The Language of Flowers

By: Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Who Should Read This Book: This book is for anyone who has felt lost at one point in their life. Anyone who has tried to overcome their fears and believed that good things can and will happen.

Synopsis (From Book Jacket):

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

Thoughts:

This book was recommended to me through another blogger, and unfortunately I can't quite remember who it was because I would personally thank them!! The Language of Flowers was such a wonderfully written, elegant, and eclectic. The author weaves the Victorian language of flowers into the book so smoothly, and throughout the book you can feel the passion and love that the protagonist has for flowers, from the way she expresses her feelings towards others through the flowers she gives them, to the memories that she attaches to various species of flower. 

The author did a perfect job of developing the characters and by jumping back and forth from Victoria's past and her present. The past plays such an important role in who she has become, and as you get farther into the book you start to see how it has shaped her. There were times that I wanted to reach into the book and shake Victoria. I saw so much potential in her and I wanted her to see just how special she was. Grant and Victoria's friendship at once feels so comfortable and there understanding of each other without even using words is envious and complicated at the same time. 

I highly recommend this book not only for its delicateness and depth, but also for its display of beauty. After finishing the book I had a new appreciation for flowers and the impact that they can have on one. It might sound cheesy, but this book made me want to really study history of flowers and how they have influenced cultures through history. Diffenbaugh does a fantastic job in pulling the reader in quickly and keeps them locked in. Even through exhaustion I could not find the strength to put this book down.

Enjoy!