TITLE: In Praise of Poison Ivy
AUTHOR: Anita Sanchez
PUBLISHER: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-630-76131-8
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Tracey Norman
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I confess to having wondered, as I picked it up, how interesting a book about poison ivy might be, and whether it would hold my attention. The sub-heading “The Secret Virtues, Astonishing History and Dangerous Lore of the World’s Most Hated Plant” made me smile, and I have to say that the author delivered on all of those subjects.
Ms Sanchez knows plants. She has a fascinating plant-based blog, Unmowed Blog by Author Anita Sanchez - Anita Sanchez, where she shares snippets of information about often overlooked plants such as the dandelion, as well as giving her followers insights into her own gardening preferences and why she chooses the plants she does.
In Praise of Poison Ivy is equally fascinating. It tracks the plant through the centuries and across continents, from its home in America to the gardens of European royalty, to the Dutch coastline. It follows poison ivy’s connections to figures such as Captain John Smith, the Empress Josephine, Queen Marie Antoinette and Charles Darwin, among many others, and traces records of it in art and in medical journals. To top it all off, there is a handy appendix which offers useful, practical tips on how to avoid, heal from, get rid of and exist alongside poison ivy.
I will admit to being mildly irritated by the twenty mentions of ‘poison ivy’ on the first two pages of the introduction (yes, I counted), but as the book progresses and the plant’s biology and history unfold before us, this intensive usage does reduce. Plus, the book is so interesting that I quickly forgot my irritation, only remembering it briefly when I came across two random abbreviations. Switching from ‘poison ivy’ to ‘PI’ on these two occasions looked more like a “find and replace” fail than anything else, especially as the first one popped up around half-way through the book. Personally, I might have introduced an abbreviation at the outset and stuck to it, but that’s just my opinion, and I don’t think that was the author’s intention here in any case. I only mention it because it jolted me out of the narrative for a moment.
Ms Sanchez has an easy, accessible style and her writing is enthusiastic, warm and peppered with humour, making this an enjoyable and engaging read. For someone like myself, who lives in England and has never encountered poison ivy, it provided all the knowledge I need to be able to have a crack at spotting the plant when I am out, as well as a host of facts about its history and its physical properties that I would otherwise never have known. It made me look at plants generally in a different light, especially non-native species. Until I read this book, I had never taken the time to consider how far they travel, who may have interacted with them in the past, or what they bring to the environment in general, but you can bet I will do so from now on. I had no idea that so many skills, disciplines, people and places could be linked to one plant, especially one which is usually despised and avoided. This is a book which will teach you many things without once seeming like a textbook.
AUTHOR: Anita Sanchez
PUBLISHER: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-630-76131-8
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Tracey Norman
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I confess to having wondered, as I picked it up, how interesting a book about poison ivy might be, and whether it would hold my attention. The sub-heading “The Secret Virtues, Astonishing History and Dangerous Lore of the World’s Most Hated Plant” made me smile, and I have to say that the author delivered on all of those subjects.
Ms Sanchez knows plants. She has a fascinating plant-based blog, Unmowed Blog by Author Anita Sanchez - Anita Sanchez, where she shares snippets of information about often overlooked plants such as the dandelion, as well as giving her followers insights into her own gardening preferences and why she chooses the plants she does.
In Praise of Poison Ivy is equally fascinating. It tracks the plant through the centuries and across continents, from its home in America to the gardens of European royalty, to the Dutch coastline. It follows poison ivy’s connections to figures such as Captain John Smith, the Empress Josephine, Queen Marie Antoinette and Charles Darwin, among many others, and traces records of it in art and in medical journals. To top it all off, there is a handy appendix which offers useful, practical tips on how to avoid, heal from, get rid of and exist alongside poison ivy.
I will admit to being mildly irritated by the twenty mentions of ‘poison ivy’ on the first two pages of the introduction (yes, I counted), but as the book progresses and the plant’s biology and history unfold before us, this intensive usage does reduce. Plus, the book is so interesting that I quickly forgot my irritation, only remembering it briefly when I came across two random abbreviations. Switching from ‘poison ivy’ to ‘PI’ on these two occasions looked more like a “find and replace” fail than anything else, especially as the first one popped up around half-way through the book. Personally, I might have introduced an abbreviation at the outset and stuck to it, but that’s just my opinion, and I don’t think that was the author’s intention here in any case. I only mention it because it jolted me out of the narrative for a moment.
Ms Sanchez has an easy, accessible style and her writing is enthusiastic, warm and peppered with humour, making this an enjoyable and engaging read. For someone like myself, who lives in England and has never encountered poison ivy, it provided all the knowledge I need to be able to have a crack at spotting the plant when I am out, as well as a host of facts about its history and its physical properties that I would otherwise never have known. It made me look at plants generally in a different light, especially non-native species. Until I read this book, I had never taken the time to consider how far they travel, who may have interacted with them in the past, or what they bring to the environment in general, but you can bet I will do so from now on. I had no idea that so many skills, disciplines, people and places could be linked to one plant, especially one which is usually despised and avoided. This is a book which will teach you many things without once seeming like a textbook.