An extraordinary plot and an extraordinary love story.

Spellbound, one folllows the siblings growing with their challenges, using their respective gifts. A historically and sociogeographically interesting novel, very skilfully written too.

One has to relish Nicole C. Vosseler’s novel as leisurely as one relishes ice cream … It has several layers, adding to its special appeal.

For those who love facing the elements.

Vosseler is highly skilled at depicting in an abundance of details the atmosphere of intense natural studies and the feverish sensation of impending doom, adding splendid notes of botany and culture to the narrative which enhance it's elegance (...) A fascinating and well-written book that enables the reader to visit distant lands in a mysterious and magical era.

A novel that entertains and enlightens.

And if you’re a dreamer, an adventurer of the mind, this is your book.

Vosseler has succeeded in writing a love story weaving together authentic episodes and the real life of Robert Fortune into a gripping, romantic and at times even philosophical story. She manages to depict Fortune's scientific interest as well as the political and economic impact of his discovery in a differentiated manner - after all, he has laid the foundation of present-day tea cultivation in Assam and Darjeeling. Fortune's inner turmoil, torn apart between his family back in England and the love of his life in China, but also the emotions of Lian, reeling between freedom and an impossible love, are told empathetically and comprehensibly. Absolutely recommendable!

Enthralling.

The English Botanist by Nicole C. Vosseler not only offers fascinating insights into the work of a nineteenth century explorer but also tells a love story piercing right into the heart.

A novel introducing us beautifully to the - in 1843 - still quite remote China and its wonderful landscapes and plants. It includes an austere love story, along with shining a light on women’s lives in nineteenth-century China and initiating, as its counterpart, an English housewife into the joys of knowledge – everything quite grippingly told, well intertwined and absorbing. An example for informative popular fiction, not to be easily forgotten.

With The English Botanist, German author Nicole C. Vosseler has brought out an enthralling novel of adventure and love against an exotic backdrop, set in the era of naturalist exploration.

With meticulous precision and evocative density [Nicole C. Vosseler] carries off her readers into a world equally exotic and fascinating. Plenty of historical knowledge fits seamlessly into a story arc unfolded with convincing skill.

A successful combination of exoticism and realism reflecting the developments of the nineteenth century.

The boundaries between fact and fiction blur in this enthralling novel that finally turns out to be a page-turner. And besides, one learns a lot about plants, their names and their origins.

These three lives arise enthrallingly and keep on evolving, reflecting an excellent image of those times.

It’s inevitable to fall in love with the lovingly drawn characters ... A favorite novel with a backbone!

Divine!

Not only a singular protagonist but all characters on these pages are vividly portrayed ... Surrounding these characters, India's history in the 19th century, of British predominance and Indian rebellion, comes to life again. First and foremost, it is the exceptionally and magically depicted setting that surprises and impresses.

Reading this novel makes you forget about everything else around you. The exciting narrative, rich in detail, brings colonial India to life.

Masterly portrayed characters.

A compelling novel for hearts full of wanderlust, eager to explore foreign countries.

A novel worth reading, authentically recreating historical characters and places during British colonial rule.

For the second time, Nicole C. Vosseler writes about a woman's life against the backdrop of a magnificent foreign country. A masterful blend of adventure, romance and love, enthrallingly told.

An insight into the Arabian world and an unforgettable experience.

A novel about the search for true love, the growth of the soul and last but not least about the difficulties to overcome prejudices of different cultures ...
The male characters of this novel are more than just companions on Maya's journey - they live their own lives. They also undergo a journey towards a deeper consciousness and in addition, they are well portrayed. They fascinate the reader with their moral strength, the devotion to sacrifice true feelings for the sake of conscience and sometimes even only with their personal traits ...
Vosseler writes about settings and characters in a style equally poetical, sensitive and powerful.

From the first to the very last page really well-written historical fiction for young adults: thrilling, entertaining, and opening up new worlds.

Nicole C. Vosseler succeeds especially in keeping the secret of the famous painter: instead of explaining his character, she makes him speak through his art and thus captures his spell.

Each and every line enjoyable ... On one hand, young readers are introduced to the biography and artwork of Caravaggio; on the other hand, they are close to the action: the adventures of a sympathetic hero and heroine.

You can literally see Caravaggio paint. High-class young adult fiction, surely also a good read for grown-ups.

Ambush, intrigues, treason and murder are the ingredients of this smartly composed, suspenseful adventure novel.

Terrifically funny and thrilling historical fiction for children and young adults!

An enthralling dramaturgy, an eloquent and never gimmicky narrative flow, an ambiance rich in images, an emphatic depiction of characters and a passionate vindication of curiosity, joy of reading, theatrical art, imagination, and poetry. Thus we lose ourselves in time and space.

This swashbuckling South Seas novel about the quest for Terra Australis, the mysterious great Southern continent, told from a woman's point of view, will delight all readers of historical fiction.

A wonderful love story, embedded in atmospheric landscapes and the exciting voyage of discovery of James Cook and his crew. The stunning debut of a young writer.

