The Plant Hunter

The uplifting, adventure-filled memoir of one groundbreaking scientist’s quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants.

„A fascinating and deeply personal journey.“ ­–Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants and The Drunken Botanist

Traveling by canoe, ATV, mule, airboat, and on foot, Dr. Cassandra Quave has conducted field research everywhere from the flooded forests of the remote Amazon to the isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo–all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs. Dr. Quave is a leading medical ethnobotanist–someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat antimicrobial resistance and other threatening illnesses–helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she’s done it all with just one leg. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey.

Editorial Reviews

08/30/2021

Ethnobotanist Quave blends memoir, botany, and anthropology in her spirited, globe-trotting debut. „Since the 1980s no new chemical classes of antibiotics have been discovered and successfully brought to market,“ Quave writes: „That’s where I come in.“ Born without several bones in her right leg and foot, Quave spent time in and out of hospitals, where she nearly died of a staph infection before antibiotics saved her life. This sparked her interest in medicine, and Quave traces her journeys across the globe in search of plant information: she travels to the Amazon, where she receives an herb bath from a healer and reconsiders her relationship to medicine; to southern Italy where she studies the dietary habits of Albanian immigrants; to a Mediterranean island to collect plants in danger of disappearing, such as „purple flowering“ Daphne sericea; and into her labs, where she tests her plants against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Her survey is packed with facts–readers will learn that they have willow trees to thank for Advil, that the cocoa plant is where numbing medication comes from, and the Madagascar periwinkle is the source for a chemotherapy drug. Nature-minded readers will find themselves immersed in–and inspired by–Quave’s poignant tale. Agent: Elias Altman, Massie & McQuilkin. (Oct.)
– Publishers Weekly

*09/01/2021

Ever since Quave (host of the podcast Foodie Pharmacology) was in college and then graduate school at Emory (where she now teaches medical ethnobotany and curates the herbarium), she has devoted her time to discovering new plant-based medicines. She has traveled the world, from her native Florida to the Amazon rain forest to Ginestra in southern Italy, to collect and catalogue plant specimens and talk to local healers about the uses of their native flora. With vivid insight and occasional humor, Quave’s book combines memoir with science history to discuss her love of nature and her entry into ethnobotany (a field that’s dedicated to the exploration of links between food and medicine). Quave also describes her experiences as a woman with disability; she was born with a rare bone disorder, which has led to numerous surgeries and infections requiring treatment. She writes about meeting her husband in Italy, having three children, helping to raise her nephew, and teaching and conducting research all the while. VERDICT Quave’s inviting memoir demonstrates grit and determination and explains some of the fascinating and critical uses of plants for healing (including possible uses against antimicrobial resistance and even COVID-19).–Marcia G. Welsh, formerly at Dartmouth Coll. Lib., Hanover, NH
– Library Journal

*2021-08-13
Searching for new drugs in old folkways.

Ethnobotanist and microbiologist Quave, a professor and herbarium curator at Emory, shares a fascinating account of her development as a scientist, her research into the pharmacological potential of plants used in traditional medicine, the challenge of balancing work with motherhood, and her lifelong struggle with disability and infection. Born with a congenital defect that left her right leg underdeveloped–the fibula was „totally missing“–Quave had her leg amputated below the knee when she was 3, resulting in a staph infection that would have killed her if not for antibiotics. As she grew up, she required 20 more surgeries and often was hospitalized with infections. Her health problems made her acutely aware of the power of antibiotics and the peril of bacterial resistance. „We’re facing a double crisis in the battle against superbugs,“ she writes, „the loss of effective antibiotics and the cataclysmic failure of the economic model that supports their discovery and development.“ Despite being physically compromised, Quave has mounted research expeditions to rugged, biodiverse hot spots around the world in search of some of the 33,443 plant species used in medicine; of these, she notes, no more than a few hundred have been rigorously investigated. The author details the painstaking process of gathering, transporting, preparing, and analyzing plant samples to test whether or not ethnobotanical research actually could lead to discovery of drugs. She also describes the arduous competition for grant money, where being a woman often put her at a disadvantage. Throughout her career, Quave has encountered bullying, sexism, and outright sexual harassment, and her scientific accomplishments have been undervalued. Science, she notes with regret, has become a „blood sport“ among powerful men. Without generous funding for research into superbugs and infectious diseases, Quave warns, humans will find themselves increasingly at the mercy of viruses and bacteria they cannot control.

