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In this episode, I'm chatting with author Laura Resau about her novel The Alchemy of Flowers.

A walled garden in the south of France. A woman carrying the weight of infertility and the ache of what might have been. An author who believes that myth, nature, and careful attention can turn pain into something living. That’s the ground we walk together with Laura Resau, whose debut adult novel, The Alchemy of Flowers, blends sensory delight with hard-earned hope.

We start with Laura’s unusual path—trilingual, trained in cultural anthropology, shaped by seasons in Provence and Oaxaca—and how immersion in other cultures taught her to write with reverence for place and people. She shares why she shifted from award-winning children’s books to adult fiction, carrying forward wonder while making room for layered reflection. Magical realism isn’t a trick here; it’s a way of telling the truth. Laura draws on myth to map inner journeys, then roots that map in the real work of a healing garden: herbs, salves, teas, and the slow patience of tending.

At the heart of our conversation is the compost metaphor that sparked the novel: how do we turn our crap into flowers? Eloise, our protagonist, manages literal compost while metabolizing years of loss, guilt, and tightly controlled routines. We explore restraint versus freedom, the cultural noise around fertility, and the relief of stepping off that hamster wheel—even inside a garden with walls. Found family deepens the story’s warmth, especially through Mina, whose act of writing through trauma echoes Laura’s real-life collaboration on The Queen of Water, a testament to storytelling as a path to repair.

Come for the rich textures—French meals that stretch past midnight, treehouses and yurts, a garden that feels both sanctuary and crucible. Stay for the craft insights, the mythic threads, and the gentle insistence that transformation is possible. If you’ve ever needed fiction that meets your pain without flinching and still promises bloom, this conversation is for you. 

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves literary fiction and magical realism, and leave a review to help more readers find the show. What part of your life is ready to turn into flowers?

Laura Resau

The Alchemy of Flowers, Laura Resau

The Compound, Aisling Rawle

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