Garden of the Plagues

Set in the Dutch settlement at the Cape in 1685, the time of Simon van der Stel, and peopled by a fascinating array of characters — officials, victims, survivors and rogues — the story focuses on Adam Wijk, the rather reclusive gardener and botanist who cares for the Company's gardens. Despite his reserved outward appearance, there is something enigmatic about Wijk. As the mystery slowly unfolds, it is revealed that he was a physician during the Black Death in London; there is a reason for his 'exile' — he treated a smallpox case by experimenting with an antidote and was then stripped of his license. Into Wijk's lonely life at the Cape comes a stranger, a mute woman from a seemingly plague-ridden Dutch ship lying at anchor in Table Bay. As he tends the sick woman, he finds that she reawakens in him feelings long dead, and their relationship develops into a poignant love story, rich in atmosphere and detail. Here is an original voice narrating a wonderful tale that combines realism with the fantastic and will enchant many readers.