How the Idea of a Flower That Makes You Forget Grew Into a Novel

Plants are smart little creatures. We don’t generally think of them as creatures but in some ways, they are. They’re animate beings that know what they’re doing from day to day. They grow toward the light, they take in water, make their own food, communicate, and migrate. They’ve even learned how to adeptly procreate.

Part of that procreation involves the scents from their flowers. They emit scents to attract pollinators. In search of sweet nectar, bees or butterflies or birds brush against their stamens and spread bits of pollen to other flowers’ pistils. Then fruits are made and seeds are cast and new baby plants are born. It’s quite an elegant system for a creature that can’t physically travel from one location to the next. 

Speculating About Plants

These ideas about scent have been on my mind these last few years. Because I worked as a gardener for a decade and a half, I often advised clients on fragrant plants: which were strongest, sweetest, nocturnal. And I helped my clients choose where to put the plants so they would catch their scent most often, like by a front door or driveway. But after years of thinking about plants that smelled pleasant, I started wondering what would happen if a plant existed whose scent was dangerous. Not foul, like the corpse flower, which you may have heard of, a plant whose scent is meant to mimic rotting meat so that its pollinator, the fly, will be attracted to it, but simply toxic or painful or amnesiac.

A Hybridized Wonder

Without getting too bogged down in botanical details, I’ll share that a plant with a scent that caused amnesia seemed most interesting to me. And, as a writer, it seemed the rifest with possibilities for a story. But I wondered where would that plant grow? Would it have come into existence through a natural variation in evolution or have been hybridized by human hands? It could be a natural variation, though the possibilities associated with a hybridized one seemed richer. If the plant were hybridized, it meant a person had to do the hybridizing, and hence, a character would instantly exist. And that character would automatically be interesting because he’d be a kind of botanical eccentric. So, I started taking notes about a hybridized plant that caused amnesia.

I realized that if the plant creator were alive, he’d be available to answer questions and keep the plant safe and therefore no one would ever have access to its scent. End of story. So, I decided to create a scenario where the plant creator wasn’t alive but he’d given the plant away. Perhaps, to an assistant who had somehow lost it or given it away to a person who didn’t even want it. What would happen to it then?

Well, that person would need a reason to keep it alive. And there’s nothing more bonding than family. So, I created two sisters: the assistant who received the plant as a gift (Estera), and her sister who had the plant because of well, without giving too much away, difficult circumstances (Renia).  

The Allure of Forgetting

One of the allures in using an amnesiac plant was that its special quality could be a draw for all kinds of people: People who were kind and wanted to forget painful memories and people who weren’t kind and wanted to wipe memories from other people’s minds. And that seemed even richer with choices: that the plant could be used for both altruistic and nefarious purposes. But of course, there’s no meaty conflict in altruism so you can guess which path I chose. 

And if the plant were to be used to trick people, I needed tricksters. Tricksters who needed some serious motivation if they were going to deal in such a light thing as flowers. Money is an age-old motivator and that seemed like a good fit. Just like other plants, cannabis or heroin made from poppies, my plant could be traded on the black market. This led me to realize that those who usually participate in black market trade are mobsters. 

Are there mobsters in The Forgetting Flower? Well, yes. But is Renia a mobster? No, certainly not. At least, she hopes not. She doesn’t want to be. But sometimes a woman has to do what she has to do to stay afloat in life. And that journey of Renia trying to stay afloat with this unusual plant, her challenges and her pain, her love of plants and desire to live in Paris, are all the roots that grew into my novel, The Forgetting Flower.

About The Forgetting Flower

Secrets and half-truths. These litter Renia Baranczka’s past, but the city of Paris has offered an escape and the refuge of a dream job. The specialty plant shop buzzes with activity and has brought her to a new friend, Alain. His presence buffers the guilt that keeps her up at night, dwelling on the endless replays of what happened to her sister.

All too suddenly, the City of Light seems more sinister when Alain turns up dead. His demise threatens every secret Renia holds dear, including the rare plant hidden in the shop’s tiny nook. It emits a special fragrance that can erase a person’s memory—and perhaps much more than that.

As Renia races to figure out the extent of the plant’s powers, she’s confronted by figures from her past who offer a proposal she can’t outright refuse. Bit by bit, she descends into a menacing underworld of blackmarket mobsters, navigating threats and fending off abuse to protect the safe peaceful life she’s worked so hard for. Desperate to outwit her enemies, Renia maneuvers carefully, knowing one wrong move will destroy not only the plant, but the lives of her sister and herself.

Order The Forgetting Flower at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or through your local independent bookstore!

For more information about Karen, check out her website: http://www.karenhugg.com.

Praise for The Forgetting Flower

“A lush mystery with the underpinnings of a fairy tale shot through with magic and tragedy. Karen Hugg is the rare author who can blend wonder and suspense.” –Emily Carpenter, Author of Until the Day I Die, Every Single Secret, and Burying the Honeysuckle Girls.

“The delight and grit of Paris, the desperation of poverty, the love of plants and family — all beautifully and authentically told. The literary side of the novel brings sensitivity and texture to the struggling characters and their surroundings, and the thriller side kept me up late, anxious to find out what happens next.” –Sue Burke, Author of Semiosis (Semiosis Duology)

“Intriguing and atmospheric, The Forgetting Flower has a fairytale quality, a journey into the sensuous magic of plants. The florescent beauty at the heart of this eerie story of sisterly love and redemption is the extraordinary mountain hybrid Violet Smoke with its scent of burnt apricot, as dangerously potent in Paris as it was in its beginnings in Poland.” –Deborah Lawrenson, Author of The Lantern, 300 Days of Sun and The Sea Garden.

“Karen Hugg’s The Forgetting Flower instantly captures a reader’s imagination. A book for those who love not only Paris and flowers, but also intrigue and danger.” — Marty Wingate, Author of A Potting Shed Mystery Series

About Karen

Karen Hugg writes literary mysteries and thrillers inspired by plants. Her stories are set in worlds where plants, real or imagined, affect people in strange new ways. Born and raised in Chicago, she moved to Seattle and worked as an editor before becoming an ornamental horticulturalist and master pruner. She earned her MFA from Goddard College and has been published in Rooted: The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction and other journals and websites. When not writing, she digs in the dirt. When not digging in the dirt, she hangs out with her husband, three children, and four pets. When not doing any of those things, she sits outside and stares at the sky.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing