. I will enjoy this book for many years.
I was gifted a copy and not required to write a positive review.
October 26, 2026
The illustrations and the behind the scenes snippets are done so well! Loved the extra info / explanations.
A great book to have around the house!
📖 Literary companion
🌿 Nature / language of flowers
🎭 Gothic atmospheres
🎨 Gorgeously Illustrated
📜 Victorian history & secret symbolism
A great book to have around the house!
📖 Literary companion
🌿 Nature / language of flowers
🎭 Gothic atmospheres
🎨 Gorgeously Illustrated
📜 Victorian history & secret symbolism
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews