by Patricia Crisafulli
I could picture her so clearly—wavy gray hair worn long, a softly gathered skirt, face and hands tanned by being outside, and a calm expression that revealed a glint of steel in her nature. And so Lucinda Nanz, an important character in my mystery novel The Secrets of Still Waters Chasm came to be: gardener, herbalist, green witch. With every layer that revealed itself, I needed to dig deeper into Lucinda and the garden that defined her.
At my home, I grow flowers and shrubs, and I love the blossoms and bees. But none of that qualified me to create an herbalist’s expansive gardens: flowers, vegetables, and herbs; sun-loving and shady; and one cordoned off by itself for plants of far different varieties. To plot and plant all that Lucinda grows, I had to seek out the counsel of an expert: clinical herbalist Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir of Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs, Gifts & Folklore in Eugene, Oregon. Sitting in her shop with a cup of herbal tea, I listened as Heather walked me through what—and why—Lucinda would grow in her garden.
Here was my research excursion in the real world that mirrored what my protagonist, Gabriela, would experience when she first set foot in this unexpected world:
Following Lucinda through the sun-soaked herb garden, Gabriela let the litany of names wash over her: yarrow, meadowsweet, chamomile, coneflower, feverfew, catnip, anise, a bay tree, spearmint, and, on the diagonal far away from its cousin, peppermint. By the small barn converted into a garage, something grew against a high fence—as big as a shrub but with delicate branches and feathery pointed leaves. “Artemisia vulgaris,” Lucinda announced, “better known as mugwort.”
To convey the sense of wonder and mystery in Lucinda’s garden (and establish a significant plot point as three people in the novel are killed by poisoning), I had to wander through the world of plants with the guidance of an expert. Not only did I learn the names and purposes of dozens of plants, but my respect for herbalism deepened. With that, Lucinda matured as a character from a quirky woman with a big garden into a wise healer with encyclopedic knowledge of plants:
A short border fenced a small round garden where three plants grew together. “Atropa belladonna,” Lucinda said, “otherwise known as deadly nightshade.”
At the name, Gabriela curled her lip reflexively. “What are the other ones?”
Lucinda paused. “Hellebore and monkshood.”
The shortened answers contrasted with the long explanations Lucinda had given for all the other herbs and flowers. Here volumes seemed to be left unsaid. “I take it they’re poisonous,” Gabriela ventured.
Lucinda hitched up one side of her mouth into a crooked smile. “Almost anything can be toxic in the wrong dose. Let’s just say these plants are for a different kind of medicine.”
In the garden of Still Waters Chasm, readers venture into the natural world, well beyond the pots of petunias and hedges of roses they may have in their own yards. To create that experience in words, I first had to engage with plants as they revealed their power as ancient as nature itself—benevolent in the hands of those who do good and malevolent for those with sinister intent.
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This sounds very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I am always amazed how much research authors have to do for their books.