The Language of Flowers



amazon

 I have just finished a novel that had me totally enthralled.  The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  The synopsis says:-

The Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions:  honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion and red roses for love.  But for Victoria Jones it has been more useful in communicating feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude.  After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own.  When her talent is spotted by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them.  But it takes meeting a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realise what's been missing in her own life and, as she starts to fall for him, she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past and decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

acacia - secret love

The Language of Flowers is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family and the meaning of love.

white clover - think of me

"I exhaled, momentarily relieved.  Dropping my eyes to the table, I noticed a small bouquet of white flowers.  It was tied with a lavender ribbon and placed on top of my bowl of pasta.  I studied the delicate petals before flicking it off my food.  My mind filled with stories I'd heard from other children, tales of poisoning and hospitalizations.  I glanced around the room to see if the windows were open, in case I needed to run.  There was only one window in the room of white wood cabinets and antique appliances: a small square above the kitchen sink, with miniature blue glass bottles lining the windowsill.  It was shut tight.

I pointed to the flowers. " You can't poison me, or give me medicine I don't want, or hit me - even if I deserve it.  Those are the rules."  I glared across the table when I said it and hoped she felt my threat.  I had reported more than one person for spanking.

"If I were trying to poison you, I would give you foxglove or hydrangea, maybe anemone, depending on how much pain I wanted you to feel, and what message I was trying to communicate."

Curiosity overcame my dislike of conversation.  "What're you talking about?"

"These flowers are starwort," she said.  "Starwort means welcome.  By giving you a bouquet of starwort, I'm welcoming you to my home, to my life."  She twirled buttery pasta on her fork and looked into my eyes without a glimmer of humour."

forsythia - anticipation

At the back of the book is a whole dictionary of what flowers mean - the lost art of the language of flowers.

jonquil - desire

An intriguing novel that had me on the edge of my seat a few times.  Heart-wrenching and sad and totally captivating.  Well worth a read.