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A captivating history of one of the world's most iconic and mysterious flowers
Bewitched by a lotus, which flowered from three-thousand-year- old seeds in his English garden, Mark Griffiths set out to track the origins and significance of this sublime plant in this beautifully-illustrated book. The Lotus Quest takes Griffiths from the headquarters of the Linnaean Society in London to a mountaintop in northern Japan. As he travels in search of this ancient flower, Griffiths looks at the lotus's significance in ancient Egypt and India, the plant's medicinal uses and the inspiration it has provided to Western artists. As he tracks the plant, its story unveils a stunning vision of Japan's feudal era with visits to shrines, ruins, gardens and wild landscapes as well as meetings with priests and archaeologists, philosophers and anthropologists, gardeners and botanists, poets and artists. He even dines on the lotus in a Tokyo cafe. By the end of Griffiths' journey, when he reaches the hauntingly beautiful Japanese temple of Chuson-ji, readers will finally understand why the lotus has obsessed people throughout the ages.
Bewitched by a lotus, which flowered from three-thousand-year- old seeds in his English garden, Mark Griffiths set out to track the origins and significance of this sublime plant in this beautifully-illustrated book. The Lotus Quest takes Griffiths from the headquarters of the Linnaean Society in London to a mountaintop in northern Japan. As he travels in search of this ancient flower, Griffiths looks at the lotus's significance in ancient Egypt and India, the plant's medicinal uses and the inspiration it has provided to Western artists. As he tracks the plant, its story unveils a stunning vision of Japan's feudal era with visits to shrines, ruins, gardens and wild landscapes as well as meetings with priests and archaeologists, philosophers and anthropologists, gardeners and botanists, poets and artists. He even dines on the lotus in a Tokyo cafe. By the end of Griffiths' journey, when he reaches the hauntingly beautiful Japanese temple of Chuson-ji, readers will finally understand why the lotus has obsessed people throughout the ages.
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Reviews
"Beautifully written, and hard to believe a book about a plant could be so full of human drama and suspense."
the Telegraph (UK)
"From the dusty vaults of the Linnean Society in London, and finally to Japan, Griffiths combines meticulous research with a writerly eye for detail. Illustrating the human journey of birth, death, transcendence and transfiguration, Griffiths leaves us quietly awed by the possibilities contain in a flower."
Traveller (UK)
"Beautifully illustrated, rich in insights. Mark Griffiths writes beautifully. His enthusiasm and sense of wonder win. You're with him on this quest."
Gardens Illustrated (UK)