Flora Victoriana: Steampunk Series

Flora Victoriana is a steampunk adventure series set in an alternate Victorian world where the eighteenth-century discovery of a bacterium has allowed the British Empire to develop a rudimentary method of plant-based genetic engineering called, “synthesis”.

Novellas

Book 1: The Floral Underworld

The Floral Underworld

As the phytoindustrial revolution continues apace, shop-girl Prunella Morrow is desperate to procure a letter of recommendation to apply for a scholarship to study botany at the Kew Institute, but her old habits land her in trouble when she steals a strange brass poppy. Why is the clockwork flower so important, and what will happen when it finally blooms? Pru pits her wits in an underground adventure against a rhizomatous criminal organisation.

Weaving together the Victorians’ love of nature with all the subjects dear to steampunk enthusiasts, Flora Victoriana is a series of novellas and short stories set in an alternate universe where plants have been engineered to work alongside machines.

Read the first chapter:

Purchase:

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Stories

Coming soon:
– Bright-Flowering Weed
– Pteridomain
– The Opium Den in the Sky

I share secret stories, printables and ebooks with my Coterie and they’re the first to know if I have something good in the works. Please join below, and I’ll send you the password, or if you’re already a member, find your goodies here!


(I promise I will never spam you, or sell your information to others!)

What My Friends Say

You may accuse them of bias (though not in my hearing) but these praises from my dear friends mean more to me than all the literary accolades or stranger-critiques put together.

The characters are vibrant, they have a life of their own and they keep sneaking up in my life, making me think of them in the most peculiar moments. Until I can read the next book in the series ( which I hope is coming soon ) it’s all between Prunella Morrow, Corinthian Woodward and my imagination.
Andreea
The language is exquisite, the intricacies of the Victorian era perfectly explained. The Floral Underworld kept me in suspense through every page turn. I can’t wait for the next installment of The Floral Victoriana, and I’d recommend this first novella in a heartbeat!
Kristen

Printable Ephemera

Coming soon!…

Artwork

Coming soon!… The cover patterns will be available for purchase as fabric, wallpaper, or gift wrap from Spoonflower.

Inspiration

While the series is a culmination (& cultivation) of my life-long love of the Victorian era, I do have a few articles in which I detail my research and inspiration.

INVENTARIUM PLANTARUM

Inventory of plants, invented or otherwise.

  • Agrimonia eupatoria – common agrimony
  • Campanula sonora – bellflower
  • Syringa vulgaris – lilac
  • Verbena pluvia – weather-vervain (or rain-vervain)

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

  • Recollections of a Happy Life by Marianne North
  • London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew
  • Passing English by J. Redding Ware
  • A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
  • The Power of Movement in Plants by Charles Darwin
  • Flora Anglica by William Hudson

Secondary Sources:

  • Flowers in the Blood by Jeff Goldberg
  • The Victorian Underworld by Donald Thomas
  • The Victorian Underworld by Kellow Chesney
  • Victoria’s Wars by Saul David
  • The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild by Michael Leapman
  • Strange Blooms by Jennifer Potter
  • The Origin of Plants by Maggie Campbell-Culver
  • Opium: Reality’s Dark Dream by Thomas Dormandy
  • Cultivating Women, Cultivating Science by Ann B. Shteir
  • Botanical Latin by William T. Stearn
  • The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
  • The Other Victorians by Steven Marcus
  • Plants as Persons by Matthew Hall
  • The Official History of the London Underground by Bownes, Green & Mullins

Documentaries & Videos:

Flora Victoriana: a steampunk adventure series set in an alternate Victorian universe.