Green Gold: The Epic True Story of Victorian Plant Hunter John Jeffrey

by Gabriel Hemery

In 1850, young Scottish plant hunter John Jeffrey was despatched by an elite group of Victorian subscribers to seek highly prized exotic trees in North America. An early letter home told of a 1,200-mile transcontinental journey by small boat and on foot.

Later, tantalising collections of seeds and plants arrived from British Columbia, Oregon and California, yet early promise soon withered. Four years after setting out, John Jeffrey, and his journals, disappeared without a trace.

Was he lost to love, violence or the Gold Rush? Green Gold combines meticulous research with the fictional narrative of Jeffrey’s lost journals, revealing an extraordinary adventure.

• ISBN13: 9781789650235
• Publish Date: 18 April 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 12 July 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Unbound
• Imprint: Unbound Digital
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Language: English

Reviews

[Eve1972]

There were parts of this book I enjoyed, and there were parts that didn't work for me at all. The story told through the expedition journals (mainly fiction) I enjoyed a lot. The inclusion of the genuine historical documents, and the fictional present day chapters, I did not. I found it made the story choppy and interrupted the flow. I honestly started to skip them so I could get back to the fictional story being told via the journals. Based on my enjoyment of that alone, I will give this one three stars. However, I think author could have done a better job of melding the fiction with the non-fiction, and doing away with the "present time" all together.