2013 Rainbow Awards
(December 2013)
The Apothecary's Garden
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
Ages: 16-18, 18+
Hilary Kent, a Londoner all his working life, retires to Wiltshire after an estranged cousin unexpectedly leaves him an inhabitable tower surrounded by an overgrown physic garden – and that’s when graduate student Tom Laurence suddenly erupts into his life, convincing him that together they can restore the ancient garden to its former glory. Tom’s cheerful friendship is the best thing that’s ever happened to Hilary and he’s perfectly content with that until, to his astonishment and confusion, it seems that Tom’s affection for him is beginning to grow into something more … something he feels he probably shouldn’t allow.
Makes other May-December stories look like June-October.
Reviews
I can only hope that ‘once upon a time’ the story between Hilary and Tom actually took place because this slowly formed friendship that then unfolds into love … It’s just a love, that if it existed, made the world a little better of a place. […] This was my first book by Julie Bozza so I can’t compare this work to any of her others, and I don’t want to compare it to any other author’s work because that’s like comparing apples and oranges (cliché, I know, but it’s true). All I know is that if her other work is anything like ‘The Apothecary’s Garden’, I’ll give it a go.
Audiobook: 10/10 pots of gold. I loved this book. Two men falling in love based on more than just physical attraction (although that is there too), is beautiful. This is about a meeting of minds and souls. That there is an unsolved mystery surrounding the garden and a couple who lived several hundred years ago was just lovely. … What can I say about Mark Steadman? One of my favourite British narrators? Absolutely. It’s a wonderful performance. I hope he does many more.
