At the beginning of a new century, Alma Whittaker is born into a perfect Philadelphia winter. Her father, Henry Whittaker, is a bold and charismatic botanical explorer whose vast fortune belies his lowly beginnings as a vagrant in Sir Joseph Bankss Kew Gardens and as a deck hand on Captain Cooks HMS Resolution. Almas mother, a strict woman from an esteemed Dutch family, has a knowledge of botany equal to any mans.

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