A quiet tide

The author, Marianne Lee, weaves fact and fiction together skilfully. There are hundreds of Ellen’s letters, her drawings, her specimens, and writings by other botanists about her. Despite this, there are so many gaps in Ellen’s story and so much that we don’t know, that it is fascinating to see this version of what might have been Ellen’s life in detail.

Marianne said, “On first discovering Ellen Hutchins, it struck me that her short life encompassed many elements that might form a novel – her relentless pursuit of knowledge while overcoming illness and despair, her fascinating family and background, the atmospheric worlds of early 19th century Dublin and West Cork. I wanted to portray a woman of many aspects, going beyond the established facts to explore Ellen’s thoughts, motivations and hopes, illuminating how she achieved so much in the face of such obstacles.”