Good maritime adventure novels are rare. Many writers get entangled in their own yarn or seem eager, above all, to force their extensive knowledge of nautical terms upon the reader. And then there is this young writer from Konstanz who hits the bull's eye with her very first novel.

Nicole C. Vosseler’s story is based on a deep mourning over the loss of the mother, and the novel is dedicated to the motherless daughters. Sometimes, there is great loneliness spilling out of the lines, creating an urge to read on, as the novel is not so much about a happy ending but about a truly safe harbor: the own self.

A poetic story of loss, mourning, new beginnings and the search for truth as well as a portrait of New York.

A gem! Read it!

When the chaos is huge, inside, not on the outside, then this book sweeps across us like a whirlwind and puts everything back in place. (...) Thus emerges a wonderful Big City tale about memories leaving a trace in our lives and the magic of small things that make us happy. A book for all who loved Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Vosseler (...) tells an emotive story about mourning and loss. Highly recommendable for readers 15 up.

… a book about loss and mourning, about love and new beginnings, about relationships of all sorts and about the unpredictability of life. A captivating and enthralling story full of passages, words, images prompting to pause and cherish. An invitation to live life to the fullest, in spite of its shortness or maybe just for this very reason. Highly recommended!

The novel’s leitmotif: the unique words from other languages that are untranslatable but paraphrase certain emotions or occurences - offering one insight or another. The book is an invitation to take risks in relationships and life.

The result is an extraordinary novel with a protagonist whose inner need can be found in every line.

Subtly spun and compelling, playing with three time levels and mixing genres like thriller, love story and adventure novel.

Well-researched, enthralling with sophisticated prose. Absolute recommendation.

In the company of these two heroines, one plunges into an adventure of a lifetime. Together with both of them, one is pushed to the limit, gains new self-knowledge and develops unimagined self-confidence.

Against the historical backdrop of the colonial era including all its grievances, two courageous women take their lives in their own hands.

A splendid novel, perfectly told, with rhythm and climax, totally addictive. It demonstrates the healing power of kindness and forgiveness, true and unbiased love as well as the lower instincts of humankind, but above all, the value of real friendship and the sense of security it brings. Absolute recommendation.

A combination that results in a winning formula and that Vosseler knows to conduct superbly.

An unusual story and a declaration of love to San Francisco!

Romantic and marvellously spooky.

Not the typical fantasy novel. There are some ghosts in it, but actually and primarily it is a novel about friendship, loss, goodbyes - and love.

Full of original ideas ... Not only an enchanting love story but also a splendid novel about growing up. Sorrow and happiness are closely knitted together - just as in real life.

Nicole C. Vosseler writes empathically about death and how people deal with it - a topic enfolded in a romantic love story that keeps enthralled until the very last page.

This gripping young adult novel carries the reader to a place between this world and the next and even concedes some space to the lost souls. Melancholic and soulful, apparently unspectacular yet incredibly intense: the author knows how to maintain suspense up to the very last page. Simply a marvellous read.

With great skill the author uses the extreme situation of losing a loved person as a key to the ability to perceive supernatural appearances. With this, she initiates a paralleling love story with elements of mystery, ending with an elegant yet credible resolution.
With a lot of empathy and imagination, this gripping and recommendable novel for young adults deals with crucial themes in the transition to adulthood: first love, loss and loneliness, the search for identity but also approaches questions about life after death etc.

A ghost story at least as sweeping as Ghost and just as touching. There aren't many stories as magically appealing as this one - and moreover, as brillantly written. Nicole C. Vosseler is one of the finest writers here in Germany.

A novel about youths spreading their wings and learning to fly.

This mysterious and surprising novel convinces especially by its imaginative and flowing language.

Written with a sense for atmosphere and psychology.

This novel retells impressively an episode in British colonial history.

Grace's journey bears the imprint of exploration of exotic lands under adverse circumstances, paired with a subtle examination of the role of women towards the end of the 19th century.

An unforgettable and engrossing love story that will move you to tears. With Salima, Vosseler has created a strong heroine whose path through life is full of tragedy.

This novel set in the colonial era retells the tragic life story of Emily Ruete alias Sayyida Salima, daughter of the Sultan of Zanzibar. At the same time, it provides an insight into the era of the 19th century, determined by colonial thinking and acting: the influence of the Western world on the colonies based on scientific and political interests on one hand and the world of the Orient coming to terms with colonial powers on the other.

Vosseler rereads [Emily] Ruete's life from the perspective of the contemporary world of global migration and multiculturalism as well as new conflict between the West and the Orient, often politicized as a religious clash between Islam and Christian values. The novel does not, however, invoke a conflict between religions or even a clash of civilizations as construed by Samuel Huntington; rather it presents Ruete's transcultural experience as one where historical reality outstrips literary imagination in a life that cuts across the boundaries of seemingly entirely separate worlds ...
It is the new fascination with the in-between, with cultural hybridization and lives at the interstices of cultural difference, with displacement, multiple intercultural connections, and the revalidation of lost origins, which sets the scene for Vosseler's retelling of Ruete's life.

A wonderful page-turner for cold evenings in autumn.

Heart-stopping!