October 1, 2006
Albert's mystery series featuring China Bayles sets the stage for this celebration of the role of herbs in everyday life. Fans of China Bayles will revel in the way this diary fleshes out their heroine and offers in detail explicit connections between the novels' characters and the real leaves, flowers, and seeds that constitute Albert's well-imagined fictional botanic environment. Albert engagingly shows off her astounding knowledge of herbal lore that extends from the Middle Ages to the present. For example, she explains how beer used to be flavored with rosemary or anise until the introduction of hops in the seventeenth century. She gives instructions for creating a tussie-mussie, an herbal nosegay for fending off unpleasant odors. Further recipes for similar bouquets and for comestibles pepper the text as well. Each day's entry also includes one or more book titles for further exploration of the entry's subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)