"The Snowdrop Garden" is Martin Baxendale's first novel, a romantic comedy set in the enchanting, eccentric and increasingly fashionable world of snowdrop growers and collectors where (much like the crazy days of the Tulip Fever in 17th century Holland) enthusiasts will pay mad money at auction (up to GBP 200- GBP 300) for a single bulb of the latest and most desirable varieties to add to the hundreds of different snowdrops already in their collections. Some call it the White Fever; that time in January-February every year when keen snowdrop growers visit each other's gardens to compare collections, gather at special Snowdrop Lunches and Galas to admire new forms and varieties and spend silly amounts to outbid each other for the latest white-flowered novelties.One of England's biggest and most beautiful woodland snowdrop gardens faces the builder's bulldozers as elderly Lady Cherington is forced to sell up to settle her massive debts. Can young Ben, another keen snowdrop collector, help save Lady C's family home, garden and unique collection? Does his feisty new Slovak environmental-warrior wife, Katka, with her Eastern European connections, hold the answer to all their problems?
Or is it her fault there are Bulgarian gangsters with big guns in the shrubbery, trampling on Lady C's favourite snowdrops? Why are there Russians with even bigger guns in the front drive? Why do they all want Lady C's smelly old husband, The Colonel? Will Katka's twins be born in hospital or an armoured personnel carrier amongst the snowdrops on Lady C's lawn, and where did Katka learn to drive an armoured car anyway?