A highly compelling–and alarming–memoir.
– Kirkus Reviews

Cassandra Quave takes us on a fascinating and deeply personal journey to seek out modern medicines from the botanical world. As a scientist she is scrappy and tenacious, and as a writer she is eloquent and disarmingly honest. Fans of Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl will devour this engrossing narrative about Quave’s quest for the next cure.“
­–Amy Stewart, bestselling author of The Drunken Botanist

„Quave’s fascinating story is full of insights with equal respect for traditional healing and ‘scientific’ medicine.“
–Jonathan Drori, author of Around the World in 80 Plants

„This most remarkable book is overflowing with inspiration, delight and adventure, as Cassandra Quave brilliantly describes her search to understand nature’s healing power. Above all, Quave offers an intensely honest and personal story of a life filled with purpose, joy and challenges, which will no doubt influence a generation of young people seeking to serve the greater good, while reminding us all that we are inextricably connected to the Earth.“
–Michael J. Balick, Co-Author of Plants, People and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany

„Readers who pick up The Plant Hunter with the idea of a traditional, staid monograph detailing flora around the world will encounter a biography of love, loss and discovery that is most emphatically not traditional or staid. . . .Quave’s storytelling is quite simply refreshing.“
–Nature Plants

„Quave remains determined, resourceful, and cognizant of the alliances that have enabled her life’s work. . . . [She] exhibits a deep humanity and humility in her writing. This, along with her thrilling adventures–often with children in tow–spurs the reader on. In the end, she succeeds in demonstrating that plants are an underutilized resource for drug discovery and in communicating the many joys and challenges that accompany a career in science.“
–Science

„This book is fascinating for anyone who is curious about the potential impact that plants, waiting in the wings for scientific discovery, can have on our health. . . . [It] is a wonderfully engaging memoir of how Quave first ventured into science and ultimately the field of ethnobiology . . . [that] is inspiring and easy to grasp even for those who have no grasp of–or curiosity about–science.“
–The Marin Independent Journal

„In the war against infectious diseases, Quave is a fierce combatant, exhibiting focused determination, admirable flexibility, and persuasive enthusiasm in this candidly personal narrative.“
–Booklist

„[A] spirited, globe-trotting debut . . . Nature-minded readers will find themselves immersed in–and inspired by–Quave’s poignant tale.“
–Publishers Weekly

„Quave’s inviting memoir demonstrates grit and determination and explains some of the fascinating and critical uses of plants for healing (including possible uses against antimicrobial resistance and even COVID-19).“
–Library Journal (starred)

„A fascinating account of [Quave’s] development as a scientist, her research into the pharmacological potential of plants used in traditional medicine, the challenge of balancing work with motherhood, and her lifelong struggle with disability and infection . . . highly compelling.“
–Kirkus

„Cassandra Quave is a woman with incredible grit and courage.“
–Temple Grandin, bestselling author of Thinking in Pictures

„In The Plant Hunter, Cassandra Quave traces her fast-paced and barrier-breaking path to become a scientist, and takes us on a romp through jungles, swamps, deserts, and mountains in search of the holiest of botanical grails: tomorrow’s life-saving medicines. We need more scientists like Quave–resourceful, good-humored, and ready to solve Earth’s most pressing problems.“
–Daniel Stone, National Geographic writer and bestselling author of The Food Explorer

„Be forewarned: there’s no putting this book down once you turn the first page! It’s an absolutely fascinating and remarkable account of one heroic woman’s personal journey into the healing power of plants, full of world travels, medical knowledge, plant wisdom, and scientific insights. Exceptionally well written, thought provoking and inspiring, this is adventure at its finest.“
–Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author of Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs

„An enthralling account of an inspiring tragedy-to-triumph story about becoming a leading scientist in search of plants that heal. Highly recommended!“
–Mark J. Plotkin, President of the Amazon Conservation Team and author of Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice

„The Plant Hunter moved and amazed me. Cassandra Quave is flat-out heroic. We see her pursue her passion under grueling conditions that would make most of us blanch, even if we did not sport a prosthetic leg, as Quave does. Lance a boil on your own inflamed limb in the jungle as a college student on your first international research trip? Tote your first baby along as you conduct fieldwork essential for your doctoral research? And perhaps most challenging–juggle the demands of running two labs, securing grants, teaching and mentoring, and being a mother to three children? Quave does it all, and she shares her inspiring story with humor and grace.“
–Victoria Johnson, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of American Eden

„Like an intricate game, The Plant Hunter is a book that contains many books within it: a magical memoir and a journey of dogged discovery, a profound romance and a stirring call to action. Above all, it is an urgent plea to recover knowledge that has almost been lost to us, and to honor the untold generations whose ancient wisdom might save our lives.“
–Maryn McKenna, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Human Health and author of Big Chicken
This is a great review! There’s a lot of great praise in here, I think putting the following up on the feed out to retailer pages would work great:
– From the Publisher