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Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil

by Oliver Darkshire · 2025

A hilarious and surprisingly moving cozy fantasy novel from the best-selling author of Once Upon a Tome. This debut novel by beloved rare bookseller and memoirist Oliver Darkshire reimagines the Decameron heroine Isabella… more

7 quotes ★ 3.61 (3,343) Fantasy

Quotes from the Book

Laziness. That’s what it was. He disapproved of that in other people.
the two had found solace in shared despondency. After a while
Step One: Dress to kill. Step Two: Bury the bodies.
What Gwendolyn failed to grasp about the nature of goblin fruit was intrinsically tied to the fact that she had never denied herself anything. As a creature of pure will, she always did exactly what she pleased, and thus any attempt to draw on her hidden desires was doomed to fail as a matter of technicality.
The tent belonged to Gwendolyn herself, and was adorned in rolls of a violently pink fabric so criminally flamboyant it punched the other colours out of your head and stole your wallet while your back was turned.
Removing a mandrake from the soil is cautioned against except in dire need, for their caterwauling is both tonally depraved (in the same musical tradition as a harpsichord) and lethal to the listener.
Sly enough to capture a bird, cruel enough to keep it in a cage, too stupid to know he would be the death of it.

About Oliver Darkshire

We have collected 27 quotes from 2 books by Oliver Darkshire on BookQuoters.

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About the book

A hilarious and surprisingly moving cozy fantasy novel from the best-selling author of Once Upon a Tome.

This debut novel by beloved rare bookseller and memoirist Oliver Darkshire reimagines the Decameron heroine Isabella (with her creepy pot of basil) in a world of sentient animals, talking plants, and shape-shifting wizards.

In a tiny farm on the edge of the miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is just trying to get on with her tiny, miserable existence. Dividing her time between tolerating a feckless husband, fending off snide neighbors, and cooking up “scrunge,” Isabella can’t help but think that there might be something more to life. When Mr. Nagg returns home with a spell book purloined from the local wizard, she thinks: What harm could a little magic do?

As Isabella embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a grouchy cat-like companion, Darkshire’s imaginatio

Book details

First published
2025
Genre
Fantasy
Goodreads rating
3.61 (3k ratings)

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